You know the saying, "When the cat's away, the mouse plays"?  Around our house we say, "When Tom G is away, Martha plays."

A few weeks ago, my dad was out of town fishing in Alaska and my mom took the opportunity to throw a week-long party.

I saw my mom six times that week.  One time was to meet up for snow cones at our favorite spot.  Three times were at the swimming pool where she carried a bag full of candy, snacks and squirt guns.  Another time was at the carnival where she purchased enough tickets to keep the grandkids busy for hours.

Favorite uncle:

My mom and sister were more than a little nervous when all the kids went on "The Magic Genie" ride:

And finally, at the end of the week, my parents gave all of us girls an early (very generous) birthday gift: dinner in SLC and Wicked tickets.

I hope my dad keeps up his annual fishing trip.  We'll take mom off his hands anytime...

She eats.

With Tessa turning 6 months old, it was time for her to start on some solids.  For a few weeks before, she was grabbing for bites and having "samples" when we were eating dinner.

Unlike her brothers who would have nothing to do with it when they were babies, she loved her first try of solids, and almost everything that we've given her since.

One day she was cracking us up by pulling this face if we didn't get another bite in fast enough:

She knows what dinner time means now.  She knows where the food is and is trying to figure out the quickest way to get it in her mouth

I'm not surprised she likes to eat so much.  After all, she has her figure to keep.

First Day of First Grade

The first day of school is here!  It doesn't seem like that long ago that I literally sat down and counted out how many weeks until the end of summer--wondering what we were going to do every day!  Somehow we filled up every minute (most of them at the city pool) and now it's time for Caden to head back to school.

I told Chad last night that Caden didn't know what was coming.  No matter how many times I explained to him the concept of being at school all day, he never really caught on..."So will I eat lunch at home, then go back to school?"  or "What about in the afternoon--where do I go then?"

I could hardly get Caden to eat any breakfast, and at one point, I caught him with his eyes crossed, saying it helped him not be nervous.

He had on his new shoes--tied and double knotted all by himself, and his wishes came true when it was raining so he got to wear his new Batman sweatshirt.

 I wasn't feeling too sad at all until this moment: Caden saying good-bye to Bryce. And then I lost it.   Because while I am fairly certain that I can survive all day without Caden, I am not sure at all about Bryce.

As Caden walked into his school, there was a huge balloon arch for students and the principal, staff and PTA lined the sidewalk giving all the kids high fives and cheering for each one.  

Next year, I think they need to do that for the moms and little brothers instead.