Fall

Our favorite pumpkin patch, complete with horses and hayrides. We never did get around to carving our pumpkins, but they came in handy for shooting practice, which also turned into a handy excuse Matt used to take extra long setting up for my second surprise party - that stinker!

Away We Go

Some new fun adventures from Kindergarten.

A few weeks in, Ally came home with a note. It was a copy of a hand-written note she had written which said, "Dear Tom, I'm sorry I grabbed your neck. Next time I will use my words." (name are changed to protect the innocent).

Yikes.

Well, now it's go-time. What kind of Mom am I going to be? I want to be the kind that supports my teachers...I have enough teacher friends to know that they deal with way too much this:

So, we sat down with Ally and talked about how that wasn't acceptable Buffington behavior.

Buffingtons are nice, Buffingtons are kind, Buffingtons share, and Buffingtons don't hurt their friends. She was on board with this. But just for good measure, I threw in, "And if it happens again I'm going to throw away your toys."

Yup, good parenting there.

So yesterday, I decide to go have lunch with her at school (it was one of my favorite days ever, by the way), but the first thing I notice when I get there is a note on her backpack. This time, it's handwritten from Tom: "Dear Ally, I'm sorry I pinched your face."

So apparently they have something going on.

But lunch was the most fun I've had in a long time. It's glorious to have someone talk you up the whole time, "Hey guys, this is my mom. Have you met my mom? Say hi to my mom." After lunch, I walked with her down to the playground. I'm not sure if this is allowed, but no one yelled at me, so I just sat down and watched for a bit. She even asked if she could sit on my lap (I'm so happy she's not embarrassed of me yet!). I said sure, and then her friend wanted to sit on my lap. So we made a sandwich. And then another friend wanted to sit on our lap, so we made an ice-cream cone until I decided I should probably go back to work.

These girls are the best:

Kindergarten

And suddenly she's in Kindergarten.


Riding the bus, even. For some reason, summer school kindergarten didn't phase me, but dropping her off at school on that first day in September, I wanted to grab her and run away. I didn't let her see me upset, but after I dropped her off, seeing all the crowds of parents and kids in the hall, I just felt like I was turning her over to the system...I cried all the way to work.
Here's Day 2 Riding the Bus:



Let me just say, she has loved every day since. She loves Mrs. Moore, she loves her class, she loves riding the school bus (and hates the thought we might miss the bus). Though she still asks for "5 more minutes" in the morning, she then cheerfully gets up and gets ready.
I thought for sure all-day Kindergarten would take such a toll on her, but she is such a champ and loves every minute of it. Oh, Ally, I'm your biggest fan.

Steve-O's 6-0

Our Summer Frolic

Allyisms

Today Ally told me to close my eyes. She put her hands on my temples and said, "What do you see?" And "How do you feel?" It was sweet and surprisingly therapeutic, but I'm not sure how or why she came up with this stunt.

Then I returned the favor. "What do YOU see?" She saw a river of candy. How great it is to be five?

Also, my seven-year-old class is hilarious. I told them the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead and challenged them to tell the story to their families this week. They got pretty excited and asked if they could act it out. I said sure. "Awesome!" someone said, "I'm going to wrap my brother in toilet paper!"

I told them they should ask their moms first.

Healing the Sick

I found this article quite interesting, particularly this part:

The use of medical science is not at odds with our prayers of faith and our reliance on priesthood blessings. When a person requested a priesthood blessing, Brigham Young would ask, “Have you used any remedies?” To those who said no because “we wish the Elders to lay hands upon us, and we have faith that we shall be healed,” President Young replied: “That is very inconsistent according to my faith. If we are sick, and ask the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow, without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and [then] to ask my Father in Heaven … to sanctify that application to the healing of my body.”

Thanks, Leah, for sharing the link!