“What is that?” I asked.

“It’s a picture of a snowman. I put it in here so it won’t melt.”

Calvin and Everett were fighting in the car. Calvin was whining at the top of his lungs:

“He won’t give me personal space, he won’t give me personal space!”

I turned around to see Everett sitting in his seat, but turned around, looking at Calvin. Next it will be “stop breathing my air!” Good grief.

Calvin said: “Mom, what are you doing?”

“I’m cleaning out the fridge” I said, a little proud of myself.

“Oh, well that’s not what I would be doing if I were you.”

“What would you be doing?” I asked – I should have know better.

“Well, I would be playing with my kids.”

Suddenly my clean fridge and cabinets did not seem so spectacular.

Point taken.

Today we’re going to do Thanksgiving and Christmas art projects to our hearts content.

I bet the kitchen gets really messy.

Because, well, you know.

My boy Cal has started preschool. While I consider today his “first day” there have been a couple prior events that were important too.

1) Back to school night – we got to go meet his teacher, Miss Sheri, and see his classroom and all the fun things there are!

2) “First Day of School” (but I don’t count it) where the parents are invited to attend as well. It was more of an open house to let the children play while the parents are able to get to know one another. I had my sister come babysit Ejo & Roo while Cal and I went to this. Afterward we went to McD’s for Happy Meals and ice cream cones. Did you know McD’s won’t serve happy meals before 11:00? LAME!

So Cal settled for a sausage McMuffin, which is not the same. But we enjoyed ourselves all the same.

3) Today – Cal’s first, real, drop him off and wave good-bye, day of school.

It was a mixed emotion for me. I’ve always planned to hold Cal back a grade, his birthday is the end of July. So by going into preschool now, he’ll have two years of preschool, instead of the one that Olivia had.

I chose to only have O go to one year of preschool because I felt (and still do) that kids need as much time with their mamma’s as they can get. There will be plenty of time for school and real-world later.

But with Calvin, I chose to send him now, even though it will probably work out that he does two years . . .

I made a different decision for him because there are no other boys, or children for that matter that are his age in our entire ward. His primary class consists of him, and one other boy whose family actually lives in Herriman. Calvin has had a lot of fun playing with his older sister, and her friends, these past four years, but with her going to school daily now, and him getting older, I think he needs to find some other friends his own age and start learning the social graces of four year old boys.

He has been so excited for school. Last week we went school shopping for him. He loved that part. And this morning he wanted to take his treasure box to show Miss Sheri. She was appropriately thrilled. I am so excited for him to have this new adventure that is all about him.

At the same time, those couple hours he was gone were so weird! I kept wondering: “Where is Cal? What’s he getting into? Why is it so quiet?” Oh dear, it was strange. I missed my fun little boy with that mischievous grin and heart of gold.

Calvin: Mommy, it takes a long time for you tummy to get small. As long as it takes for a new baby to get here.

Me: You’re right. But my tummy is already a little smaller right? (I mean, didn’t he notice?!)

Calvin: Yeah, (then, pointing directly at my chest) but those aren’t smaller!

Conversation between Olivia and an older couple admiring baby Andrew and baby Mason:

Old man: Those are sure cute babies. Where can my wife get one of those?

Olivia, matter-of-factly and nonchalantly: At the tummy store.

Calvin and Alexa after primary:

Calvin: Alexa, we learned about sharing in primary today. It’s important to share.

Alexa: Really? (Alexa’s mom is Cal’s teacher, and she knew that the lesson was on friends, not sharing.)

Calvin: Yeah. So you should share your candy bar with me. It’s good to share.

(All I can say to this story is: Is that Wyatt’s kid or what?!)

Calvin seems to have (FINALLY) moved out of the stage where he needs constant supervision. He seems to know the rules, and doesn’t destroy everything in his path (very often). But just as he’s moved out of that stage, Everett is moving right on in.

Last week I was upstairs feeding the baby, while everyone else was downstairs. When I came out, I heard water on. I went into my bathroom to find the water on, the sink clogged and water spilling over the sides, down the cabinet and onto the floor.

I went downstairs to find Wyatt and found that it was raining in my downstair bathroom (directly below the upstairs one).

Last Saturday night Wyatt and I went downstairs after the kids were “in bed.” When we came upstairs we found a trail of Fruit Loops down the hall, culminating in an entire spilled box in front of my bedroom door.

The next morning I was half asleep, but heard Calvin and Everett get up. Remembering what happened the night before, I got up, and went and tied up the cupboards and fridge, before returning to bed to sleep in.

Later Wyatt got up and got the kids breakfast – cereal and milk. But he forgot to tie up the fridge when he was done.

Later he found Everett, covered head to toe in sour cream, an entire block of cheese in his room, and an entire box of margarine (that I had just bought the night before for Dutch Oven Brownies that we were supposed to have later that day) in various clumps around the house.

Well, lovely Wyatt cleaned the boy and mess up, but he forgot, again to tie up the fridge. Later, just as it was time to get ready for church, I came around the corner to find eJo happily cracking the last of a dozen eggs on my kitchen floor.

Good times.

Not only that, but my buddy, SuperCal will start pre-school. I will miss him so much.

So it has been a busy two weeks trying to get them both ready for their new adventures while taking time to enjoy my little Roo and also their last few days of freedom.

I started a tradition last year of a back to school dinner. It was a lot of fun to do last year, and so I planned another one this year. But, are you surprised, it was even BIGGER this year!

The theme for our 2011-2012 school year is “Seek Learning” from the D&C – because the first step in education is wanting to be educated. I know Olivia and Calvin both have a thirst for knowledge and a pride in their progress, so I think this will be a great focus for our year.

This year’s dinner featured:

Lime Chicken Tacos
Spanish Rice
Summer Salsa
Corn on the Cob
Watermelon
Raspberry Lemonade (real raspberry lemonade)
& Summer Peach Pie a’la mode.

YUM.

Our theme is "Seek Learning"

I decorated the table with all things kids - and I laughed at this vignette.

Our beautiful flowers were provided by my dad.

Our table with Olivia & Cal's back to school gifts - friendship balls. (I made the gift boxes myself!)

Olivia and Cal opening their gifts.

Kids in their back to school crowns.

Something was funny . . .

You are such a wonderful boy! Goodness but how you can make my heart glow or my blood pressure rise. I love your laughter, your need to always be dirty, and your absolute pleasure in worms and snails. I’m grateful for the goodness of your heart, for your kindness to your brother and sister, for your patience with me. I have so many hopes and dreams for you. But today I want to focus on the now of dear and loved four year old you.

Anyhow, he did great – blowing bubbles, floating on his back, smiling for his mamma when she wanted a picture. Mmm . . . sunshine and babies. Is there anything better?

Wyatt came home early, ready to play! We rode 4 wheelers up and down the street and around the neighborhood looking for people to play. We found Jill and Alan, who came over and had home made ice cream in the shade of the tree, and the kids ran around playing freeze tag in the sweltering heat.

Later we decided a small fishing trip was in order. We packed Calvin’s new pole, and the other gear, and decided to try our luck at the Discover Park pond – which is about a mile down the street from grandma’s house.

As it turned out we had great luck. We caught no less than four fish (maybe more, there was part where I left and took Olivia and eJo to the playground, leaving Wyatt and Cal to do their thing).

Each fish was admired for what it was: TINY.

The kids enjoying torturing each fish with pokes, and prods before throwing it victoriously back into the pond.

Wyatt enjoyed being stuck by flying fishing hooks a couple times, and mamma enjoyed keeping the kids from falling in the lake (Cal did fall in up to his knees, thus the under-roo pictures later).

Afterward we went to grandma’s house for a jump on the trampoline and Moose Tracks ice cream cones. I have a theory that the amount of crud on your face at the end of the day is in direct correlation with the awesomeness of the day. As you can see, it was an awesome day for these kiddos.

I am home from church today with Olivia, who is sick (the annual bout of Impetigo).

So I started my pot roast, and loaded the dishwasher. (Because Saturday is a special day, but we’re not always completely ready for Sunday).

And when I was done loading the dishwasher, I went to put in the detergent (I use Electrasol Tabs from Costco), and then . . .

Calvin wasn’t there to put it in. I had to do it myself.

And that made me sad in a sentimental sort of way.

Because ever since he was a wee little thing, toddling around behind me, he has put the detergent tab in. He would sit patiently and wait while I loaded, then as soon as I pulled the soap out, he would run over, take it from me, place it in it’s little compartment, close the compartment door, close the dishwasher, and push the power on button. It has been his thing ever since.

And I love having little shadows under foot, just waiting for their chance to be a big helper. And it should always be remembered that Calvin put the detergent in the dishwasher.