Back to Reality

Well, September has certainly gone by fast.  With school back in session, you would think that I would have all the time in the world to recount our days, but no.  Really no.

Back to school was a little rough this year but things have smoothed out.  Henry started a new school and other than the bus ride to and from seems to like it.  William and Tessa have gotten back in the swing of things, finally.  It took a while but we seem to be settling in for the school year.

September is always busy.  Between the big school PTA fundraiser and the Primary program, there is a lot to do.  But as September winds down and those things are over, I am finding time to clean and reorganize and get things done that probably should have been done over the summer but weren't, because, you know, summer!  It's much more fun to take the kids swimming than to clean out my closets.  Plus I find I can get a lot done in a much shorter period of time if the kids are occupied at school.

Now we are gearing up for fall.  Bring it on!

School Days!

Today was the first day of school.  Other than Tessa throwing up (she has developed a really nervous stomach, bless her heart), things seemed to go well and everyone got to school.  It's only 9:30 am as I type this so hopefully things are OK.  I'm excited for the kids.  I'm really happy with William and Tessa's teachers and I anticipate them having a good school year.  Henry is at a new school this year - North Cache 8-9 Center - which I know nothing about but he's excited to go.  He's less excited about riding the bus again after two years at a school down the street but that's life.

William (5th Grade) and Tessa (3rd Grade)

Henry (8th Grade)

See Ya Later

This summer we were sad to say goodbye to some good friends the Nells.  William and Kyron are the same age and have been in the same school classes, Primary classes and Cub Scout groups for years.   Tessa and Kambree were born just a few weeks apart.  They were baptized on the same day and have been in the same Primary class since Nursery.  We will miss them as they head on their new adventure on the East Coast.  

We went with some friends to the splash pad in North Logan to play in the water:

 I'm not sure why I'm not smiling but everyone else looks wonderful!

 Cute girls!

William is already asking for an iPod touch for a joint birthday/Christmas present so he can text and Facetime with Kyron.  And Tessa is eager for a pen pal in Massachusetts.  We hope to stay in touch with them!

Olive Cart

Today in the car we were talking about back to school.  I was telling Henry that he should plan to eat lunch at school this year, at least for the first little bit.  For the past two years he has barely eaten lunch at school.  The lines are long, he doesn't like the food, he'd rather play basketball or whatever during lunch, and he got home so early (before 2:30 most days) that he could just eat a quick snack during the day to hold him over.  Whatever.  I wasn't going to force him to buy a lunch that he wouldn't eat so I dutifully sent peanut butter crackers in his backpack and figured he was old enough to not starve himself.

Anyway, he told me that he was, indeed, planning to eat at school because they had an olive cart.

Huh?

He meant, of course, that they have ala carte dining at his new school, where they can pick and choose from different offerings.  He is thinking that the lines will be shorter and he will have more choices.  But "olive cart"?  Seriously?  When I stopped laughing I asked him why he thought an olive cart would be good, since he doesn't like olives anyway.  He had heard me talk about ala carte options and just misunderstood the term, obviously.

William, aka Mr. Vocabulary, was quick to point out the correct term.

Jay, on the other hand, would love a lunch offering from the olive cart.  He'd be thrilled.

Henry, not so much.  I'm hoping to just get something more than peanut butter crackers in him during the day.  If he gets it from an olive cart, who am I to complain?

Shop Til You Drop

This past weekend Tessa and I attended what my sister-in-law Laura terms Estrogen Fest.  It is a fun weekend where all the ladies in the Wright family get together for food, fun and shopping.  We missed it last year because we were on our way home from Disneyland, but this year the stars aligned and we made the trip to Salt Lake City for some fun.

We shopped at City Creek Center.

 Went met Swoop at the Farmer's Market.

 We shopped til we dropped!

 We tried to go to see Music and the Spoken word, but settled for watching it in the Theater next to the main hall of the Conference Center since you had to be eight to be admitted to the live broadcast.

 We did go see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing their last song after the live broadcast was over.

It was a fun weekend, except for Elizabeth's tooth infection that sent her home early Saturday morning.  We are anticipating more fun with the Wright clan next summer.

While Tessa and I were gone, Jay took the boys over to Bear Lake for a day of boating with his boss.  They had a blast.  William got to drive the boat and only complained a little bit about "almost drowning" when the tube they were riding on flipped over on top of him.  Jay left his phone in the car so no pictures, unfortunately.  Oh well.

Teenage Dream

So Henry's a teenager.  I know conventional wisdom says we are supposed to dread the teenage years and he's been an official teenager for less than a day but I have a good feeling about teenage Henry.  He is really a good kid.  I know the next few years will bring a lot of changes to his life but I'm not worried about it now.  He is, generally speaking, a kind and responsible young man who doesn't seem to be on the road to rebellion.  At least not yet.

To celebrate I took Henry and a few of his friends to the Logan Aquatic Center today.  That is what is so great about a summer birthday - the weather is typically perfect for outdoor activities like swimming.  We spent the afternoon at the pool with pizza and snow cones.  He picked out an ice cream cake for tonight.  Easy-peasy.

His gift from us was a phone.  Not just an old phone that he can use as a glorified iPod.  A real, activated phone.  With his own number.  Jay was surprisingly resistant to the idea but eventually gave in.  There are lots of ground rules that he has to follow and heaven help him if he gets it taken away for breaking his school's cell phone policy.  He seems happy, though.

The birthday quote of the day goes to Tessa:  "Now that you are 13, Henry, I hope you don't turn into a punk."

Amen, sister.

Happy Birthday, Henry.  We love you!

Undefeated

William's Little League team played in the Cache Valley North Division Championship game last night.  They were undefeated leading into the game and William was nervous.  Heading into last season's playoffs they were undefeated as well and lost in the playoffs.  This year, they made it to the big game.  It was played in North Logan and the Hyde Park Rays played the Smithfield Reds.  It was a good game but the Rays prevailed, making them the champions!

The game made the local paper - here is a link:

http://news.hjnews.com/allaccess/hyde-park-rays-go-undefeated/article_543be518-13bf-11e4-93a1-0019bb2963f4.html

William had a good game.  He made it on base twice (he was hit by a pitch and walked) and stole home both times.  On his last at bat he hit a line drive that the first baseman jumped up to catch in a nice play.  He made two nice defensive plays as well - he chased a ball out from center field and held the runner at 2nd base with a nice throw to the shortstop and while he was playing shortstop he fielded a ground ball and threw the runner out at 2nd base.  

William loves playing baseball.  He really improved his hitting this year and was comfortable at several different defensive positions.  His coaches really worked hard with the kids and they all improved over the course of the year.  

Congratulations to the Hyde Park Rays!