Goodbye, Summer!

We spent the last week of the summer at Bear Lake. Boy howdy, it the perfect way to end the summer. It's lazy, warm and involves lots of swimming. All the things summer should be.

And because all of the Utah County Schools were back in session, there was hardly anybody up there. It was great.

School started today. Yeah!! And both kids are actually there and so far we haven't received any phone calls from the office telling us to come and get them. It is pretty heavenly. Last night, however, was a little bit awful. Jonah was stressed because he is in a new school this year (last year when the school year started we weren't in our house yet.) which is understandable. The poor kid is in 3rd grade and has already been to 3 different elementary schools. And Noel was a wreck because he was so nervous and the Anxiety Disorder was in full swing. There was about 1 hour yesterday where he just wandered the house and made sad little sounds. Part (most?) of his panic was about the fact that we had told them that during the school year they couldn't play video games during the week.

Surprisingly, this morning went mostly well. Noel seemed in better spirits, though he did tell me he could hardly sleep last night because he was so worried about the new video game rule. And as we walked to the bus stop he told me he was really excited to ride the bus, and he knew his teacher would be nice and he was sure it would be beautiful inside. Inside the bus? The school? These are the kind of nonsensical things Noel likes to say to keep us guessing. (Last night when Amy asked what Noel would like her to pack in his lunchbox he said, "Friendship.")

Long story short: Noel made it on the bus, but Jonah missed it, so I had to race Jonah to the school, in a panic that Noel would get there before me and not know where to go. And he did beat us there, but he just wandered around in the front of the school. We seemed to get them to their classrooms OK and I was feeling good. Until Amy said "So, they know which bus to get on to come home?" And I realized we had zero discussion of that. And Jonah never saw the bus or the bus driver. So we are relying on Noel, with his lunchbox full of friendship, to find the correct bus for the both of them.

They'll figure it out, right?

Girly girl

Lila is the ultimate girly girl. When presented with a choice, she will always pick the pink option. She picks her shoes before she picks her outfit and then changes them 10 times during the day. She is also sweet, agreeable, charming and easy to get along with. And she always wants to be involved. If Jonah is riding his bike, she wants to ride her bike. If I'm outside stretching after a run, she wants to be outside stretching with me. She's fantastic.

Today she got dragged along on a bunch of errands that didn't involve her and that she couldn't participate in and it was starting to wear her out. First we had to go register the boys for school. They were devastated because Jonah doesn't want to go to a new school this year (last year we started him in the school by Amy's mom's house because that is where we were living when the year started but this year his is in his regular school.) And Noel was devastated because he doesn't want to go to school at all. I had to promise them I would download TWO Minecraft Texture packs if they would come along with minimal complaint.

Lila kept asking "When do I get to start school? Who is my teacher going to be?" She will be in preschool but it isn't until October, which may as well be 2045 to a 3 year old.

Then it was off to get haircuts for me and the boys. Again, the boys were despondent. I promised we would download a Minecraft skin if they would be nice. So we made it through. But Lila cried the whole time because she loves getting haircuts but the place we were at was a barber shop and only did men's cuts. So Lila was again, out of luck.

Then it was off to Target for school supplies. Again, the boys were a little annoyed and just wanted to play Outwitters on the iPhone. Lila picked out a Hello Kitty Backpack and a Dora lunchbox and a pink ruler - none of which she could get because she doesn't need school supplies.

We felt bad. She'd been such a willing participant in a bunch of errands that were of no benefit to her. So we told her we would get her a purse instead. She was thrilled and happily chose one that was on sale for $3. Score. Then she picked out some chapstick to go inside. When we got home she insisted that she needed some money for her purse, because that is what mom has in her purse. She walked around all day with the purse slung over her shoulder. It's pretty darling.

Then she dropped the bomb. She informed Amy and I that her name is Lila and that she would only like to be called that from now on. No more Lulu. Or Lou. Or Magoodle. Just Lila. We felt sad. She seemed so grown up. But no so grown up that should wouldn't come cuddle with me on the bed.

In mid sentence describing her purse (which is the hot pink you can barely see clutched in her hands.) she fell asleep. All that being agreeable and running errands tuckers a girl out.

She slept for a while and then woke up, told us she had changed her mind and that we could still call her Lulu and Magoodle. And then when she saw that Jonah was outside on his bike, she went out to be involved. And had her purse in tow.

May - We are playing catch up here

May (I know, I know, it is almost July.) is home to two big events in our house. The first, though slightly smaller, is still much beloved and rejoiceful. It’s Bingham Book Day, celebrated on May 5^th. I have blogged about it 100 times before so I won’t go into detail. 

We try to support the independent bookseller for Bingham Book Day, except for the years that we are too tired and just go to Costco. And since we have lost our beloved Powell’s Books with the move to Utah, we went to Weller Book Works. It was lovely, if a little odd, but they sold book and that it what we are after. 

It was a successful outing and books were bought by all. Here was the loot:

Josh: The Family Fang - our June Bonne Heure book club choice and it is delightful.

Amy: The Art of Fielding - another winner

Jonah: Leo Geo - a kind of awesome sideways graphic novel. I 100% support the movement to graphic novels.

Noel: Some Lego Star Wars 3D book. Noel kept walking around the mall with the 3D glasses on going “Whoa! The whole world is in 3D!”

Lila: Little Bunny and Fairy board books. She insisted on getting 2 and Amy and I didn’t put up too much of a fight. 

We love Bingham book day. It is literally one of my favorite holidays. You, too should celebrate it. You can name it after your own family though. 

May also brings Lila’s birthday.  She turned 3 and she continues to be amazing and awesome and funny and delightful. 

For the months leading up to her birthday she insisted she wanted a Caillou birthday party complete with a Caillou cake. If you think I am going to let that little French-Canadian brat into my house, you have another thing coming. We tried desperately to get her to change her mind to any other theme. We even tried to get her to do a Pink Power Ranger Party (her other latest obsession) to no avail. Fortunately at the last minute, she switched to a Tinkerbell Birthday. Hallelujah.

Here is the cake I made. I’ve had to step up my cake making game now that I live in the same state as my sisters and sister-in-law who make some killer birthday cakes. Lila thought it was pretty awesome.

Here is the birthday girl with all of her (too much) loot. She is pretty spoiled. But she is cute so it is worth it. Luckily she had plenty of help opening it.

And here she is after the party in her new Tinkerbell dress, wings and red cowboy boots.

And that was May. I hope I can blog about some of the things we did in June before October.

I promise (not really) that this will be that last one (or many, many more.)

Remember how once this blog was about interesting things and now I just post pictures of what I bought at an antique store? Well, I promise I will think about not doing that anymore, maybe. But I had to post this one.

In La Settanta there is TONS of storage in every room except the master bedroom. It has two small closets (I guess at least there are two.) and that is it. It's small too, so there is only space for one dresser. I keep my sweaters, jeans and t-shirts in the linen closet in the hall. And Amy suffered in silence without adequate space. So we've been on the hunt for some sort of chest to go at the foot of the bed. We have looked high and low and finally came across this beauty.

It was an old cedar chest that was originally owned by the shop owner. I don't know why she was selling it. It is walnut and cedar lined. The little drawer on the bottom is real, but the doors on the front are fake. It pops open to reveal this gorgeous interior:

I mean, come on! It was too great to pass up.

I love having all this older furniture. It feels solid, has personality and looks great. We love it.