First Day of School 2010!

Unbelievable, but today is the first day of the new school year. The boys were all excited about going back to school, although William was a little nervous since he is starting at a totally new school this year. That can be tough, but I think he will do great! I'm looking forward to having the older boys all at the same school this year. I think it will make things a little big easier! Bryce is going back to his priority preschool at Riggs Elementary and the three other boys are all at Patterson. Their teachers all seem great this year and are all OK with the fact that we will be taking them out for a week and a half after only 4 days of school! I really wish we didn't have to do that, but that is just the way it goes when your summer ends in July, I guess!

Here are a few pictures of the boys all dressed up and ready to leave for school. Don't look at the time on the pictures...they were up early, but not at 12:30 am. Time on the camera is still wrong. Oops!

Bryce just as smiley as ever!


I couldn't get Spencer to give me a good smile, because the sun was in his eyes. Oh well, we take what we can with this one!


William...our big 4th grader!


They love their new backpacks!


Jacob


All ready to go! I must say that I loved school shopping this year because I was able to buy $4-6 shorts and t-shirts that the boys want to wear instead of the $10-12 uniform shorts and shirts they used to wear to school.


Bryce in front of his school. He didn't want to stop for a picture. He just wanted to get into his classroom!


Jacob has Mrs. Jones this year. You can see her inside the classroom.


Spencer is very excited about being in first grade. Now he gets to play on the "real" playground instead of just the kindergarten one!


William, excited and a little nervous about started something new!


Every year it is a little sad to see my kids go off to school and I miss them terribly. I have to be honest though, today I am loving the little bit of peace and quiet I am currently enjoying. It's been a good summer, but I think it will be nice to get back to some routines and a few moments of quiet during the day for me. That is, once we return from our upcoming trip! Bryce came home from school on the bus today, met with his new speech therapist, (who seems amazing!) and he and Annalise are now down for naps! Ahhh!

Hope you are having a good day boys! I love you!

Alive and Well!

I just want everyone to know that we are alive and well...just very busy! I have a whole lot to blog about from Spencer's birthday to our trip and many things in between. We are busy, busy, busy this week getting unpacked from our last trip, getting the boys ready to start school, and getting ready to leave for our next trip. Once I get my pictures onto the computer and get a spare minute, I will be back to update our blog.

Happy Birthday Spencer!

It was 6 years ago today that we welcomed our third boy into our family! Spencer came as our last child to be born in Scottsdale and our only child born while we lived in our first home in Queen Creek where we had moved just a few months before he was born.







We are as happy today as we were that day 6 years ago, that he is a part of our family! And to celebrate, we threw him a Pirate Party!


The cake was a lot of fun to make. William made the sails.




As the boys arrived, they got to decorate their own treasure boxes.




Then they each received a bag of loot to keep in their treasure box.




ARRR! What a great looking group of pirates! There is Pirate Jason, Pirate Spencer, Pirate Christopher, Pirate Jacob, Pirate Nathan, and Pirate Trevor. Pirates William, and Bryce must not have made it into this picture. Pirate Annalise was taking a nap!


Then we lit the canons and had some cake!




Spencer got some very nice gifts from his friends.


Money is always a winner!








Here is Spencer holding the homemade pinata. Since I wasn't able to string it up, I just had the boys take turns punching it. Once everyone had taken a turn, I let Spencer punch it again and then tipped it over and everything came out! OK, I know a little lame for a pinata, but being alone, I had to improvise and the kids didn't seem to mind at all!


Last of all, right before parents came, the swords were given out.








The boys all seemed to have a really good time. Happy Birthday Spencer. We love you!

Good-bye Play, Good-bye Alyson

On Monday the 28th, the boys play ended. When they came home, they had this huge, red balloon with them. After squeezing it through the front door, John explained to me that it was the one used for his hot air balloon and that he gets to keep it!


Annalise and Bryce got to see it the next morning. Bryce likes it as long as it isn't too close, and Annalise loves it!




The 29th was Alyson's last day as Bryce's speech therapist. She truly has been amazing with him. We will miss her greatly!


I think I mentioned earlier that Alyson was testing Bryce so that she would have something to pass onto his next therapist to let her know where he stood in his language abilities. Well, when she came on Tuesday, she brought a copy of the write-up for me. The entire write-up was very interesting, but of course too much information to share here. However, the most amazing part were the test results. Although his expressive communication was only at an 11 month old range, his comprehension score was at a 5 year 1 month range. Amazing! There is one smart little guy stuck in that body of his! Hopefully his next therapist will see Bryce's potential and work with him as well as Alyson has.