Corn

It's no secret that Kate loves to eat. She devours most everything that we out in front of her. Well, tonight we gave her her own corn on the cob and she was in heaven!  I already knew she loved corn, but she loves it even more in the cob!  It was hilarious watching her gnaw on it during dinner...very entertaining!  

Soccer Season

Soccer season has begun!  Noah is playing on a AA team this year and is just loving it!  He is the youngest player on the team, but thank goodness the kid is tall, cause he's just as big as everyone else.  

All suited up...

Doug and I have LOVED watching Noah's games this year.  They are keeping score, there is a goalie, and all of the kids are playing the right positions.  And they are good!  So fun to watch!

Such a handsome soccer player!!

Noah has actually been playing goalie for most games, and he has really enjoyed it.  He has had some GREAT saves, which makes him so happy.  He is still learning, but that is what this league is about...learning!  And I love that!  I am definitely not a very competitive person, but I do believe in working as a team and learning as much as you can.  And winning isn't all that bad ;).

And...Leah started playing soccer this year!  I don't think she knew what playing soccer really entailed, even though she has been to ALL of Noah's games the past 3 years!  Her first practice was a good eye opener for her and she was able to learn the basics.  Then she was all ready for her first game...

Yep, she totally has ribbon with soccer balls on them in her hair!  I'm all about the accessories ;).

She totally surprised me at her first game!  She was running the entire time and went wherever the ball was.  We need to work on a few things, but she did great, considering it was her first time playing!  She  even scored a goal and her first and second game!  She has informed me that she'd rather play the games than go to practice...she got a taste of something she likes!

And then there's Isaac...who is DYING to play soccer!  Seriously, he would do anything to get out there and play!  And I can guarantee that he'd do a good job.  This kid loves this game and can NOT wait until next year!  Doug and I are pretty excited to get him started too....we've been waiting long enough for him to play sports :).

Utah Football!

It's no surprise that the Smith family LOVES football season...especially when our Utes are playing!  We have been counting down the weeks for opening day, and we were very excited when it finally came :).  Of course, the kiddos wore their Utah gear to school...they like to represent too.  And, in my defense, they chose to wear their Utah attire ;).

I had Kate wear a littler Utah shirt at first, but the girl has grown a LOT in the middle, so that shirt was NOT working out for her ;).  So, naturally, I made here a Utah dress with some leftover fabric that I had.  It turned out so cute!  Love it!

Opening game was on a Thursday night, which proved to be a little tricky.  Noah had a soccer game that evening that he couldn't miss, so my awesome sis-in-law took him to his game and kept him for the evening.  Then we took the girlies to my parent's house, and we took Isaac with us!  Doug and I just knew that Isaac would be so good at the game, and we were right.  He was an absolute angel!  This child...he is so awesome!  He just sat on Doug's lap the entire time and didn't wiggle at all...seriously...for 4 quarters, he just sat there!  He would talk to us about the game and was so interested in what was going on.  He really loves sports...that one!  It was such a fun night and I'm so glad I was able to spend it with these cute boys!  Plus we won...GO UTES!!!

We love to see the temple...

The weekend before school started, we decided to get out of the house and head up to SLC.  We ended up at Temple Square and had a great time walking around the grounds and seeing all things beautiful!  I absolutely love walking around the temple...the grounds are SO beautiful!  The kids loved to see the fountain and flowers, and Leah was thrilled to see all of the brides coming out of the temple.  After walking around for a bit, we went to the church museum.  They had a nice kids area and we spent majority of our time there.  There was also a Norman Rockwell exhibition going on, so that was fun to see too.  Then we headed off to City Creek to attempt to do some shopping...that didn't really happen.  But we still had fun :).  Love spending time with the family!

Isaac's in Preschool

So, I never thought the day would come when I have THREE kids in school!  What am I going to do when ALL of my kids are in school.  Heaven help me...I'm going to be a sad mama.

Well, today was the day that my sweet little Isaac started pre-preschool.  First year of preschool...so he's only gone for two hours, two days per week.  Doesn't seem like long, but it does to me!  Any time away from these little ones is hard for me...as stated in the post for Noah and Leah!  I'm not coming to terms with the fact that my kiddos are growing up!  

The good thing is that Isaac has been SO excited for school and has been asking when he gets to go for 2 weeks...when Noah started school.  Last night he was so thrilled that it was *finally* his turn.  We laid out his clothes and he received a blessing from Doug...it was official...he was all ready to go!

This morning he woke up early and we made him his favorite breakfast...oatmeal with fruit.  He devoured every bite and then promptly jumped in the tubby to get ready for his big day ;).

Once he was ready, he told me "Mom, now it's MY turn to get pictures in the front yard!"  Smart kid...he knows the drill!  And he was hamming it up for the camera too...he is SOOOO handsome...I can't stand how cute he is!

And then we were off!  When we got there, he jumped out of the car and ran in so fast!  He is very familiar with his preschool, so he wasn't nervous at all!  He hung up his backpack and found his cute little placemat and started to play with his play-doh.  He wouldn't even look up for a pic...he was so into it!  And then I was off!

And, guess what...I didn't even cry!  Go me!  He was just too happy for me to be sad.  I knew that he was going to have a fabulous time!

And the house was sooooo.... quiet when we got home!  It was so weird just having the girlies home with me.  But we had fun and played, and got all ready for the day....and then it was time to go get Isaac.  He had such an amazing time, and he LOVES his teacher!  Heck, we all do!  She is as great as they come...we sure do love her to pieces!  

And, just like that, I have 3 kiddos in school!  Crazy talk!  Our school year schedule is in full swing, which is just great!  We look forward to all the fun things that are yet to come...yay for school!!!

Leah's in Kindergarten!

My little princess is officially in kindergarden {sniff, sniff}.  Leah has been excited to go back to school, but the unknown of what it was going to be like made her a bit nervous.  

Leah goes to school in the afternoon, so it was nice to relax in the morning and take our time getting ready.  When the time came for me to do her hair, I noticed she was a bit sad.  I looked at her in the mirror and asked if she was OK...then she started to cry.  Heaven help me...this was going to be hard!  I tried my hardest to keep it together, but I just started to cry with her, which I know didn't make things better, but I couldn't help myself!  I was NOT ready for her to go to kindergarten...I was so sad about it!  Well, I took her to my room and we sat and cuddled for a good 10 minutes.  I told her how great she was going to do and how much fun she was going to have...but she was still so sad.  She was as nervous as can be...she was shaking all over and it was hard to calm her down.  Poor thing.  After a while she finally calmed down and I was able to get her ready.  And I put on my happy face...I didn't want to make this harder then it had to be, even though I was so sad inside.  

She was finally good enough to go outside for some pictures.  She was her sweet and sassy little self and I got some darling pics of her...so cute!

And as soon as we finished taking these pictures, she started to cry again!  Then I asked her if she wanted to ride her scooter to school...and that seemed to fix it.  She grabbed her scooter and off we went to school :).

And then we got there, and it all started again.  Poor girl.  I even tried to get a pic of us together, but that didn't really work out.  

But as soon as she started to notice all of the other kids and saw that they were laughing and having fun, she started to cheer up.  When it was time to line up, she walked over all by herself.  I went and gave her a big hug and kiss goodbye, and then she was off to start her first day of kindergarten.  I was pretty exhausted at this point!

And I totally sobbed the whole way home.  If she wouldn't have been so sad, I probably would have been better, but she wasn't.  I was so worried for her...but I knew she was going to do great.

Then the time *finally* came to go get my girl.  She walked out with a smile on her face...it was a successful first day!  Yay!

Plus she has the most amazing teacher!  That always makes things better ;).

And instead of walking home with me, she headed off with Noah and our neighbor friends.  She's officially a big girl now...or so she thinks ;).  I don't have to go and pick her up this year, although I will every so often for my own well being!  

Yes, it was a interesting first day for Leah, but she did it and is now LOVING school!  She can't wait to go in the afternoon and getting ready for school is so smooth.  I'm thankful for my sweet little Leah.  She has grown so much lately and I know that this is going to be a great school year for her. 

Noah is in Second Grade

Well, I blinked and summer was over. This was by far the fastest summer so far...I'm assuming that all summers are going to go by at lightning speed from here on out, and I'm not ok with that. All the more reason to cherish every moment!

Noah has been looking forward to going back to school so that he could see all of his friends. Plus he LOVES to learn, so he was excited to go for the main reason for school, which is great ;). Plus what kid doesn't *love* recess!

Even though Noah was excited to go back to school, he was also a bit nervous, which is understandable.  I don't remember not being nervous on the first day of school, so I knew exactly how he felt.  I wanted to try my hardest to make the morning go as smoothly as possible, so we started off the morning with Noah's favorite breakfast, homemade waffles.  That sure made him happy...food is the way to this kids heart ;).  

Then I made his first lunch of the year...oh the joy of school lunch.  Good thing he prefers home lunch to school lunch ;).  He definitely prefers fruits and veggies to other foods.

Then we got ready for the day and headed outside for the obligatory first day of school pictures.  He's such a handsome boy...love him!

Then it was off to school...and I'm thankful that he was OK with me and his little siblings walking him to school.  I think he knew that it was what I needed to make my day go a little better.  And there he goes...

Then I headed home with the little ones.  And the house was SO quiet!  It's crazy how the dynamics of the house changes with the absence of one person.  I don't really like it...but I'll get used to it.  And, yes, I totally cried when we walked in the door.  I miss not having Noah with me 6 hours every day...it's hard to let go!  

I told him to hurry home after school cause I was going to miss him so much and would want to see him.  The kids and I went outside early to wait for him, and I was just as thrilled as could be to see him run home.  And then he tackled me and gave me a huge hug...made my heart swell with happiness!

I make cookies every Monday that the kids are in school, so Noah was, of course, thrilled to come home to a warm and yummy treat!  He told me all about his class and what he had done on his first day.   I'm so happy that he enjoyed it...makes letting go a little easier ;).