Back 2 School

 Finally time for a real school day! Reagan started the Spectrum program at a new elementary school.

 

And Daryn continued the PAL program- same teacher as last year!

 

Off they go!

 

We managed to still have some fun at home without them. Dixie got some sun.

 

Maddie and Blade had fun playing cars and making Blade a "bed".

 

Sometimes he felt left out, though. 

 

Since they've been on a hybrid schedule for the first month of school (2 days at school, 3 days doing remote learning at home), we've taken advantage of the extra time and slightly cooler temperatures. Visits to the skatepark and splash pad!

Our first and only visit this summer. Much less crowded with lots of kids in school!

 

 

 

 

 

On the way home we stopped by the recently-announced site for the Syracuse temple. This will be the 4th temple within 30 minutes of us when it is complete!

 

A friend on Facebook inspired me to make this herb bread and it was soooo good. Lance and I gobbled it up. The girls were on the fence. 

No hesitation about National Ice Cream Sundae Day, though!

 

Dixie loves to play with her sisters and doesn't mind being manhandled a little bit.

 

She's a little more wary of Blade (with good cause).

 

Story time with Dad is the best!

 

Practicing "grappling" her dog through the railing. We watch a lot of You Vs Wild. 

 

Blade wanted to try sitting on the potty for a few days. I let him but kept my expectations low, and he got bored of it pretty quickly. 

 

Lance took Meagan to dinner for her birthday, and the day before he volunteered for a swing shift at the pasta mill. So I was on my own for dinner for 2 days. So while he was doing this:

 

We were doing this:

 

Basically the same. 

 

Lance really misses working from home...

 

For Labor Day weekend, we decided to visit Fort Buenaventura on Saturday. Everyone wanted to do some fishing. 

We weren't having much luck at first until Reagan realized she could just drop a line next to the bank where the small bass were swimming and catch one almost every time. Things were a lot more fun after that. 

 

Later that evening during dinner, Reagan invented fry-brows. Funny but then everyone wanted to try it. 

Cleaning up the yard in preparation for a windstorm and I realized I'd been neglecting the zucchini's...yikes. 

Monday was a quieter day but Maddie got a father's blessing in preparation for school starting and I can't get over how still and reverent she was for the whole thing.

 

She was saving her energy for the BYU game and it was super fun and also a little painful watching BYU cream Navy. Go Cougs!

Reagan and Daryn have been taking a cooking class and loving it.

 

In fact... last Sunday was National Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day and they sure did. They made themselves nachos for lunch and then went all out for dinner. Homemade pasta and marinara sauce from scratch with their recipes from cooking class. Cheesy broccoli and spinach, and lemon squares for dessert. Completely on their own, without any help from Lance or I. It was pretty impressive and delicious. Sadly, they did not clean up the kitchen afterwards. 

Reagan also made this peach pie all on her own. She made up the recipe which involved making a separate buttery sauce so the end result was interesting... I'm so proud of her kitchen exploits!

 

This boy is so silly and so so smart. Apparently he knows the ABC song (thanks, Maddie!) and yesterday he used "probably" and "maybe" correctly. Not bad for a 2.5 year old!

 

But his favorite thing is to play puppy and lick me. 

 

After a 2 day delay due to a hurricane-level windstorm (110 mph gusts in SLC, close to 200,000 without power, but luckily we had no damage), Maddie finally got to start school! She is going 5 mornings a week at a Montessori preschool near her sisters' schools. I miss having her sunny face around but she is loving it. 

 

Miss Eviee is great!

 

Another big change on the same day- Reagan got braces! She'll have them on for around 15 months right now and then again when she's a teenager. Poor girl's teeth were sore for a week but she's doing great with them.

 

Blade has no respect for personal property. Every time we go on a walk, he just saunters up to any house that he finds interesting. It's ridiculous. 

 

We had a brief visit with Grandpa when he was in town for a funeral. When Daryn found out he would pay a dollar for a pulled tooth, she decided her front tooth was coming out, ready or not. It's been sticking out awkwardly for several weeks since she's been pushing on it with her tongue. 

 It wasn't that loose to start but she wiggled and wiggled until she could finally twist it and then yanked it out. She got a dollar from Grandpa and a silver quarter from the tooth fairy and her new tooth is already growing in. So win-win-win.

 

Dixie like Grandpa's fuzzy face!

 

Frozen 2. Works like a charm, every time. 

It's never too early to begin playing dress-up!

Dixie's face when Lance showed her the Cinderelly video. 

Church from the viewpoint of a two year old.

 

 

And how a freshly-made bed appears to a two year old. A blank slate to play in! Sigh...

Our temple is coming along! They are building the foundation walls. 

 

 Lance's parents were here for a few days and we drove up to Park City to celebrate Brent's birthday. Lucky guy!

While they were here we got to go on a date! Sicilia Mia has been calling our name for a while.  Lance tried out a squid ink sauce dish which was super weird to look at. 

My pasta on fire was a little more appealing to the eye. Both were delicious (supposedly).

Then we spent the evening at Frightmares at Lagoon! So fun to be there without the kids. I felt 10 years younger and a little nauseous at the end of the night. 

Spending alone time with him is my favorite. Lagoon is also my favorite. Win-win.