First Day

This can't be real. This isn't my kid I'm posting about.

I'm in some sort of alternate reality, I just know it.

Alas, he is certainly not...

What a stunning little man! Gosh, I am so proud of him!

He had such a great first day of Kindergarten!

Ryder wanted his own sign too :) I am sure grateful he has a few years left to chill with Mama. He's not so sure about being left behind though... he walked right into Cooper's class group behind him like he belonged there!

Handsome :)

He was so thrilled to finally get to wear his new shoes, tree frog shirt and backpack!

(Which match, he would tell you)

And this is what he did when I asked him to show me how excited he was...

Could you almost just burst looking at him?!

He is in afternoon kindergarten for now, so his teacher, Mrs. Schuster, and her aide met them all outside the school. She had them follow her when she stomped her feet, folded her arms and so on.

Then they all got in a line and followed her in...

... and I cried. I cried as I watched him even standing outside. I gave him our "I Love You" sign and he did it back to me- I was glad. :) I cried all the way home and wondered what I was thinking not homeschooling him! I really am glad that he is so excited and so ready. He will do great, I have no doubt. Mrs. Schuster will be more than I could ever be. And Ryder and I will have playdates- (thanks to my new friend Janna for having us over to play today- it really helped me relax!)- and dress-up together and play trucks, dinosaurs, guys and ball, and maybe nap. And then go pick up our Cooper after just three hours- thank heavens!

Establishing Traditions.... Welcoming School

Cooper took this adorable little gift to his new teacher, Mrs. Schuster, during Back to School night this last week. (I used the cute printable found here.) He couldn't have been more thrilled seeing the backpack hook with his name on it, putting school supplies in their appropriate bin, discovering the playground equipment and meeting his teacher. He thought they were best friends by the time we left. :) I got a dose of the reality of my little man going to school and felt rather overwhelmed, honestly... we'll see how tomorrow goes... PS... I love this peach mango green tea- yum!

Taking a page right straight from here, I decided it would be fun to do a nice dinner and introduce a sort of theme the night before school starts each year. I made lasagna and we talked to Cooper about a little phrase he could keep in his head to help him through the school year...

It's just a snippet from the primary song "Nephi's Courage," but it's a thought that I liked and I know that Coop knows. I know that he truly can ask his Heavenly Father for help in anything as he goes through his days at school, from crossing the monkey bars to understanding what is being taught to recovering when kids are mean. I know the Lord truly does provide a way. And hopefully he'll remember to be obedient too ;) No doubt I'll have to remind him of  this theme a lot, but maybe there will be those little times that I won't too...

Ya know, the thing about Cooper... he's really just so excited about everything! He faces life with this abounding excitement. And oftentimes it translates into disobedience or ignorance... And I surely do want him to listen and obey. But I want him to stay excited too. All the way around, by some miracle, I pray he will :)

Then after dinner, Stephen gave both of the boys a really nice Father's blessing- I remember this being a tradition as I was growing up. :) More fun first day adventures to come tomorrow! I'm sure grateful I'll have Ryder to snuggle close before I have to drive away from that little brick building with cute, colorful chairs and bright signs inside...

Savoring Summer

Lovely times like this- with my feet propped on the water table watching the boys slip n'slide- are about to be more sporadic... not non-existent for sure, just more infrequent... what with school starting and all. This last week, we spent most days just enjoying home and playing in the yard, trying out a few things we've been wanting to do this summer.

We loved these water pinatas last year, but hadn't done them at all yet this year! The boys really  got into them again- ya know, getting to bang on something with the bat= automatic fun :)

Painting outside :) Spraying the table off with a hose= the only way to do it!

These are some pics from Ryder's birthday- he wore this cute little tag to church and was so proud of it! He woke up to these simple streamers too :) 

I love these simple pics of the boys and I. I shot them on my phone while they were snuggled close to me outside late in the day. We were playing "the car game," where we sit facing the busy road and listen for cars coming, then try to guess and shout out whether it's a pickup or a car- pure silliness :)

The boys could have done this baking soda/ vinegar experiment for twice as long as we had time for it! I put plain baking soda in a small bowl, then combined vinegar and food color in a cup. They use small medicine droppers to suck up the vinegar and spit it into the baking soda to watch it foam up- super cool and simple! I'd seen this idea here.

 We also did a trip to the zoo this last weekend as a last hoorah... but that'll have to be it's own post :)

Island Park Fun

We had an awesome time this year at Island Park! I can't say I hope these trips are stacked on top of each other next year, but I can say it was a great time nonetheless! Stephen got in some great fishing in his very favorite area with his brothers, and my sisters-in-law never fail to have fun ideas and tons of energy. 

I sure felt like I did terrible taking pictures this trip- I desperately needed my smaller camera! Several of these pictures I borrowed from our friend Jodie's Facebook album! 

We went to Big Springs to see some large fish- the boys loves looking over the bridge for them. We also went through Johnny Sacks Cabin while we were there- wouldn't it be awesome if a person could still just stake a piece of ground and go to work making his own little paradise?! Here the kids are sitting along some stairs just outside the cabin.

Here's what the Tree Mail pockets looked like- the kids loved this again! It's a nice way to give them something to do. Most everyone got really into the ticket game we tried- Cooper was beyond thrilled whenever he got a ticket! My sweet niece Chelsea won the big prize with 12 tickets in the end! I'll definitely remember to do this again in the future.

This year Stephen, Ryan, Marvin and Cannon all had pontoon boats to fish in- they put them to great use for sure! When we all floated down the river near our camp, Stephen just tied our little raft onto the back and rowed us along behind him- nice time to relax! After the rafting, all the kids piled into the back of the truck and tried to get trucks passing by to honk- how could any driver resist? ;)

One morning we hiked down to Sheep Falls, near Mesa Falls. Taron and Keaton kept trying to give their Dad and heart attack sitting so close to the edge! It was neat to see and just neat to get out and all be together.

My in-laws and their families- they take care to the girl quota and we got the boys! ;) I love all of my little nieces- they are each fun and happy to be around :)

That night we went to a show at the Macks Inn Playhouse. It was a comedy called "HOME School Musical"- pure cheese, but super fun and funny to watch! I love musicals :) The funnest part of the whole thing was when my brother-in-law Marvin got brought up on stage as an audience participant! He had to hula hoop up there and dang was he good at it! The highlight of the show for all of us :) Our group of Buffats was something like 28 people and the guy up on stage kept referring to us some way or another- a super fun night for sure! This is the teenagers all enjoying the show together- I love these kids! I think we saw Taron and Keaton for something like 45 minutes this whole trip- otherwise, they were tearing up trails and goofing around as a group somewhere :)

One afternoon we also went down to Island Park Reservoir for some beach fun. This was a unique addition to a Buffat trip as far as I've known them- I loved having the beach/ water be part of the trip! Stephen and his brothers all jumped off the dock and that started everyone in on jumping :)

That night Jodie ...I should mention- Cannon and Jodie Corrington are friends and we truly think of them like part of the family.... anyhow, she put together this candy tape ball game. You created a ball of candy by sticking the candies to a wide strip of tape and then wrapping it all up together- see it in Keaton's hands above? Then someone rolls the dice while the player with the candy ball tries to un-roll the tape and get as many pieces as they can. Their turn at candy hunting ends when the player rolling the dice gets a double! Then both the ball and the dice go to the next players- super fun idea! It ended up being harder than you would think to get the candies out!

As we were packing up camp, Ryder found the water spicket! I love these pics of him :) Wow, were both he and Cooper dirty by this time!But it was an awesome time- my in-laws are fun and comfortable to be around and I'm grateful for all of them! We are blessed... again... still :)