My first born son is 5 today.

Happy birthday little guy.

We have been busy here, especially me. With school full time, and 5 kids. Some reason I got really excited and started committing to parties too. With that came crafting. So I spent all of conference crafting for my Charlotte’s Birthday:

An owlie hat

and a convertible ruffle dress (as she gets older, it will be come a top, and it has a tie back and straps with room to let out).

Then I started pumping out gifts for the baby shower I was hosting. You already saw the quilt I made…

So to add to that I made:

A plush mat.

A flannel receiving blanket with crocheted edges.

A burp cloth, and a diaper/wipes carrier.

An owlie hat.

A reversible car seat cover.

Then yesterday I wipped up 3 dozen pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and my cohost and friend Eileen helped me decorate them.

The shower was a hit.

My sweet baby girl is 3! Where did the time go? I treasure her sweet spirit (and cantankerous temper) but miss my sweet cuddly baby.

She had a blast. Got the cake she wanted, a zhu zhu pet from her sisters, a dress and hat from me (hat pictured, dress to be a different post). She got a funny card from grandma and grandpa Roberts who joined us for the cake and ice cream and presents. We celebrated last night, because Bex is gone on a 5th grade trip to the Olympic parks for the next 3 days.

Things here on the blog front have been quiet because I am working hard to keep up with my responsibilities. School, housekeeping, kids, etc. Surviving so far. I am hoping as we settle into a rhythm I will be able to make more time to blog.

I was very crafty as we were watching conference, and once I have given the gifts I can post about them. So look for a craft summary post next week.

I used the Guitar Center Living social deal from a few weeks ago to get myself some new guitar books, picks and a instrument chord.

Today, finally, all 4 of my kids are in school at the same time! For about 1 hour. Aiden’s bus picks him up at 11:30, and Char gets out at 12:30. To commemorate the event we took a fun picture this morning before the circus got under way.

I love Septmember. I love the warm days, and cooler nights. I love the quiet days once school has begun. I love all the new school stuff. I get to start school soon, and of course I turned 32 last week. One of my favorite months of the year!

We decided to pass our time having fun. Friday we had a minor mishap causing Bex to miss a play date. Katie on the other hand got her play date with a friend right after school. Bex made it up in time, to go to a birthday party. The family in the mean time decided to beat the heat and go to the grocery store. We went a little hog wild, because cereal was on sale. We let everyone pick a fav. The berries looked good, so we decided to make some waffles and strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast the next day. We grabbed everything that was on sale and looked appealing. It was fun. We got home and had a late dinner, and hung out and did laundry (Everyone’s idea of fun right?).

Saturday was much more fun. We did the waffles thing, we went to the pool and stayed the whole time for once. Jason even started making headway on his cat like hate of water. He made real progress. We found charlotte still fits in the lockers! Once we got done swimming we of course had to get ice cream!

Then we all came home and had a BBQ, with yummy cheddar bay biscuits. Once we got the kids off to bed we watched yet another Bollywood film. I just love that genre.

Today it is off to stake conference. And to Fold all that laundry. And to work on a song Bex and I both want to learn. If I die young, by The Band Perry.

She went to bed without a peep, or an exit from her room, because we told her she needed her sleep for school. She was the first awake, and the first fed, the first to the bathroom, and the first dressed. She wore her back pack all around the house all morning. No binkies, because they aren’t allowed at school.

They all posed for pictures, some goofy ones too. Once everyone was ready they all played tea party to pass the time. When it was time for carpool, everyone piled in, not one little argument. The older girls got dropped off first, and she said goodbye without upset, because she knew it was her day too. When we arrived at her class, she put her lunch box away, hung up her back pack, made a potty break, and went straight to the easel.

Soon she saw her cousin had joined her class, and she said “Another friend I have!”

She kissed me goodbye and was eager to go off on her own little way. I am sure she is having a great day. My little Charlotte on her first day of preschool!

We survived the first week of school! hurray! on Tuesday the real juggling act starts, because Charlotte goes off to school on Tues and thurs at 9, which means I have to get her dressed, ready, fed, lunch packed and loaded with the rest of the car pool so I can drop the older kids off at 8:50, and Char off at 9. Fun times ahead here.

This week I haven’t done much but read and lounge, all the stress of the travel and unknowns have apparently made themselves manifest in my lower back. Apparently I have been tensed, in affect not unlike holding my breath, and really ticked off my lower back muscles. Took the better part of the week just to get back into moving around more than absolutely necessary. Well now we are back and we have a fun filled action packed weekend in front of us, NOT! We are watching Bollywood movies this weekend (so far Luck by chance, I have 2 others around her somewhere). You’ll have to excuse the less than fully clothed Charlotte, she is potty training, and has a ton of time in just her unders. We are down to the battle with #2, and the over night accidents on occasion. Could it be, down to only 1 in diapers? The last time I only had 1 in diapers, I was pregnant. Sometimes I can hardly believe I survived 3 in diapers at once without losing my mind!

Today I took a trip to Joann’s to use some coupons I had to make some book covers for the super expensive books I have for school. I want to recoup some of that investment, so I bought some outdoor canvas fabric to make covers with using some great coupons I got in the mail this week. A few minutes at the sewing machine, and my school books are pretty and protected!

Tomorrow we are having a picnic dinner at the beach, and Monday a BBQ with my ‘rents. Should be a blast.

So I am officially enrolled and have my books for my 4 classes this quarter. Anthropology 314, Law and justice 300, 302, and 313. Some online, some on campus. I still have to buy my tablet for in class, but all and all right on track. Lucky for me classes don’t start till mid September so I have plenty of time to get our schedules organized before beginning the insanity.

The kids are ready to go back. Bex and Katie start tomorrow, and I have morning carpool. The day before my birthday, Charlotte starts preschool, at the same place the rest of my kids started at, and all the nieces and nephews have attended. She is about 1/2 way potty trained (#2 is the bane of my existence in more ways than one). Aiden goes back on the 12th. He is the one I am really counting down for. Seems the longer he is out of school, and the more we have to ride the change wave, the worse he behaves. I am tired of being patient, it will be nice to have a break a few hours a day.

We wanted to make this past week memorable, and boy did we ever. The kids got picked up from grandmas on Saturday. midway there we blew a tire on I-5 and lost a few hours and more than a few bucks getting that squared away (with four new tires, OUCH). Next stop was Ocean shores, the original goal of the day. To get there at around 1:30 and unfortunately that turned into 4:30.

The beach was a blast, and that I mean literally. The wind was blasting by us hard. It took no effort at all for Charlotte to fly a kite all by herself. An hour or 2 later, and we were on the long road home. 

Monday we took the day and went to the zoo. We got there right after they opened, and fed the giraffes. I was a bit disappointed in the dinosaur thing. I was not about to pay15 dollars after zoo admission, and feeding the giraffe to see a small animated exhibit. Felt a bit like highway robbery. But other than that we had a great time.

There you have it, now it is Tuesday, and it’s time to check the bags, lay out the clothes, go over the plan and get it in gear for the first day of school TOMORROW! I smell pencils!

Today Tim left this morning for AZ, and the older two are off for a few nights with my sister-in-law. It was nice to get all the chores done and caught up today, it really gave me a chance to give the house a thorough once over. I probably wont enjoy it later as much as I have this first day. Pace general meeting on Tuesday with class room meetings before hand, order my text books on Wednesday. Pre-k play date Thursday. Another run to the Airport to pick up my Hubby. Aiden and Kate are off to Grandmas for the weekend Thursday as well. Birthday party Friday night for Bex’s BFF. Things are bound to get crazy here. But right now I am looking forward to bed time for toddlers!

On the upside, a week from today we will finally get to go use the zoo groupon and go spend the entire day at the awesome Woodland park zoo. From open till our kids have more than lost their minds…two strollers and praying for good weather.