Taya's School Birthday Treat

The schools here in CA are SO different than the schools in VA.  Actually, every school we go to seems to have different rules for birthdays.  Here in CA, it's up to the individual teachers as to what the kids can & can't bring for their birthdays.  So each of my kids will have different things depending on the teacher.

Taya always has the "first" birthday of the school year since all my other kids are Spring babies.  Her teacher asked that we bring in something healthy like fruit so Taya chose rainbow fruit skewers.  They were really fun to make & they were so pretty.

Taya was happy to hand them out to her whole class who surprisingly ate them up like they were candy.  I'm glad everyone liked them.

Happy Birthday Taya!

Music & Witches & Pirates . . . Oh My

September has been a relatively calm month at the Potter house which has been really nice.  We've had a few mini adventures, but nothing huge.

Bladen got a lot of Singing Measles at Primary last Sunday meaning he knew all the words to all the Primary program songs.  He was pretty excited about it.

Costco (& most stores) have their Halloween things out which has been quite the adventure for Canyon.  Halloween is my favorite holiday, but it's still a new thing to him & he gets really excited to see the witches at Costco every week when we go.

Bladen lost one of his front teeth at school this month & now he's the cutest toothless wonder you've ever seen in your life.

Cadence & Lorien helped me set up a See's Candy fundraiser for the band/orchestra at their middle school to help pay for their Disneyland music trip this year.  It was really fun getting to know all the music kids that live here on base.  We had 8 students help us out with the fundraiser & we raised quite a bit of money for each student.

And you cannot forget "Talk Like A Pirate Day."  I scooped up Craiger from Kindergarten & put us all in pirate costumes so we could go get free donuts at Krispy Kreme.  We came home with 3 full dozen.  It was awesome.

Overall, it's been a GREAT month.  

But I must admit. . . . I simply CANNOT wait for OCTOBER & costumes & Halloween & all the fun that comes with it.  Only a few more days . . . 

Camping At Big Basin

FINALLY, we got to go camping this year.  Of course it was after school started & we were rushing to get up there before dark, but it was SO MUCH FUN.

We reserved a campsite at Big Basin almost 3 months in advance so we've been waiting for this camping trip for a while.  Tylee was able to join us too which made it even funner.

My favorite part of camping: FOOD.

I threw together some AMAZING tin foil dinners to throw into the campfire as soon as we got to camp.  The kids just ate hot dogs, but we ate like kings.  Yum.

Big Basin is just beautiful.  Who knew they had mountains like this in California?  The trees were HUGE redwood trees & everything was just peaceful & perfect.

The kids' favorite part of camping is exploring.  We explored all sorts of trails & bridges & campsites.  They loved it.

The trees up there really are spectacular.  GORGEOUS & SO BIG.

The KING OF THE FOREST was the biggest Redwood tree at Big Basin.  It was almost 300 feet tall & huge around the base.  

It was really fun to finally get to go camping in the Redwood forest.  Now that we've done it once, we can't wait to do it again . . . & again . . . & again . . . & again.

Grandma K.'s 90th Birthday Celebration

Happy 90th birthday to Trek's sweet grandmother.  I love Grandma K.  She's the sweetest, most adorable, amazing person.  I'm so glad I married into her sweet family.

For her 90th birthday we had a celebration just for her.  Trek's mom & 2 Aunties took grandma out for a dinner cruise the night before her party.  They ate & danced the night away.

Saturday morning we woke up early & celebrated Tuhk's birthday.  (Lots of Potter birthdays in August)  We celebrated at McDonald's of course.  The kids loved that.  Uncle Tuhk did too.

Though it was a really short trip (one day), the kids loved being at Opa & Oma's house.  Tuhk set up some movies for them while the grown ups talked about Grandma's life.  (Notice my husband is one of the "kids")

And all my kids got some snuggle/love time with their great grandma, great Aunties, grandparents, & aunts & uncles.  It was WONDERFUL family time.

Mom hung up 90 pictures of grandma all around the house.  It was really fun going around & looking at all the pictures of her, especially the pictures from her childhood.  She enjoyed telling us the stories about each picture. . . where she was, how old she was, & what she was doing.

My favaorite thing from the whole celebration was this picture right here.  Three generations of THREE SISTERS.

There is Grandma K. surrounded by her 3 daughters (Trek's mom is on the far right back row),

Then there is Trek's 3 sisters & my 3 daughters on their laps. 

It may have been a short trip, but it was worth every second.  

Happy Birthday Grandma K.  We love you.

1st Day of School

It's that time again.  I can't believe another school year is already starting.  And this year I have 

FIVE KIDS

in school.  Holy moly.  Only one at home.  How does that even happen?

Craiger is a Kindergartner this year.  How exciting is that?  He's been waiting 2 years to join his big brother at school.  He's been so excited & loves his new teacher Mrs. Fox.

Craiger Boone Potter

Age 5

Kindergarten

Mrs. Fox

Favorite Color: Dark Blue

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up: A Dad

Bladen is excited to be the big brother at school.  He's in 2nd grade this year & he got the same teacher Taya had last year.  He LOVES math & can't wait for the new school year.

Bladen Maxwell Potter

Age 7

2nd Grade

Mrs. Valentine

Favorite Color: Orange

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up:  A Scientist

Miss Taya is the big kid at the Elementary School now.  She also got a part in the school play.  She's excited to take on the world this year in 3rd grade.

Taya Ti'Ata Potter

Age 8

3rd Grade

Mrs. Fletcher-Perry

Favorite Color: Orange

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up: Disneyland Cast Member (a girl after my own heart)

This is Cadence's last year in Middle School.  Next year she'll start High School & Early Morning Seminary.  She's a Web Leader at school & loves everything about school.  She even took an extra class after school this year: Journalism/Writing/Debate.

Cadence Cherry Potter

Age 13

8th Grade

Favorite Color: Pink & Teal

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up: Oboeist & Chef

And my little Lorien isn't little anymore.  She's a middle schooler this year.  She's nervous, but excited to be out of the Elementary School & onto bigger & better things. 

Lorien Danielle Potter

Age 11

6th Grade

Favorite Color: Yellow

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up: A Mom

My happy school aged kids.

I did cry dropping Craiger off in his Kindergarten class.  Why can't they stay little forever?  I love this kid so much.

And now it's just me & Canyon at home.  It's fun having some alone time with him.  He's such a cutie.  I don't know what I'm going to do when he starts school in a couple of years.  :-) 

Happy 1st Day of School everyone!!!

*PS - So. . . now that we've had school for a few weeks I want to add that the school pick-up schedule here is horrendous.  They really need busses here.  I leave my house at 1:30 to pick up Craiger at 2:00.  Kindergarten gets out earlier than all the other grades.  Then I drive to the middle school to pick up Lo at 2:55, back to the Elementary school to get Bladen at 3:10, back to the middle school to get Cadence at 3:50, & back to the elementary school at 4:20 to pick up Taya from play practice.  YIKES.  BUT . . . on the positive side, it's giving me time to read again.  I've forgotten how much I love books & it's really been years since I've read.  Now I'm reading 3-4 500+ page books a week which is AWESOME.