Birthday Girl

Anya turned 6 a couple of weeks ago.  We had to sqeeze in cake and ice cream between piano lessons and back to school night, but we got to sing and open presents.  She really wanted to go ice skating for her birthday, so that is still on the to-do list when we have a day to get to IceWorld. There wasn't really anything she wanted, other than to shove her face in pie.  For months whenever Anya gets excited about something, she says, "I think I want to shove my face in pie."  Where she got this idea, I don't really know, but we promised her that on her birthday she could make that dream a reality.  We made a delicious Jello pudding cream pie, and after opening present, she got to shove her own face in it.  Crazy girl. Six things we love about Anya:  She is adventurous and willing to try new things. She loves to read to me and with me.  She is a good big sister to Paisley.  She loves music-both playing it and listening or dancing to it.  She remembers to say her prayers every night.  She loves making new friends. 
This past weekend she went to Utah with Uncle Andrew and visited grandma and cousins there. Our family definitely noticed how much she was missed.  We love you, Anya!  

First Day of School

So this post is a bit belated.  But we are all back into the swing of things with school.  The girls are all enjoying their classes and teachers, and mostly getting to see their friends every day.  Anya is in all day kindergarten, and has adjusted well to that new schedule.  Of course I was the typical teary mom dropping the kindergartener off.  It doesn't really matter how many times you have done that, or have left to do it, it still is an emotional milestone.  Sierra is in 4th grade.  Emma is in 6th grade, and went to school for 2 weeks, and then we decided to homeschool for the year with her, so she can have more time to work on her music and work more at her own pace (somehow I didn't get a first day picture of her.  We'll have to go back and recreate the moment).  Lexi is in 8th grade, and has started with great cross country season, besides a great academic year.  Christa started at high school, and especially loves choir and Calculus. Paisley gets to be home all day with me and asked about 25 times a day for the first week, "Go get Anya?"  It took a bit for her to get used to the girls being gone all day.  It didn't take me long to get used to it :)

Football Season

I have to admit it . . . I LOVE college football.  I'm not a fanatic about it, but I really do enjoy a good game.  I have loved it since I was 11 and my dad would take us to the Air Force Academy games (he taught there for 4 years) and we would watch the cadets all run down on the field to do push-ups when they scored, and my 6th grade teacher was the wife of one of the coaches and we would make posters for the team to put up in the locker room.  I loved going to the games, even when one time my sister threw up when we were stuck in traffic and there were several of us crammed in the back of my dad's old Monte Carlo.  At BYU, my roommates and I camped out for tickets and I don't think I ever missed a home game in the 4 years I was there.  One roommate was a HUGE Ty Detmer fan and would wear her #14 jersey and paint her face blue.  Her dream was to toss the football around with Ty, and I think she realized that dream during that 1990 year when he won the Heisman trophy.  I was there cheering at the top of my lungs 20 years ago this week, when we beat Miami, a highly ranked team that year.  It has been fun to be in Boise during such great years for Boise State, even though we haven't made it to many live games.  I love seeing the highlights for all the good games on College Football Saturdays.   I keep an ESPN app on my phone to track the  top 25 teams (especially when BSU and/or BYU are in the top 25).  This was a great weekend for my teams.  We were able to go to Provo and watch BYU play, and there's nothing like being in the stands when they win.  We watched the BSU game here at home.  Both teams gave me a few new gray hairs by waiting to the last 2 minutes of their respective games to pull out their lead.  I get way to anxious when things are that close.  I didn't see the Air Force game, but their offense put 65 points on the board, and they play BYU next weekend.  Yeah for fall and College Football!!
On a related note . . . We dropped Christa off on Friday night at her first High School football game.  I just about cried.  It was one of those weird moments where I all of a sudden felt much older.  I sometimes feel like I should be the one walking into the stadium as a student, not my child.  Strange.