Back to School

It's here, finally. The first day of school. The kids have been counting down for weeks now anticipating the big day. They were giddy with excitement last night before bed and had a hard time falling asleep. I have to admit that although I wasn't looking forward to setting an alarm clock again and having to hustle to get kids off in the morning, I was kind of looking forward to them returning as well. A little peace and quiet in the afternoons. They picked out their outfits last night. Not very exciting outfits since they wear uniforms, but still . . . they got to pick which navy, white or red polo they'd wear. Hee hee.

It was so nice taking Blake to full day Kindergarten after having completed Kindersteps all last year. He was so ready! And it was nice having Hayley at the school to show him around and make sure he knew where to meet for pick up. So great that they have each other.

Hayley's teacher this year is Mrs. White who I've only heard great things about! Hayley's only question when she found out who she was: "Do you think she's a yeller?" (I think she gets enough yelling from me at home that she doesn't want a yelling teacher at school!)

And Blake got Mrs. Moore. There were only 6 boys in his class when I dropped him off!

I love this next picture. All of the students get right to work and couldn't care less about their parents. But all of the parents want to linger as long as possible in the back of the class and have a hard time leaving their little cuties.

I think I was more excited than them to have them get home so they could tell me all the details. Blake was excited that his "job" for the week is to carry the ball out to recess. Very cool. And Hayley couldn't stop talking about how nice her teacher is.

Now we're off to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate the big day. Any excuse for eating out . . .

Rock On!

Ok - So I was too cheap to buy my 7 year old a $100 ticket to Hannah Montana last time she was in Phoenix, so we were all excited to hear that her concert was going to be on TV -- and 3D at that! (Do any of you remember back in the day when Jaws came on TV in 3D? Ok - it may have been 25 years ago, but I still remember how cool it was!)

So I told Hayley & Blake we'd have a little party and watch the concert on Saturday! Gabbi and Tyson joined in the fun with us. We were ready with the snacks . . .

3D Glasses were on . . . it was countdown until 8:00 pm

And then the dancing and singing began and they were so dang cute. Seeing how much fun they had just watching it on TV, I must admit . . . I think I'll break down and buy a ticket for us next time she's in town!

So do you remember the first concert you ever went to as a kid? Mine was Debbie Gibson - oh yeah, baby. And the funniest thing was that my mom took my friend and I and the whole time she kept complaining that everyone was standing up and she couldn't see! Helloooo . . . You're a hoot, mom!

Now let's just keep our fingers crossed that Hannah stays innocent and doesn't pull a Britney.

Sunday Quote of the Day

Found this quote by President Hinckley that I just love:

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is.
It all works out. Don't worry.
I say that to myself every morning.
It will all work out.
Put your trust in God,
and move forward with faith
and confidence in the future.
The Lord will not forsake us.
He will not forsake us.
If we will put our trust in Him,
If we will pray to Him,
If we will live worthy of his blessings,
He will hear our prayers."

It's Here!

I'm so excited. I just heard that they've opened the Phoenix Children's Museum (http://www.childrensmuseumofphoenix.org/) and if it's anything like the one in San Diego, we're there! When we went to San Diego in May we had one day that was not scheduled with any activities. We went to Richard Walker's Pancake House for breakfast (http://www.richardwalkers.com/) and WOW was that one of the best breakfast places ever. If you visit San Diego, this restuarant is a must. Check out the menu. The omelette I ordered was the biggest one I've ever seen. Ok, enough about food . . .

Anyhow, around the corner from there we noticed the San Diego Children's Museum. Since we had nothing planned that day, we thought we'd stop in for awhile. We ended up spending the entire rest of the day there. The kids were able to paint a VW bug, create clay sculptures, design a pinewood derby type car and race it, play in a pillow fight room, climb a rock wall, play dress up, and paint a shadow puppet theater! They didn't want to leave even though it was closing time. After looking at the website for the new museum in Phoenix, they sound a lot alike. I'm hoping we can squeeze a trip in before school starts. Anyone in?

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July! We were able to go to our brother-in-law's family cabin up in Pinedale for the weekend, which has been the Foster tradition for the past few years. Yes, all 30 Fosters (13 adults and 17 children) pile into one house for the 4th of July holiday. Despite the craziness of this, we always have fun. I love that the cousins can run around together ALL DAY LONG outside! And while the kids play outside, this is what the adults do:

Lots of chatting, and yes, that's Brent leg wrestling his brothers. (At what age do they grow up? Hee hee) Another tradition that the kids do every year (thanks to Marcee) is the American Flag Cake. The kids love putting it together (and then MY kids love picking off the fruit when they eat it. Heaven forbid they eat anything healthy.)






















So the night of the 4th we headed to Show Low for the fireworks. Besides the absolutely gorgeous weather (it actually got cold enough to wear sweatshirts and jeans that night!!), I love the small town feel. We headed to the high school and everyone piles on to the football field and stakes out their spot with chairs and blankets.

















There are lots of inflatable slides and things for the kids to do while waiting for the fireworks to start, but luckily for our wallets, the kids had the most fun running races all night long!















The fireworks were kind of disappointing this year, but we all still enjoyed the evening.


On Saturday, most of the day was spent making robot costumes for the kids so they could be in a video that Jared wanted to do called Robot Parade. You can see it here:

ROBOT PARADE
http://www.vimeo.com/1293490

By the time the kids had made their costumes, it was kind of hot outside, and they weren't very happy robots. Cute nonetheless.




























What a great weekend. It was hard to leave knowing we'd be coming back to 110 degree weather. Oh well. Thanks again, Marc!

Play Date

Here are a few pics from the kids play date with Abby & McCade. Abby is Hayley's best friend from school and they were so excited to find out that they'll be in the same class again this year. (Little did I know that Abby's mom had requested that!) Hayley had gotten a kid's cookbook from the library and had picked out the snack she wanted to create when Abby came over -- a graham cracker card. They had fun following the recipe, but even more fun eating it after! We always have a blast when the friends come over. Hayley & Abby loved putting on make-up while Blake & McCade chased each other around the house with swords all afternoon. We got a new card game, Hit the Deck, and it's fun having kids old enough to play these types of games with. Chloe has a crush on McCade and loved chasing him around and sitting by him whenever she could.

We also went to see the movie Wall-E this week for FHE. And I can't say I was a huge fan of it. Yes, the animation was incredible, but it was a rather slow movie for kids. There was very little dialogue throughout the entire movie and it was a little hard my kids to follow. I don't think this will be on my list to buy!