1st Day of School 2018-2019

Can you believe it's time for school already?  This summer passed way too quickly.  The kids are excited to get to know some new friends, a new school, & have new adventures.

Cadence is a Sophomore (10th grade) this year.
She still has early morning Seminary where she
is studying The Doctrine & Covenants.
She has 3 band classes: Marching Band, Symphony
Orchestra, & Percussion Ensemble.  She also has
all her fun normal 10th grade classes.

Lorien is an 8th grader this year.  She gets her
schedule the first day of school so it was a surprise
to her what classes she has.  All of the elective
classes were full (the joys of being a military
child) so she doesn't get choir or theater, but an
extra Language Arts class instead.  I hear it's
different than what you'd think though so she's
going to give it her all.  She will also be in drama
club here which she is THRILLED about.

Taya starts 5th grade.  She is bubbly & fun &
ready to meet new friends & take on the world.

Bladen man is in 4th grade & is nervous, but
excited to see what 4th grade has to offer.
He made 3 friends his first day (which is HUGE
for Bladen) so I'm super proud of him.

Craiger is a 2nd grader this year & he is just
plain happy to be Craiger.

And my sweet little Canyon-land is a
Kindergartener this year.  He's excited to ride the bus,
have a real backpack & teacher just like his
brothers & sisters.

I cried after they all got on their busses.

The house is MUCH TOO QUIET without them home.  I miss them already.

It's been 16 years since I've not had a kid at home.  I don't know what to do with myself.  I guess it's time to get working on my Halloween costumes.

Canyon Date Night

Trek & I go on dates twice a month, but the other two Saturdays, we do one-on-one dates with each of the kids.  We have a calendar that rotates through them so they each get some one-on-one time with each parent.  We've done this for a while, but I thought "Hey, why am I not taking pictures of these dates with my kids so that we can look back on them?"

So Saturday night was our first one-on-one date night here in Alabama.  I got to go out with Canyon & Trek went out with Cadence.  They went to dinner & then Trek let Cadence drive for an hour & a half so she could get more comfortable behind the wheel.  He said it was really nice just talking to her.

I got to have a date with Canyon.  My little baby boy who starts Kindergarten soon.  He wanted to go to the big park to play so I took him to Pratt Park because it's his favorite here.

After playing in the hot humidity for 40 minutes!!!!!!! we headed over to his favorite restaurant in the whole world, Chick-fil-a.  He got his favorite chicken nuggets, fries, & milk.

But his favorite part is always the ice cream.

It was just a simple little date, but boy do I love spending time with my kiddos.  Canyon is getting too big too fast.  It makes my heart sad, but I know he's going to grow up to be an amazing young man.  I love him so much.

Getting Ready for School

School starts really early here in Prattville.  My poor kids didn't get much of a summer with all the moving, but I think they'll be happy to get into a real routine again.

Craiger managed to loose his top front tooth 2 days before school started.  He is the most adorable toothless wonder you've ever seen.

And Cadence has her Marching Band uniform all ready to be worn.  She is rocking it in Marching Band this year.  I've never seen her so happy which makes me really happy.

All the kids had school open houses 2 days before school started.  We got to meet their teachers, bring in the school supplies, & get familiar with the schools.  All 6 open houses were on the same day.  Let's just say I'm glad that day is over with.  It was crazy.

First we went to the Kindergarten & got to meet Canyon's teacher.  She is an angel.  He found his cubby hole, where to hang his backpack, sat in his desk, & found his folder.

He is SO excited to finally start school.  He has the most sought after teacher at the entire school.  He's going to love it there.

Taya starts 5th grade this year & has 2 wonderful teachers.  She spends most of her time with her homeroom teacher though, & goes to the other teacher for english & history.

I'm completely in love with Craiger's 2nd grade teacher.  She loves Mickey Mouse & her classroom is all red, black, & white Mickey's EVERYWHERE.  Her curtains are Mickey, her calendar dates are Mickey, her hall passes are Mickey.  I LOVE HER.  Craiger is going to have a blast in her class.

Bladen is a big boy 4th grader this year.  He also has a homeroom class & a 2nd block class.  He loves his homeroom teacher.  He will be with her for English & history & move to his other teacher for math & science.  She's a sweetheart.  I think she's going to be great for him.

We are a little nervous, but VERY excited for school to start.  Hooray for a new school year.

Happy Birthday Harry Potter

In the Potter house, we try to celebrate Harry Potter's birthday every year.  Our last name is Potter, so how could we not?  The kids decided they wanted to invite a few friends from church over to have a Harry Potter movie marathon so I thought, sure, this will be fun.  So I posted a little something on the  young women's facebook page (that's the girls ages 12-18 in our church congregation) saying to come watch 2 movies.  I went & bought some food to feed them lunch & make some butterbeers & popcorn while they watched.

Well, apparently word travels really fast here.  Not only did a lot of girls show up, but a TON of teenage boys from church showed up too.  Then I realized there were girls & boys from the other ward (congregation) here as well.  We had over 25 teens here for 5 hours.  Luckily, I ALWAYS over buy food for things like this.  I was lucky I did because these kids devoured my pantry.

Yes, it was a TON of kids.  Yes, it was a little crazy.  But you know what?  It was a blast.  My girls had fun.  We met TONS of new people who are now my kids' friends at their new school, & we are all happy.  What a great opportunity to meet people.  I'm SO glad the word got around & that so many kids showed up.  We had a blast.

Be Afraid, Be VERY Afraid

So this just happened.  In the state of Alabama, you can get your learner's permit on your 15th birthday.  Cadence is actually 6 months behind!  But she studied hard, took her permit test, passed with flying colors, & is now a permit licensed driver in Alabama.

So now she is allowed to drive anywhere & everywhere as long as Trek or I are in the car with her.  We added her to our insurance & we have an "almost full fledged driver" on our hands.  Wahoo.

She is taking driver's ed at school where she will first get her boating license (What?!?!?  Alabama is kind of weird), & then she'll get her full license when she turns 16 in February.