Guess where we found Santa

That's right, we found Santa at the pool!

A couple of weeks ago the boys had a chance to meet Santa at the pool. I did have to do a little explaining to Luke about why Santa was at the pool in a swimming suit, and why he was skinny. I think they had fun anyway.

We also took the chance to visit Temple Square before it snowed and the weather got too cold. Even though the temperatures were above normal for December, it was still pretty cold! Of course the lights were beautiful, and Noah was especially excited to see the temple. When we first saw it he said, "Oh can I get baptized in there?"

It was a fun night with our favorite girls. Noah didn't want in the stroller (of course), but Luke was happy to take his place. After the temple we went to eat at Sizzler. Luke had never been there before but really loved it. He was amazed that he could eat pizza, nachos, watermelon, grapes, and ice cream all for one meal. He said it was the best dinner ever.

I can't believe that Christmas is just one week away. I am so excited, and I think that the snow has really helped me get in the Christmas Spirit. As an early Christmas present, the Army Corps of Engineers had mapped out the wetlands on our lot, and it looks like we CAN build there. This is a true present because on Thursday of last week the wetlands consultant informed us that it was pretty unlikely that we would be able to build there, but on Friday Rick had an onsite meeting with the consultant and the engineer and they gave us the okay to build... in the back corner! I am not really happy about it, but compared to the news the day before I was thrilled. It means that we will have our house right in the back corner of a one acre lot, with a HUGE front yard. That was on Friday. On Saturday morning we woke up to 6 inches of snow and it hasn't stopped snowing yet. What a blessing. If there was snow on the ground on Thursday or Friday we would not have been able to get the wetland mapping done and would've been out of luck until spring. So even though things are not perfect, I do feel blessed that all is not lost.

Thankful and NOT

Almost the whole Gunnerson Gang (minus Geoff and Jadi's family) together on Thanksgiving!

I don't just want to pass over Thanksgiving without mentioning that my life is totally wonderful, and I am truly blessed. BUT I am so upset with the complete stupidity that has been going on in our process of building our house, that I simply must share!

I must start by saying that the random laws and red tape that exist in our county government are absurd. Let me just go through the process that we have had to go through in an effort to obtain a building permit to build in wonderful Summit County....
1. Buy land
2. Buy house plans
3. Have land surveyed
4. Have house plans engineered to meet Summit County code
5. Have engineers draw up a site plan of your lot and house
6. have ground tested for wetness
7. Finally think you have done all you need to do to apply for the permit; make appointment to submit application, and of course pay just to submit the application.
8. Get list of things the County thinks is missing from your application. Ours included contour lines on the site map and elevation of the garage entry. (Apparently even though you own a FLAT piece of land they need these VERY IMPORTANT things. I mean, how can the fire trucks get up your driveway if it is to steep. To steep? Did I mention the land is FLAT?!)
9. Have engineers REDO the site plan to include the VERY IMPORTANT things.
10. Repeat number 7.
11. Get new list of things that the county needs. This time it is a "Heat loss study" done by a heating and air conditioning contractor to determine if your house is not going to waste natural resources, additional windows put into your bonus room to meet the "daylight" requirement, and a certificate from the Army Corps of Engineers that your land is not "wetlands".
12. Have engineers REDO house plans with additional window in bonus room.
13. Call Army Corps of Engineers (ACoE). Call again. Call again until they finally come to look at the land.
14. Hear from the ACoE that the land is pretty wet and you need to hire a wetlands consultant to test the soil, water table, and plant life for a final determination on the "wetlands" condition. (Yes, we need to protect the many endangered species that live ONLY on our little one acre in the special wetlands flora and fauna that ONLY grows on our little one acre. Seriously, there are houses on BOTH sides of our lot. Somehow that is not wetlands, but our little acre is?)
15. Have the wetlands consultant tell you that she wants to wait until spring to come test your land because she can't possible do it with snow on the ground. (Yes, that SKIFF of snow we received last night would be IMPOSSIBLE to dig through to get to the ground).
16. If the consultant determines that the land is wetlands, spend even more TIME and MONEY submitting petitions and applications to even be able to build on the land you have previously purchased to BUILD your HOME on!
17. Scream and cry that 9 months after moving to Utah you are still living in two bedrooms of your parent's home with everything you own in storage, wasting money paying on a mortgage for land that YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO BUILD ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If this seems like complete madness to you, you are right. I understand the need for government and laws and enforcement of said laws; but obviously there are times when the government it taking away your rights! Like my right to build a house on property I own! For heaven's sake, I am not trying to build a nuclear waste facility in the middle of a neighborhood next to a school!!!!!!! To date we are 5 months and about $10,000 into trying to obtain the ever elusive PERMIT to BUILD in Summit County.

Kicked out...

Out, booted, so-long, expelled, banished, shunned, disfellowshipped, suspended, or terminated. Any way you say it that's what Noah got from his nursery class. I guess that is what you get for "getting a baby with with my claws". The good news is that he can return to class when he is ready to obey the rules. Ah, so never? Only one more month until Sunbeams. How long do you think he will last?

Yum Yum!

Five months old and ready for rice cereal, what a big boy. Just like most things in life, I approached this milestone with excitement and a little sadness. I love how big and full of personality Elijah is becoming with each passing day; but slowly he is leaving his baby days behind and becoming a little boy. I see friends who's children are all in school and they finally have some time to themselves and I think "Oh, I can't wait!" Then there are the days I can't even count the number of kisses I have given my chubby little guy and want those days to last forever. I guess that change is inevitable, so I am truly trying to enjoy each moment as it comes.

Elijah did his best to spit out everything I put in his mouth; but I think I did manage to get at least a spoon full or two to go down. He has gotten better over the course of the week, and I think by Thanksgiving he may be ready for some sweet potatoes. What more could you be thankful for?

Lost and Found

Happy boy bouncing in his exersaucer.

You have to blow this picture up and take a look at what happened when Elijah sneezed.
(This abundance of snot has been part of his grumpiness.)

Yeah, Elijah is back! What a lucky, lucky mom I am. He's happy, he's smiley, he's content, he's a good sleeper, he's my little sweetheart! Today in church he had everyone behind him smiling and talking to him. Oh, I love this boy! Now has anyone seen my wonderful 6-year old? He has been replaced with a bad attitude sassy pants.

Mummy's boys

How is it that we can turn every holiday into a week long event? FHE crafts and treats, story time costume party, class parties, pumpkin carving, and of course trick-or-treating. I really don't mind because it is fun to see kids get so excited, but boy it can be exhausting to have so much fun! The boys decided they would go along with my request and be mummies this year, although it took some explaining to Noah that he was going to be a scary mummy not a grown-up (I think he got it confused with mommy and mummy). I thought it would be such a simple costume, but just try finding white sweat pants anywhere! I ended up sewing pajama pants out of white flannel (which is a post in and of it self) and buying a white sheet to rip into strips. They boys enjoyed the face paint the most, and I think they turned out so dang cute...I mean scary.

Two frighteningly cute boys.

"I want my mummy!"

Too cute to be scary.

Noah's cat, Luke's "scary jack", my ghost, and Rick's Frank.
Not too bad for regular old kitchen knives!

Luke hard at work.

Noah was VERY anxious to help with the knife!

Issue an Amber Alert...

My baby is missing! Yes, my happy, smiley, well behaved baby has been missing for about two weeks. My baby who contently lays in his bed when he wakes up and waits until I have Luke on the bus to finally get some attention. My baby who sits in his bouncy seat all day, if I let him, without so much as a whimper. My baby who loves to swing in the swing and falls asleep in about two minutes after the swinging begins. My baby who lays under the lights and sound toy and babbles and coos while I get ready for they day. My baby who sleeps in his own little bed and only wakes to eat at 6:00 or 7:00 am. My baby who takes long naps alone in his crib. My baby who makes me think I could have 10 more little babies! My baby is missing!

Please let me know if you know of his whereabouts. He is approximately 24 inches tall, weighs about 16 pounds, has a little bit of light brown hair, blue eyes, and answers (with a smile and laugh) to the name Eil.

Tagged

I was tagged a couple of days ago, and I have been racking my brain for 6 things that are actually interesting about me! This is what I came up with.

1. I love to read (that isn't very interesting is it). I like to read just about any kind of book, but especially if it includes a love story. Some of my favorites include The Work and the Glory, anything by Jane Austen, Harry Potter, and Sweet Valley High (well at least they were my favorites in middle school).

2. I have control issues (according to Rick, but accepted and acknowledged by me). I think that they way I do things is the best way, and I want everyone to do it the same way. I have definite ideas of what I like, and I don't really want it any other way. For example, I have a right way of doing the dishes and a wrong way, and when other people mess up my process I don't like it one little bit!!!!!!

3. I hate cleaning bathrooms (but who doesn't?). I have an agreement with Rick that I will clean the rest of the entire house as long as he does the bathrooms.

4. I totally have middle child syndrome (poor poor pitty me).

5. I don't have a very good memory (I think). I never knew this was a problem until I get together with my siblings and they start talking about things that happened when we were kids and I find myself saying, "Was I even there?"

6. I am a very emotional person. I am known for crying at three legged dogs and T.V. commercials. Just last week I was telling my dad (with tears rolling down my cheeks) that I could almost talk myself into being a vegetarian because when the boys took the calves to the sale, the mom cows mooed and mooed in distress at their babies being taken away. It was so sad! (I am actually crying right now as I remember it! Seriously I am !!!!!)

Happy Birthday, Noah!

Wow, where does time go? My little black haired baby just turned 3 years old. Instead of having a big birthday party for him, we celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese's on Friday night. So for his actual birthday on Monday we just had a little get together with our favorite "girls", and even Grandpa Bisel, to open presents and eat cake. Noah got more truck, diggers and tools then a little boy could ever need, and he was in 7th heaven! Thanks to everyone for celebrating with us.

Noah was so gracious when opening presents and kept saying, "Oh, my favorite!"

All decked out in his light-up Halloween shirt and shop safety goggles (Norm Abram would be so proud.)

I made a little pumpkin cake for my fall birthday boy. The recipe was a knock-off of the Nothing Bundt Cake chocolate chocolate chip cake, and it was DELICIOUS!

Warning!
Do NOT keep reading if you are squeamish or think bodily fluids are not appropriate to blog about.

I made Noah's favorite dinner special for his birthday; meatballs, rice, and green beans. Even though he is a picky eater, he would eat a can of green beans if you let him. At dinner he insisted on having Rick's big plate and loaded it up with meatballs and green beans. He just went to town on his food and was really "hoarking it down". We were just letting him eat as much as he wanted, because some night we can't even get him to take one bite of food! After consuming large amounts of his special dinner he looked at me and said, "Mom, my tummy hurts." I suggested he stop eating and Rick had him take a drink of milk. One swallow into the milk he started to gag... I quickly grabbed the lid to a pan and slipped it under his face just as he lost his "special" birthday dinner. It just goes to show that sometimes you really can have too much of a good thing.

"Mom, my tummy hurts."

The result of eating 3 huge meatballs, rice, and forkful after forkful of green beans.

Adventures in dogsitting...

Have you met me? If you have, you probably know that I am not what you would call a dog person. In fact I'm not really much of an animal person at all. I know what you are thinking, How can you not like dogs, or cats, or ANIMALS in general? What kind of person are you? I don't know! I know it wasn't always this way. I have seen a cute picture of me and my little brother when I was about 3 years old, and I was holding a dog on my lap hugging it! I can remember getting kittens when I was around 7 years old and taking care of them like they were our babies. I grew up around all kinds of animals on a farm... I had my own calf that I would feed from a bottle for heaven sake. But as the years have passed I have grown increasingly less fond of animals and now I really quite dislike them. It might be the hair, the smell, or the fact that dogs are always either jumping up on you or sticking their nose in you bottom! Whatever the reason, I don't like dogs. So when my mom and dad left on vacation and needed someone to get their dog (actually their granddog) from the vet I was the most unlikely candidate, but the lot fell to me anyway because I was pretty much the only one available.

Once I had reluctantly agreed to get Bella from the vet I immediately started wondering HOW I was going to get her. My dad suggested that she could just ride in the back of my Tahoe. MY Tahoe? I don't think so. My thoughts went to all the other vehicles around here... I could take my dad's little truck, but with the baling twine and pepsi cans I didn't think there would be enough room in the cab for me and my three boys. I could take my Explorer; sure it had been in a crash last winter and you could no longer open the doors on the driver's side, the windows are broken out, and it is highly illegal to drive a car in it's shape, but it was an option. I could take my dad's car, but I thought the people at the vet's office would not think it wasn't too humane to put the dog in the trunk for a 25 minute ride home. I was stuck, I HAD to take the Tahoe. I figured that as long as I put her in the pet porter at least she wouldn't get hair all over. So I loaded up the boys and the pet porter and headed to Heber.

When I walked into the vet's office I noticed all the "Please keep your dog on a lease." signs. Oh great, I didn't bring a leash. Does that mean I have to hold her by the collar? That would mean that I actually had to touch her! Thankfully when the assistant brought her out they had one of their leashes on her. Okay, I can do this. I can act like I am not the worst dog hater in the world. The assistant handed me the leash and said, "She might be a little groggy from the medicine." YOU THINK? She was leaning against the wall and wouldn't even walk. I lightly pulled on the leash and in my sweetest voice said, "Come on Bella, come on girl." Then I clicked my tongue. What an idiot! You click your tongue to make a horse go, not a dog! I was sure the assistant wondered what on earth I doing. Needless to say, the sweet voice and tongue clicking did not make Bella move. I continued to tug on her leash (with increasing force) and begged her to come. She didn't move. To get her to the door I had to pull while the assistant pushed her. Thank heaven that the floor was tile so she could slide on her bottom! Once we got her to the door the fresh air put a little life in her and I actually got her to walk to the car.

I knew it would be difficult for Bella to get up into her porter in the back in the Tahoe because on a good day Bella is what would could call lazy, she is a lab after all. So I just decided to take one for team McNeil and lift her front paws up onto the bumper and let her jump the rest of the way. Good plan, but Bella was not having anything to do with it. I was able to get her front paws on the bumper, but she was too out of it to realize she had to help with the rest. I knew I wasn't going to be able to get her into the porter because she weighs about 70 pounds, and I didn't even know where I could hold her without hurting her incisions. I reconciled myself to the fact that I was going to have to walk back into the vet's office and ask for help. How humiliating. Just as I was turning toward the office I saw that the assistant was coming out to help. Had she been watching me the whole time? Great. Again she must think I am a total idiot. With two grown women to do the work, we were able to get Bella into the porter in the back of my Tahoe. She was seriously out of it. She didn't even bend her legs or lower her head to actually fit through the opening! I had to do it for her. The ride home was very uneventful, Bella wasn't really even moving.

I knew that once I got her home there was no way I was going to be able to get her OUT of the pet porter. I also knew that I wasn't strong enough to lift the porter out of the car with her in it, so I opened the back hatch and let her stay! Rick could deal with this when he got home. To tell you the truth, I don't hate Bella. I actually felt sorry for her in her drugged induced state leaning against the wall, unable to even move. I'm just not sure I like her enough give her the love she deserved after her little operation. I have to reconcile myself to the fact that I am sure I will own a dog someday. With three boys and a husband who like dogs, I am sure it will happen. For now, I will just be happy when I am finished dogsitting!

Bella in the pet porter in the back of the Tahoe, unable to get out on her own!

Meet Mr. Snowman and his dog

We got a winter preview this weekend, and the boys were in 7th heaven! Saturday morning, big heavy snowflakes covered the ground and the boys hurried right outside to play in it. With Rick's help they made this great snowman and his dog. They had to use all of the snow in the entire yard to finish their creations. They had a great time, but I am thankful that it was just a preview and that winter is not here to stay. I think we have a few more weeks before the snow will fall and stick around for good.

Summer work project on our future home site

A couple of weekends ago, I finally convinced Rick to head up to the dry farm and work on our future home site. Last summer's project was to plant three apple trees, and this summer I wanted to cut out all of the dead oak trees to allow the ones that are alive go grow bigger and more full. Rick was less than excited for my little project, but I keep telling him that in 10 years when we finally build a house there, we will be so happy that we put the work in now to make our yard beautiful! The first thing we saw when we got up there were three dead apple trees! I AM SO MAD AT MYSELF! We didn't water our trees all summer, mostly because we didn't think about it, but also because I just thought they were established enough that I didn't need to keep watering them. Boy was I wrong. One tree was totally dead, the other two were very, VERY near death. We watered them anyway in hopes that we could revive them.

Rick got going right away with the chainsaw and worked for an hour straight cutting down dead trees and cutting dead branches out of living trees. It was a lot of work because about half of the trees there are dead! The boys and I were in charge of piling up all of the dead wood to be cut for firewood. Luke worked really hard finding all of branches he could and making a huge pile. Noah was pretty scared of the loud chainsaw so he tried to stay away from it. He also took a spill and cut his hand on a stick, so he wasn't too much help on our family work project. I felt like we did a lot of cutting and piling, but there is still a lot to do. We aren't finished with all that needs to be done, but I guess we have a few more years to work on it!

Of course I forgot to take my camera so these pictures were taken with Rick's phone, thus the less than stellar quality.My attempt to revive the apple trees by hauling buckets of water from the creek.

Noah helping water the dead apple trees.

Luke working on his big pile of branches.

Rick showing off his chainsaw skills.

6 Quirks

In response to the tag received from Noah, the following are six (6) quirks about me. Its taken me a couple of weeks to respond to this tag due to the fact that I don't have very many quirks, although Olivia thinks differently:

1. When wearing my glasses, and a particular movie/game becomes intense I always tilt my glasses forward;
2. On Saturday's I brush my teeth with Dr. Pepper;
3. When eating I must have a drink with every bite of food, and if I don't calculate right and run out of liquid prior to finishing my meal, I will not eat my food;
4. Again, another eating quirk, I store food in my cheeks while eating;
5. As Olivia informs me, I wear socks with flip-flops when I come home from work;
6. And finally, Tim tells me I'm a sucker for anything free, including a free camper, a free boat, or free hats.

And I retag, Max, Allen, and Tim.

Milestones and Memories

Today my little baby is 3 months old. What a 3 months it has been. I know that I say it on almost every post, but he is just the sweetest most content little guy. I am so blessed to have him as my child. I don't know how I would handle three kids if he wasn't so easy. I love that at 3 months he is more awake and alert. He LOVES to talk to anyone who will pay attention to him. He loves me to bounce him on the bed and tickle his tummy and toes. He laughs so much that he always gets the hic-ups! I totally love this sweet boy.

Also today we are missing our Grandma Mortensen. She passed away on Tuesday after a long and wonderful life. I have known Grandma for the last 11 years since I started dating Rick, and there hasn't been a time that she was not totally pleasant and happy. She was one of the sweetest little ladies I have ever met. Always upbeat, always positive, and always thinking the best of everyone. Her husband died when she was just a young mother of 3 daughters, and she has never remarried. I can only image the sweet reunion she had with the husband of her youth. Thanks for the wonderful memories, Grandma. We love you always.

My growing boys

I've been wanting to take some pictures of the boys for quite some time, and I finally got around to doing it! I read a little bit about how to use my camera and headed up to a neighboring house to see what I could do. I love this place to take pictures because it has old barns, swings, trees, a bridge, fence, and lots of green grass. I think that I got some great pictures of Luke and Noah, but Eli was totally uncooperative. I had to take some of him a few days later. I just can't believe how big they are getting. Eli is almost 3 months old now, and I just pulled out the 3T clothes for Noah. It was so strange to put the 3T clothes on Noah because I feel like I just had them on Luke. I have mixed feelings on the boys getting big. I am so excited for the things they are doing and the many fun things we look forward to, but these days of babies and toddlers will be over soon and I know that I will miss it when it is gone.

Ride 'Em Cowboys

On a cold, rainy Labor Day the boys got their first experience as real cowboys. They both got the chance to ride a sheep at the Francis Frontier Days celebration. Rick took them over to the rodeo arena and got them signed up while I kept calling him every 5 minutes to see if they were really going to do it. From the safety of the food shack (while warming up with some hot chocolate) he assured me they were totally up for it. I quickly dressed Eli and myself in our warmest clothes and got to the arena just in time to snap some pictures of the cowboys. Luke rode great, but still ended up in the dirt! Noah had a little help from his Dad, in the form of a finger through the belt loop, and only ended up riding as long as Rick could keep up with the sheep (which was about 1 second). They both loved it! I was proud of them for getting out in the cold and mud to "cowboy up". They both got little trophies and thought that was so special. The pictures aren't great because they were so far away, but hopefully you can see them. Next year maybe we will go for the steers!

Please Don't Go!

Dear Summer,

Why are you leaving so quickly? Please don't go. Oh, how I have enjoyed you being here; and I will sorely miss you when you are gone for good. These last couple of weeks I have felt the chill in the air each morning when I send Luke out of the door, and I just know you are going to be gone very soon. Here are just a few of the things I love about you...

I love celebrating the birth of our country and our state with parades, rodeos, fireworks, and BBQs. I love the long, warm, sunny days and the cool breezy evenings, when it is just cool enough to need a jacket. I love the wardrobe change from pants and sweaters to shorts and t-shirts (and those cute muscle shirts for the boys). I love flip-flops! I love the smell of fresh cut grass and newly blooming flowers. I love cooking hot dogs and roasting marshmallows on a sick over an open flame. I love the way the fields look with the evening sun shining through the spray of water from the big irrigating sprinklers. I love the the tall, fat rows of hay laying in the fields after it has been cut. I love vacations to the lake, family reunions, and all the time I get to spend with my family. I love my boys spending time at the cabin and fishing with Grandpa in the mountains. I love sending Noah out to farm and having him come back smelling like a farmer (grease, hay, and dogs). I love my boys learning how to help with the big cow round-up. I love sleeping with my window open. I love growing tomatoes, peas, corn, zucchini, and strawberries in my garden. I love EATING all the delicious things I grow in my garden. There is nothing like the taste of butter dripping off of fresh corn, salt and pepper on a summer tomato, peas right out of the pod, strawberries on EVERYTHING, and of course chocolate zucchini cake! I love the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves of the aspen trees outside my window. I love to see my boys enjoying some of the same things I did when I was a kid (sleeping on the tramp, running through the sprinklers, playing in the irrigation water, and climbing trees).

I know that fall must come, and then the snows of winter. But please don't stay away too long, June is far to late for you to come again.

A fond farewell,
Olivia

First week of first grade follies

Back to school time! Luke and I have both been excited for school to start, and this week the wait was finally over. The week was so "eventful" that I thought it was worth a recap for all of our friends and family.

Monday: We started our first week with Back to School Night on Monday evening. We got to the school just in time to hear the principal give her "welcome" and school rules presentation. After that presentation the time had finally arrived go to the first grade area, find Luke's locker and classroom, and meet his new teacher. With great anticipation we found Luke's seat and met the students that sat at his table. Luke was very excited to see that one of his classmates from Kindergarten was sitting right next to him. I was less excited than Luke because it happened to be a girl that Luke said he thought was cute. I hoped this would not prove to be too much of a problem. Let's face it, Luke can be easily distracted by a cute face and a little conversation! There was a stack of papers on Luke desk that I was busily filling out while the teacher spoke to us all about the class responsibilities and rules. Luke was even given a "star student" train poster to complete as homework for the first week. Homework before school even started? Oh well, nothing like jumping right in with both feet.

Tuesday: The big day! Luke was up bright and early and we got dressed, ate breakfast, packed his lunch bag, and got out of the door early enough to take some pictures before the bus came. Luke jumped right on the bus and was gone. I could hardly wait until he got home so I could hear all about his day. He loves to talk and I just knew that he would have quite a story to tell upon arrival. I couldn't have been more wrong. When he got home I asked him to tell me all about his first day. He looked at me and said, "I really don't remember much." I tried to extract the details by asking if they read any books, did and worksheets, who he sat by on the bus and at lunch, what he did at recess, etc., etc. Luke simply grumbled something about not having a good remembering brain. What? I reminded him that he can talk to me for and HOUR about all that happened in this week's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle episode, so I knew that he tell me something about his day! Again more grumbling and claims of not remembering. I sent him to his bed to think about things and told him that I was going to ask him everyday about school, so he better try to remember things!

Once he came out of his room he did provide a few scant details about what he had done at school. During our conversation about lunch I realized we had a problem. If you know Luke, you know that he is possibly the SLOWEST eater around. He told me that after he finished his lunch he asked a girl (later details emerged that it was the principal) what he should. She told him to put his lunch bag in his locker and go out to recess. With lunch bag put away, he headed outside only to find that he was the only first-grader out there. A few minutes later his teacher came out to find him because he was suppose to be in class! He had taken so much time to eat that recess was over and class had already begun. Great, now the teacher must think he is a total space cadet. I did my best to nicely encourage Luke to eat lunch a little faster and pay attention to the kids around him to see when all the other kids in his class were finished eating. Okay, not the best first day, but I was sure that Luke would be able to make up for his first day error and prove to be the model student I know his is.

Wednesday: Surprisingly I miss Luke while he is at school. Even though I still have two at home I was really looking forward to Luke coming home so I could talk to him about his day. He came busting through the door and this time was able to have a conversation about school without being sent to time out to think. Class, lunch, bus rides, recess, and even P.E. All seems to have gone without a hitch. A little while later I got a phone call to inform me that during recess Luke has been spotted holding hands and kissing a girl! Actually the girl was said to have kissed Luke, but one way or the other supposedly kissing had occurred. Although I didn't really think this escapade sounded like something Luke would do, I called him in for questioning. He denied all of the allegations, but confessed to chasing the said girl around during recess (his favorite activity). I decided to take his word for it because I really don't think that Luke would be holding hand and kissing girls. He is pretty shy (as he always tells me).

I decided to get his old yearbook out and look up the girl who was involved in the recess incident and found her to be pretty cute (a little red-head), so if it is true at least he has good taste. Luke then started looking through his yearbook to see the pictures of the kids who are in his class. I looked over at him and found that he was kissing someone's picture! I asked him who he was kissing and he told me...Mrs. Schumann, his teacher. Again, good taste. She is a cute, skinny, mid-twenties, little thing.

Thursday: After another busy morning of getting ready for school while taking care of all the kids I sent Luke out the door just in time to catch the bus, or so I thought. I watched out of the window for the bus to pass, and never saw it go by. I walked out of the driveway and found Luke still standing there waiting for the bus that we obviously missed. I quickly threw clothes on myself and Noah (sorry Eli you got to go in pajamas) and jumped in the car to get Luke to school in time. Note to self; the bus comes earlier than the "schedule" they sent home said it would.

I was lounging on the bed with Noah and Eli around the time that Luke should have been getting home, when I looked at the clock and made a mental note that he was 8 minutes later than he was the day before. It was time to feed Eli so I sat down and fed him and waited for Luke to come home. When I was finished feeding the baby and Luke still wasn't home I started to get concerned. I called Billie Jo to ask her if she thought I should be worried and she said I should call the district office and have them radio the bus to see if he was on it. I decided that before I made the phone call I could walk over to the neighbor's house to see if he went there to play instead of coming home. No one was even home at the neighbor's house and I started to get more and more worried about where Luke could be. As I was walking down their driveway I saw a bus finally come pulling up. Luke got off, but I noticed that there weren't any other kids on the bus. I hurried to the bus and found out that Luke had gotten on the wrong bus at the school and so he had to stay on the bus until the route was finished and the driver could bring him home. I figure that Luke would be pretty upset by this, so when I talked to him about what happened I tried to be as nice as possible as I explained the importance of paying attention to what bus he was getting on. Luke swears that he was standing in the right line by some of his friend that ride his bus, but somehow he ended up on the wrong bus. In his defense, the bus driver of the WRONG bus was his driver last year so he probably didn't think anything of it when he got on and saw her in the driver's seat. By the end of our conversation Luke was crying and informed me that he needed some time alone. Didn't he just have quite a long bus ride alone? Oh well. I let him lay on my bed and watch some cartoons, which seemed to make everything better.

Friday: Our last chance to have a day without any problems. As I was reading through Luke's planner I saw that for homework his "star student" train poster was due. Oops. Someone's parents forgot to even bring it home on Back to School Night. I quickly wrote a note to Luke's teacher explaining why Luke didn't have his FIRST assignment completed! So much for being the model student. It was just a small glitch, and considering the week we had just had I figured it could've been much worse. What an eventful week of first grade. I hope the next 9 months are a little less "eventful".