I heart U

The hardest part of sending your child off to school is that they have a life outside of your home which you know very little about. I know what goes on in the classroom (at least what the teacher's letters say goes on) but as far as what happens between him and his friends and on the playground I know only what Aaron decides to tell me or what he can remember.

Most of the questions I have for him at the end of the day are centered around him and his friends.

Here is what I have found out so far.

Aaron was sitting by a boy named Prentice. Apparently they talked too much because on Monday Mrs. Lee moved Aaron to another table. (I was happy to hear that Prentice is still getting in trouble for talking but Aaron is no longer) At this new table Aaron is sitting by a pretty girl (whose name he can't remember). He informed me that he sent two notes to the girl while Mrs. Lee was talking to the class. "What did they say?" I asked. "I heart U" he said proudly.

We had a little talk about this, for multiple reasons, and he hasn't sent anymore. But now she is sending them to him.

Great.




Yesterday, when I asked him who he had played with at recess....

"Oh I always play with Prentice. Do you know that he has a WHOLE LOT of friends that ALL have dark skin? And Mom, they are REALLY cool."

"What do they do that makes them so cool?"

"Oh, I don't really know, but I think I heard one of them say "YO, JOE"
(so if I run around saying "Yo Joe" will he think that I am cool too? I may try it.)
"Do you and Prentice play with all those cool boys?"

"No, we chase girls."

Great.




This morning at the breakfast table Aaron said

"Mom, you know your grandma who lives in heaven?"

"Yes"

"Well, she was talking to me in my head at school yesterday."
"Really? What did she say?"

"I can't remember"



"Try hard. Did she ask you a question? Or tell you something?"

"I can't remember. She was just talking."



"Was it at recess? Or was it during.."

"Oh yeah, she said that she doesn't like bears. Then I said 'Why not? They are so soft and cuddly?"



"Did she say anything else?"

"Yeah...............but I forgot"



I'm glad to have these little glimpses....but they certainly do keep me wondering!

"this is your captain speaking...."

Back in 2007, when Nick had just become a pilot, he was trying to get a specific number of hours in a specific type of airplane so that he could fly with students in it. The school was desperate for instructors at the time and really needed Nick to be able to teach in this plane so his boss told him to take the plane and get the hours.

This specific plane just so happened to seat 6 passengers. And it just so happened that he needed just about the same amount of flight time as it takes to get to Monterey and back.

These circumstances made for the best date night ever.

We invited our friends the Creeks and Schwendimens and even though it was last minute we all managed to find sitters.

Well in all the last minute planning for our flight I forgot our camera. We did eventually get pictures from Preston and Rachel because I wanted them for our 2007 blurb book but I just remembered that I never shared them on my blog. Even though it was 2 years ago it was so much fun that I want to post them anyway.



anxiously awaiting departure



take-off!!!!!



Nick, having made this trip many times with students, knew all the best places to eat. The Monterey Jet Center provided a rental car and we were on our way to some fine dining.





(I'm missing my long hair and bangs)





The food was delicious. Probably expensive, I can't remember, but I do remember how good it was. Definitely worth it.







Because it was so last minute and we left at night we didn't have any time to play around after we ate. We had to head right back to the airport before they closed and we were stuck there overnight. (would that really have been a bad thing?)



Captain Nick, making sure our flight home would be nice and safe





Rachel and Preston Schwendimen



Dave and Shalee Creek





SO MUCH FUN! I forgot how much fun it was until I looked back through these pictures. The flight won't be free next time, but what do you say guys. Are you ready to go again?


a little sleepy on our way home

Easy Bakin'

Grandma Jodi brought us an Easy Bake Oven the last time she visited. I heard nothing but "now is it time to use my new oven?" so I decided to try it soon.

We made cookies for our first attempt.

roll it......and pat it....

In the end it was a lot of work for 3 small cookies. the girls loved it....the baking and the eating. There is something so exciting about using miniature versions of mom and dad's stuff.

Aaron was sad that we didn't save any for him

Sushi!

A few weeks ago Preston invited us to make sushi with them. We both love sushi and were excited to try. I called Nick, my brother (oh, how I will miss him), and he said he would babysit if we brought some back for him. Perfect.

It was a lot of fun and much easier than I thought it would be. We learned some tips and we are excited to try again. Anyone want to try with us?

Freeman Bros

Last weekend was the second annual Freeman Brothers quad stake performance/dance. I'm not sure it was publicised well in most stakes though because it felt more like just a Fresno Stake dance. Either way it was tons of fun! Even more fun than last year. (though I was pregnant last year and probably wasn't a fair judge) It was dark which means I either had to use my flash or take blurry pictures. I hate the flash so I opted for blurry. Sorry if they hurt your eyes.

I definitely think that my dad and his brothers are the most talented musicians around.

What? I'm not biased.

On Sunday I overheard some people talking in the foyer about how much fun they had at the dance. They said that even though they weren't dancing they had a great time and that the band really put on a show.

And it was true.

hello again

After our day full of activities it was time to go pick our brother up again.
We were very happy to see him.

here he comes!!!

bye bye baby

The best part of attending the neighborhood school is that the school is literally in our neighborhood! Only two blocks away! I plan on walking Aaron to school every morning (weather permitting of course!). We set out on foot for his first day of school to start the year off right.

but of course not before posing for some pictures!


(notice all the fallen peaches? I've been making fruit leather all day!)

off we go







His teacher, Mrs. Lee, seems very nice (just like I thought from her picture!) Aaron really likes her.



She took him to go get in line with the other kids and we said good bye.



but then I had to go see where they were going of course, so I snapped a few more shots and then said good-bye again before we headed back home.



It was weird to only have 3 kids for the majority of the day. I kept looking at the clock and wondering what Aaron might be presently doing.

It was however, very nice to not be on time restraints or to have to wait at the school for an hour between Charlotte and Aaron's dismissal times.

The girls and I had a lot of fun with all our time. We practiced the Hannah Montana "Hoedown Throwdown" dance, colored cut and pasted, and used our new easy bake oven! (thanks Grandma Jodi!) Tomorrow we have plans to go to the farmers market!

I think I can get used to this schedule.