First Day of School

Dallin and Thomas started school yesterday.  I grew up where we didn't go back to school until the end of August, so it is always kind of hard for me to send them back when it feels like summer is still in full swing.  Oh well.  I could go on and on about my thinking on this, but I will spare you all the rant.  I am just grateful we don't live in Holbrook.  They started school on August 1st.  Yuck!!

Thomas is in first grade this year.  He has the same teacher that Dallin had last year and she is soooo nice.  I know Thomas will love being in her class and will do a great job in there.  We miss having him come home at 11:00, but he loves school, so I think he is happy to be there all day.

Dallin started 2nd grade.  We don't know his teacher.  She taught at his school several years ago, but this is her first year back.  Dallin says that she is nice and seems like she will be a good teacher. Let's hope so.  He loves school too, so I'm sure he will have another great year.

Boys Bathroom Update

I decided many months ago that my boys bathroom was SCARY and in desperate need of help.  I actually loved the paint color and the decor in the little bathroom, but my boys had made such a stinky awful mess of the place, Jeremy and I decided that the only solution would be to pull out the vanity and replace it with a sleek pedestal sink.  I won't go into detail about why this was necessary, but since the vanity is so close to the toilet and I have 5 little boys, you can probably imagine.  Yikes!!  So - - since we were pulling out the vanity and replacing tiles,  I decided that it was probably time that I give up my feminine, pretty, yellow bathroom and boy it up a little (not too much.)

So, here is a look at the new boys bathroom.

BEFORE

Notice the toilet seat is up.  Boys!!

I managed to notice the toilet seat and put it down for this one.

We had a towel bar in this bathroom that was too high for most of the boys, and lets face it - - they were never going to neatly hang their towels up on it anyway.  Therefore I had a big problem with towels all over the floor and way too many in the laundry.

 We ripped out the vanity and medicine cabinet.  (I really don't like medicine cabinets.)  We also decided that the mirror was too big for the new pedestal sink and ripped it out too.  Luckily, we had just enough tiles in storage to cover where the vanity had been.

AFTER

This is the new place!  A little more boy friendly in every way!!  We gave it a fresh new coat of green paint (My Grandma Larsen would have loved it!!)  and a new shower curtain.

We replaced the mirror with one I had in storage.  It was in our bathroom in our house in Mesa, and I loved it so much I couldn't part with it, even though we haven't had a real place for it - - until now!!!  We also decided to make a little cubby with shelves where the medicine cabinet had been.  After all with no medicine cabinet and no vanity, we needed someplace for our kids to put their toothbrushes.  So far, I am happy with it.

This was by far the best thing we did in this bathroom.  We replaced the towel bar with this hook board.  I made tabs for each of the boys towels out of fabric that they chose and cut their initials out of vinyl and put them on the wall above their hooks.  Then we had a little training session and I made each of the boys show me how to identify and unhook their towels and then put them back in the proper place when they were done.  It has worked like a charm and for the past 6 weeks, I have only had to give out two reminders to hang their towels back up.  It is sooooooo nice!!!

Overall, I am very happy with the changes.  They have made life easier for sure.  But, I have to admit, sometimes I miss my pretty yellow bathroom.  If only it could have stayed pretty and, most of all, fresh smelling! :)  Oh well!!

Catching Up

It has been an entire month since I posted - but I have a bit of an excuse this time.  We just got back last week from spending two weeks in Utah, and then Jeremy started a new job as a Vice Principal in Holbrook as soon as we returned, so things have been a bit crazy.  Today, I finally got things in some sort of order around the house and decided it was time to do a "catch up" post.

Sooooooo. . .

here is the last month in a nutshell.

Tad's first haircut!  Compliments of GG.

 Our family with my dad and Grandma Teichert at the Brady reunion.  That's a big crew!!

 Dallin and Drake hanging out at the reunion.

A visit to the Ogden Train Museum.  Very interesting and fun!

Drake at the museum.

Jack at the museum.  I love that this museum was totally "hands on".  There was nothing that the boys could not touch and they loved it!!

The boys on an old train outside the museum.  They had several old trains on display there.

The boys playing at Bridal Veil Falls.  We go and play there every time we go to Utah.  We love it

So pretty.  Just looking at this makes me miss Utah and my life there.

These next pictures are a few from the reunion my parents hosted for us at Capitol Reef National Park.  We had never been here before and really enjoyed it.  Thanks Mom and Dad!!!



We are glad to be back at our own house, but we sure miss Utah and our family there.

One

Our little Tad just had his first birthday!!

We had a little celebration.

This was his first experience with sweet stuff.  He loved it!!!

After a quick bath and new outfit, he opened a few presents.

It was a good day!

What I can't believe is how fast this. . .

turned into this!

Happy Birthday Tad!  We love you and are so blessed to have you in our family!!!!

Summer so far

We've been pretty busy around here this summer.  Here are a few pictures of some of the things we have done so far.  (Warning, picture overload ahead.  I restrained myself, I promise.)

Science Experiments

A trip to the Scottsdale Train Park



Riding the little train at the train park.  The boys were not used to valley heat and they were HOT!!!



Viewing the miniature trains at the park.



More electric trains.

Dallin and Thomas goofing around on the carousel.



Slip and Slide

Fishing



All the boys caught something, but this was Drake's first!!

Swimming lessons.



Dallin playing baseball.  He had just hit a double in this picture.

In the picture below he is playing catcher.  This is his favorite position (so far).