Smoke Detectors, Showers and Tears

This morning started out as a normal morning. Ayden and Ellie woke up early to get ready for school and I got into the shower to get ready for work. Tate was still snoozing, snuggled in the covers. I was in the middle of washing my hair and had conditioner in it when the smoke detectors started going off. I honestly wasn't too worried about it and started to ignore it with the intention of finding out what was going on after I was out of the shower and dressed. Right about this time I hear my older 2 children yelling "Fire!! Fire!! Fire!!" Which caught my attention a little more. Ayden bursts into the bathroom yelling "Mom! The smoke detectors are going off. We have to go!" Then Ellie starts yelling "Ah, I'm naked! I've got to get dressed." And she rushes out. By this time, I'm still not worried about a real fire, but very curious as to what's really going on. I quickly got dressed and went out to investigate. I find Ayden sitting on his bed wiping tears from his eyes. Ellie is still naked trying to get underwear on quickly. And Tate (who had been abruptly woken up because of the smoke detectors and frantic older siblings) is standing by Ayden shivering.  The whole situation was quite comical!
There was no fire, just the smell of burned dust. We had gotten out the kids' small space heaters for their rooms and Ayden had turned it on for the first time. Because it sat all spring/summer, it had some dust built up inside. So when he turned it on, it burned the layer of dust. For some reason that smell was enough to trigger all the smoke detectors upstairs. Glad to know they work! My poor kids! I'm so proud of them for knowing what to do in case of fire: alert an adult and get ready to leave. (thank you FHE lesson). Here's hoping tomorrow morning is less eventful! 

Dinner Helper

Tonight for dinner, I decided to make home made chicken noodle soup and corn bread. It's the first colder day of the season: 50 degrees and stormy. I love it! It totally put me in the mood for warm soup. Tate was my little helper in the kitchen.  He helped me mix the dough for noodles and helped roll it out on the counter. Then he got to cut it into strips with the pizza cutter.  Next he helped me make the corn bread. He was ever so careful putting the measured ingredients in the bowl. Once it was all mixed up, he said "uh, that doesn't look very good." But I promised it'd be so good once it was hot out of the oven! I had a lot of fun with my dinner helper. He's such a good boy and hilarious to be around.

Tate putting the noodles in the soup

I love that silly smile

Piano Recital

Ayden and Ellie had their piano recital right after school started. This was Ellie's first piano recital and she was nervous. Ayden wasn't worried at all because "I've done this before, mom."

Ellie was first on the program but she was a little nervous and didn't want to go up. After a few minutes and watching someone else go first, she went up. She did such a good job.

 Ayden was a little nervous even though he didn't want to admit it. But he did a very good job too.

So proud of our piano players!

First Day of School

So Summer came and went and all too soon the kids started school. They were more than ready to go back, however. And they laid our special clothes for the first day and packed their lunches in their new lunch boxes.
Ayden started 4th grade and was excited to learn that a lot of his friends are in his class again. And of course he had to start off his year sporting BYU. Go Cougs!

Tough face

handsome 9 year old

Ellie started 1st Grade and was very excited to go all day because she would get to eat in the lunch room with Ayden.

All ready to go

We carpool with neighbor kids and they happen to be Ellie's best friends. So they were all excited to share their first day morning together.

Ellie, Rylie, and Ayden



Rylie, Katie, and Ellie: cute little 1st graders

Tate also started preschool (just a moment while I wipe away my tears). He was so proud to use his Lightning McQueen backpack.

Cheesy grin

Handsome 3 year old

I'm glad to have the kids back in school and on a better schedule. I'm excited for all the new friends they will meet, experiences they will have and things they will learn, but part of me is sad at the same time. My little ones are growing up and I'm not fully ready for that. I'm proud of each of them and wish them the best this school year.