1st Annual Summer Kick-off Party

Cooper's last day of kindergarten was yesterday!

The day was a bit of a roller coaster ride for the little guy. When I woke him up in the morning I told him that tomorrow he didn't have to wake up for school. He told me he wanted to go to school and didn't want to have a break from school all summer long. Jake, the kids and I went to Cooper's school for the handing out of the kid's certificates and a slide show his teacher, Mr. Hall, put together of the whole year. Mr. Hall was so sweet recognizing each child and telling a little about each one. He said that Cooper was a model of responsibility and excited to be at school and that it showed in his work. He got very teary the whole morning, you could see how much he loves his job and the children he teaches. It's got to be hard having a group of kids every day then watching them move on each year. We appreciated his work so much this year. He is THE BEST kindergarten teacher ever. Every time I visited the classroom and observed him with the kids I could tell how great he was with them. It takes a special person to be in a room with 30 five and six year olds on the daily!!! He was SO organized and communicated SO well with us as parents. Cooper absolutely loved him and cried the whole way home from school yesterday when he realized Mr. Hall wouldn't be his teacher next year :(

We took all the kids to get an ice cream bar to celebrate then played at the park.

We decided a few weeks ago that we want to have a little party at the end of each school year to get summer started and at the end of the summer we'll have a little party to get ready for the next school year to start. Our party included yummy, fun hawaiian haystacks. I literally cannot remember the last time we had a dinner with ZERO complaints but it happened last night! The kids loved it, Jake had never had it and my neighbor had never heard of them. I'm pretty sure it's a Mormon thing? It typically takes cream of chicken soup but I don't like using cream of anything so I found this recipe. You can do whatever toppings you like. We had all the toppings chopped up in individual bowls and everyone built their own. That's probably the reason they all liked it so much.

During dinner we compiled our 2013 Summer Bucket List. We're traveling to Utah and Washington so we thought of some items that worked in all three states.


Here are a few pictures from our day:

Cooper's HUGS award

Cooper's teacher called me a couple of weeks ago to inform me that Coop was receiving the first HUGS award for the kindergarteners. HUGS at the school stands for Huge Undertakings Great Successes. They recognize a different grade each Friday at an assembly and there are two boys and two girls from each class in that grade who receive the award. Cooper was recognized for his leadership, kindness and responsibility. (My mom just so happened to be here for it too!!) Just a few days ago a mother came up to me when we were dropping kids off at school and told me that her son told her about a time he fell down at recess and was crying and Cooper came to make him feel better. My heart just about burst when she told me. We tell him every day as he goes to school to be a good boy for his teacher and a good friend to his classmates.What a sweet boy he is! So glad he was recognized for his efforts.

One week down

Well we made it through our first official week of law school and kindergarten! Jake had a whole week of orientation/classes before the first real day of school but he and Cooper shared their first day. We made pancakes and took pictures (which I can't post because the card doesn't fit in the mac :/ ). Jake left shortly after me and the kids. It's nice that we have him in the morning to have breakfast with and read scriptures and pray together. Me and the kids walked Cooper to school every morning. It's about 2mi roundtrip. Can I just tell you that it is SO NICE being able to count on walking out your front door every morning into the sunshine!!! I love walking to school in the morning. Luckily Cooper got AM kindergarten and goes from 8am-1130am. Once Jack, Adele and I make it home we have a snack, work on stuff, play, Adele takes a nap and then we hop in the car to go pick Coop up. It's still too blazing hot to take the kids on a 2 mi walk right around noon. We probably walk both ways come fall. I love getting the workout and I think the kids enjoy being outside in the morning.

Every day that Cooper came home from school he was a little grumpier than the previous day. By Wednesday I had to force him to take a nap. Cooper has never been a napper but he NEEDED it. He came home everyday with stickers on his hands from being a good boy, so I think he's fine at school but by the time he gets home he just emotional and whining about everything!! We also spent a few afternoons swimming at our new friends pool with them. Another reason I love Cali. (You'll read that line a lot... just a warning.) Cooper never seems to be able to remember any kid's names or what he did at school but he is saying that he's having a lot of fun and there haven't been any tears about having to go to school. He's been excited every morning!

Jake has had quite the load so far. But considering all the horror stories we've heard I'm surprised how much time we've actually had with him. We were able to spend some of Tuesday evening with him. Also a good chunk of Saturday. I'm sure it won't be like that every week but he's been super great at working really hard every day and getting the most out of every hour he spends studying so that when he is home, he's HOME. He treats this like a full-time (and then some) job where he decides on a daily basis how long he needs to be at school so he's ready for the next few days.

Although I miss seeing him, I understand he has to be gone a lot. I feel very blessed with how smoothly me and the kids' transition has been into life without him around as much. Me especially. It was a big change going from working a lot and having him around a lot of the time and being able to run errands without kids where we're at now. I know it's a huge blessing living with our friends too. They help me so much every single day. Megan goes running with me in the evening and it's some awesome end of the day therapy! We have some good talks during that hour. Brandon comes home from 12-14 hour days and plays with the kids. They are some awesome friends. We had a nice weekend to gear up for the next week and I am ready for it!

Holding back tears

This picture.....ohhhh how it tugs at my heartstrings. 

Look at this little boy! He is going into Kindergarten this year and we got him registered today. The lady in the office asked, "Are you excited to start school?" Cooper replied very matter-of-factually, "Yeah. I've been waiting for this my whole life." I'm so excited FOR him. The kid has just wanted to be in school for so long now....but as I look at his tiny little body in front of this big sign my "inner mom" weeps. I know every mother goes through this at some point, watching her little bird stand at the edge of the nest with their tiny little wings and puffed up chests thinking they could fly around the world without any worry that they're leaving their momma. It's just really hard to put into words the realization I'm having about him going to school and knowing he will NEVER again be at home all day with me. Oh how I should have savored the little things!!! Oh how I could have done less complaining about his non-stop inquiries and stories!!!  Cooper is such a funny boy who loves to make people laugh. He is a total crowd pleaser and thrives around people, both familiar and not. He does so well including others and making sure people are happy. When someone is hurting or sad his tender little heart can't help but sympathize.  He is so mindful of spiritual things and I can tell that he recognizes the holy spirit in his life. He is wise for his age when it comes to compassion, right and wrong, responsibility and the reality of a loving Heavenly Father above.

We have our children all to ourselves for such a short period of time when considering the time frame of our lives. Thank goodness for half day kindergarten. I get one more year with Cooper (mostly) to myself. Not to mention how much Jack will miss him for a few hours everyday. We'll have to make that our special time together while we wait for Cooper to be done for the day.

I sure love this sweet boy and his giant heart. What a great fall we'll have around here with a new kindergartner and a first year law student. I'm so proud of my boys!!