School's In Session

The boys went back to school this week. I did take a couple of "first day of school" pictures, but to post them I would have to go downstairs and get the camera, pull them off the camera, upload them to blogger... You're out of luck. Anyway, like a dope, I forgot to take Ryan's and Rusty's pictures. Oops.

Sam went back on Monday for 7th grader day. They get to go alone without the older kids and find their classes and figure out their lockers and such. He did great and his orchestra teacher moved him into advanced orchestra. He'll also be playing in the jazz band. (I think being a Lofthouse is helping him out!) He's playing the bass, by the way. Since carrying a bass back and forth to school would be impossible, we're renting one bass for home and one for school.

The other boys started on Tuesday. Finlay is in fourth grade. He has two teachers, Mrs. Turner and Mrs. McKee. They each teach half a day. Mrs. Turner just moved up the street from us. Cool. Rusty started ninth grade. It's at the Jr. High where Sam is going. He's playing bari sax in the concert band and trombone (yes, you read that right) in the jazz band. (That's two more instruments to rent). Oh, and tenor sax in the high school marching band. Ryan is a SENIOR! and the drum major of the aforementioned marching band. He's taking a bunch of really hard classes. I'm sure he'll do great.

Camary starts Kindergarten on Tuesday. She went in for her assessment last Wednesday, and did great. She has Mrs. Nelson, who taught Finlay in Kindergarten. She is so, so excited and can't wait to wear her new school clothes.

Last Thursday, Tracy and I went to the temple with the Lupiens (I am probably spelling that wrong), a couple from Quebec that Tracy taught and baptized on his mission (the wife, anyway.) I'd tell you their first names, but I have no idea how to spell them. Maybe Tracy can help me out. They came to Provo to drop off their oldest daughter at BYU. It was awesome to meet them and be in the temple with them. They are incredible people and it was such a neat experience. We took a picture, and Sister Lupien said she'd email us a copy, so when she does I'll post it.

Tales of Xander

I know you love them. So do I. At least after the fact.

He is so stinkin' independent that it's not even funny! He wants to do everything by himself. He climbs up on the vanity in the downstairs bathroom, where there's about an inch of space between the sink and the edge, and gets himself a drink of water. If I help in any way--like turning on the water, getting the cup for him, or even trying to steady him on the precarious edge--he gets highly offended. He'll dump out the drink and start over, because he has to do it all himself. The other day, though, he brought me a drink of water at lunch that he'd gotten for me all by himself. It even had a straw in it, which as you know makes any drink extra special. My heart just melted.

Our new van has a power sliding door. He loves the power door. He's obsessed with it. Every time we get in the van, he yells, "I push button! I push button!" The button in question is on the inside of the van, so we have to open the door and he gets in and presses the button, which closes the door before everyone else gets in. Then he gets mad if we open it again. Sigh. Once he's buckled in, he can't reach the button, which usually results in a lot of complaining that he wants to "push button!" Same deal when it's time to get out. I hope the novelty of the sliding door wears off soon!

At church, he loves the Sacrament (a spiritual giant. I know). Actually, when it gets to our bench he yells, "There it is, Mom. Toast!" He's also been singing in church. I think I mentioned that before.

On Friday, he fell asleep at the swimming pool around four o'clock and didn't wake up until  8:30. Then he stayed up until about 1:30 am. Argh. When I tried to take a much needed nap on Saturday, he kept coming in about every ten minutes. I know I could lock the door, but when I do that, he stands there and kicks it and shouts, "Mom!" It's much worse than just letting him come in. I was a little ticked off that the rest of the family wouldn't keep him out of my room, but I know how hard it is to keep a handle on that kid. Besides, he climbs into bed with me and says, "Puppy." Which means he wants to be my puppy and snuggle with me. Of course, this puppy always meows.

I could go on and on. This little guy sure keeps us all on our toes!

We love you, Xander.

Salem Days Parade

Saturday was the Salem Days Parade and the first parade of the season for the Salem Hills Marching band. Here's Drum Major Ryan at the head of the band swinging his Drum Major baton (which I have learned is called a mace.)

And Rusty with his saxophone.

We were sitting near the end of the parade so they were hot and tired and Ryan felt like his arm was going to fall off, but to me they looked perfect. When they came by (playing music), I cried. I mean, who cries when a marching band goes by? A proud mom, that's who.