Labor Day @ Bear Lake: Uncles

Uncles {and brothers} are the coolest.

Especially if you're a little boy.

They take you golfing.

They throw you up in the air until you can't tell if your squeals are from having fun or being so scared you think you might pee your pants. 

And they build teepees on the beach.

I'm so glad my brothers are the cool ones and will play with my kids. It means a lot to me and I know to Cole. He absolutely worships the ground they walk on, especially Uncle Kurtis.

Labor Day @ Bear Lake: 4 wheeler rides

We spent Labor Day weekend at Bear Lake.

I'm so glad Jeff found a hobby to do there so he will keep taking us up to "my happy place."

The only problem is the boy loves 4 wheeler rides more than Jeff does. He tells me almost every single day that when he is 8 he can get a motorbike. Which is technically true and my fault for lecturing him about Utah's ATV laws. 

Oh well. At least I've got him completely brainwashed with helmet safety messages. Anytime he sees someone on an ATV or motorcyle or bicycle he tells me if they are wearing a helmet or not and if they aren't, that their mom is going to kick their butt.

Now I've just got to work on the whole no "crazy driver" thing Jeff does {or at least the kids perceive him doing... just because he goes faster than me and goes off jumps and lets them hit the throttle once in awhile} he loves so much.

1st Day of School {only 4 weeks late}

I'm only four weeks late with the traditional first day of school photos.

I wanted to try and get some pictures of the kids before the actual first day of school. I figured Pearl was going to be so hyped up the last thing she'd want to do is fake a smile at her mother. I should have tried my luck when she was actually excited to put on her school clothes and pretend to go to school. There was a lot of whining and screaming on my part to "smile" and "look happy" and "look at me with your eyes" and "smile nice"... why? Why? Why?

Oh well. That little pipsqueak is still cute.

"Mom. Seriously?! Uh, this is so lame! I am totally annoyed at you."

And the famous face when she is absolutely DONE with pictures. Every. Single. Time. {And yet, these pictures always make me laugh and smile.}

Not to be left out, Cole insisted on joining our little photo shoot. Do you think he is influenced at all by his big sister?

And we can't forget the furry child. She's never far from me or Cole.

Pearl is doing fabulous in school. She's made new friends and really likes her teacher. A little boy in her class ran up to me the other day and said, "Are you Pearl's mom? Can she have a play date with me? We're friends." She's well behaved in class, listens, and tries really hard on all of her assignments and tasks. Pearl is way ahead with reading and gets 100% on her math tests. She loves, loves, loves her after school program too. And having the option {"We have CHOICES Mom!"} to eat hamburgers and grapes for lunch everyday - mixed in with the occasional PBJ from home {I need to step up my "sack"lunch game} - is an added bonus to her day. We haven't had very many arguments or meltdowns about bedtime or getting ready for the day because she is so excited to go to school every day. Now the homework... that's taken some getting used to. Thank heavens for after school programs and Jeff! Homework is always done and ready to turn in on Friday.

Now the boy. He's a whole other story. That twerp practically lives in timeout at school {and home some days too}. I feel bad for the kid and think some of the expectations the teachers have for a three-year-old boy are kind of ridiculous. He never naps, not even at home, and he doesn't know how to use "an inside voice" really well so during nap time he gets in a lot of trouble. But how in the world is he supposed to sit still without making a sound for two hours on a tiny mat? Ridiculous. Oh, and apparently pretend shooting your friends at school is also frowned upon. Double ridiculous. Fern boy never wants to go to school probably because he's always in trouble. He is a little pill to get ready and Pearl is an anxious wreck at even the slightest possibility that she will be late to her school. I don't blame him though, last week I had had it with all the notes and timeouts. When the first thing he tells you in the morning is that he will try to not get any timeouts or have any accidents, and then the first thing he says when you pick him up is how many timeouts he had, something isn't working and it's time to try out some new solutions. Uh. Have I mentioned I love the threes? Yeah. Way more fun than the twos. Oh well. Pearl was a little twerp at this age too and she's definitely grown up a lot since then.