First day of school...

Today was the first day of school and it was successful on all accounts. The forecast called for rain and the kids were nervous that recess would be cancelled. How bummed would a kindergartener be to show up to his first day of school and feel as though he was tricked with everyone talking of recess with no recess in sight!? Luckily, the rain held out.

When they returned home, there was talk of nice teachers, new friends, fun bus rides and good lunches. They unanimously agreed they would all go back tomorrow. Just what I was hoping to hear. I think the only one who struggled today was Cannon. I can't even count how many times he asked for "HallieHunterBennett" said very quickly so all the names blended together. He kept asking about them over and over again today in swim lessons and the teacher finally asked me what he was saying. To say he missed his buddies today would be an understatement!









Here's each kid with their neighborhood/bus riding friends. The friends they end up having a picture with year after year.

Back to School Dinner...

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that my kids start school tomorrow. I haven't even gone through all our summer photos yet, and now I'm taking back-to-school photos. And even though it seems way too early - they're ready and I'm ready. Bennett is the most outwardly excited about starting kindergarten and yet he's also the one showing the most concern and reluctance for what's just around the corner. We've talked and talked and talked some more about what he should expect. The older kids have told him what to expect and yet you can see it in his eyes, he's still a little skeptical. The thought of eating lunch at school is more excitement than he can handle, it's worrying about where the bathroom is at and whether or not his teacher is going to be nice that are making him a tad nervous.

Tonight we had our annual back-to-school dinner. This year's theme is "Bee" Smart, which as we discussed tonight covers a lot of ground. It's more than just doing well in school. It's making smart decisions when with friends. It's being smart with their money as they find independence in spending their cash. It's being smart in how they spend their time. We had a great discussion over dinner (as much as you can when you have a baby and a two-year-old in the room) and the rest of the night kept building the anticipation for tomorrow.

Props to Hallie today - she was my wing girl in the whole operation. I'm pretty sure next sure she's going to do the whole dinner and do it better than me!









See our previous back to school dinners here, here and here.

22 weeks...

Briggs had his first experience with the lake last week. Which means he had his first experience with a lifejacket. I've yet to have a baby who is happy and comfortable in a life jacket - why can't they develop a better design?! He was a good sport though and the motion of the boat even put him to sleep in my sister-in-laws arms for a bit.

He was at the doctor last for a well-check. At 5 months old, he's 13 lbs and 26 inches - long and lean. He's about too long for all his 3-6 month clothing, yet they're all baggy around the middle. We're also transitioning away from the swaddle for sleeping. Some days I think it's a good idea, other days not so much!

19 weeks...20 weeks...

Still playing catch up on editing his weekly photos. Weeks 19 and 20 was our last week in Idaho and our first week back in Arizona. He traveled like a champ for the 6 hour drive to Utah (as long as Steve or myself was sitting in the back of the car next to him) and then he had his second plane ride as we flew home and Steve drove with the older kids.

The adjustment coming home was far better than the adjustment of us leaving for vacation. He's settling in nicely.

Happy weekend...

We we're out of town for over a month.

We came home for a few days before we had family show up for a week.

Steve had a shoulder procedure yesterday to repair some tendons and break up calcium build-up.

Which is perfect timing considering the olympics start tonight and Steve's got a low profile week ahead of him.

And school starts next week.

Which means this is one of our first and last weekends that we're home for the summer without visitors and I'm not sure my kids know what to do without their cousins.

And to top it off it's monsoon season which means we've been greeted by rain several days this week and the weekend is looking gray as well. But at least our evenings look like this:

Happy Weekend.

Insulation is really important...

When we first moved into this house, we had an energy audit performed. We were told they would tell us the inefficiencies in the home which would allow us to fix them and save on our energy bills. It was kind of a sham and really the people came in and told us we needed to buy new air conditioning units because they were old (Information we already had) and conveniently they also installed the units. It wasn't overly helpful.

After moving in, summer rolled around and we noticed our daughter's room was almost 10 degrees warmer than other areas of the house. We did the best we could to remedy the problem with the information we had. Three years later, it was still the hottest room in the house and we called an insulation company to come in an assess the situation. They concluded we didn't have nearly enough insulation in the attic, so they made the needed change. We waited almost two months to see if we noticed a change - no luck. We had them back out to reassess. One wall in particular, an exterior wall, showed a very high thermal reading. They agreed to blow in new insulation if we ripped out the drywall and removed the old insulation.

Late one night last week, Steve and I got busy cutting a strip of drywall out across the entire length of the room. You can imagine our surprise and frustration when we realized there wasn't insulation in the wall. An east facing exterior wall in Arizona without insulation. What?! I'm not sure how that was not noticed by the builder, the inspector or even the ENERGY AUDIT!



Needless to say, we've taken care of the problem. We've had the insulation blown in. The drywall is now reinstalled, taped, mudded and textured. All that's left is some primer and paint. But if I have to buy new paint - shouldn't I just paint the whole room?! And if that's the case, wouldn't it be best to refresh the color?! Decisions, decisions!

19 weeks...

He learned a few tricks while he was in Idaho. One afternoon while playing with him on the floor, he rolled from his stomach to his back. I didn't quite see the action so I figured one of the kids rolled him over. So I put him back on his stomach and he quickly rolled back over. We played this game over and over again. At first he surprised himself. After that he was surprised by how excited we all were with him rolling over. The next day he was on his back and he rolled to his stomach. Within two days we went from stationary and safe to mobile and unpredictable.

As much as I love the rolling stage, it's the beginning of the safety freak out mode. They no longer stay in one spot and little toys have to be picked up. He can no longer hang out on the bed or couch. But the plus side is he'll start rolling over to sleep on his stomach. Fingers crossed it improves his sleeping after our vacation sleeping blunder.

18 weeks...

Briggs turned 4 months old on week 2 of our vacation. Eleven hours in the car. He went to his first family reunion. Met a lot of his cousins and aunts and uncles for the first time. Went to college. Explored a cave. Enjoyed his first rodeo and parade and many, many fireworks.

Week 2 of vacation was the steady decline in his sleeping schedule. Each day he slept less and less and before long he was waking a couple times at night. Not the direction we wanted to go in the sleep department.

As far as size is concerned, he's long and lean and looks more like Bennett each day.

17 weeks...

It's time for me to play catch up on his weekly photos. I took the photos every Wednesday while we were out of town and I'm just getting around to uploading them.

A couple weeks back, Briggs took his first plane ride. Steve thought it better to make the long drive without the two youngest kids. So I hopped a $44 plane ride up to Utah where Steve picked us up as he drove through. It worked better than I had imagined and Steve was happy with a somewhat quiet car for the 11 hour drive.

Birthday Boy...

It's time to celebrate my favorite guy.



I've made lists in the past of all his wonderful traits and I could easily make another list. But instead, I'm going to help you get to know him just a little more.

He loves sweets and he loves chocolate. We were recently at an ice cream place and I was ordering for the family while Steve was with the kids. I looked at the menu and knew immediately what he would choose. Double chocolate fudge with brownie chunks. It's not a treat in his mind if it's not chocolate!

He's still driving his first car - He bought it the year before we met. Never in a million years did I think it would last this long. It's moved from one extreme climate to another and back again and it's still running like a dream.

He also still uses the same alarm clock he had as a kid. I've tried convincing him to upgrade. Perhaps one with a usb cable to charge his phone, or one that is a smart clock and goes back to the right time after being unplugged. He refuses. He likes his old comfortable alarm clock.

He isn't big into gadgets, specifically technology gadgets. (completely opposite of me) I try to keep him current by purchasing things for birthdays and such. Sometimes he returns them, other times he takes a chance and keeps them!

He is a fish out of water. He was a pretty big deal back in his city swim meet days and he often relives the glory days in our pool showing our kids his skills.

Most may not realize this, but he's a pretty big deal.

At least he is in our house. And we're happy to celebrate him any chance we can get.

Happy Birthday Steve.

Throwback...Mr. Funny...

It's warm outside which means the scorpions are out and ready to play. I'm used to hunting them down once a week in our backyard, but we've been away and I'm pretty sure they're staging a coup to take over the house. I found one in the garage yesterday and it scared me just a bit. I've never been stung, but both Hallie and Steve have been stung in our house which means I refuse to go barefoot. A couple years back Steve pulled a scorpion prank on me that I still laugh about:

My obsessions with scorpions was made apparent when I realized how successful I was as a scorpion hunter. (here)

Of course, then my dreams played tricks on me and suddenly scorpions had invaded my bedroom! (here)

No more than a week later - Steve informed me a scorpion walked past his barefoot in the bathroom. It sent chills up my spine, they're so creepy looking. And it made me a little nervous. Luckily, we haven't seen anything since, but I regularly take my blacklight at night and search our bedroom/bathroom. (this is also helpful to see where the bathroom needs to be cleaned better!!) Steve has this crazy rationale that it would be better to just get a scorpion bite now then you wouldn't dread it for the rest of your life. Seriously?? No, I would rather go my whole life, see them a couple times and never get bit.

Fast forward to today...

Early this morning Bennett was screaming. I went to him and found him completely soaked through his diaper. I quickly changed out his sheets and gave him a quick bath and hopped back into bed just before five. I typically sleep on my right side, but Steve was asking questions about Bennett so I turned to my left side and put my hand under my pillow. I felt something that I knew shouldn't belong there. My heart started beating faster even though I knew it was nothing that could harm me based on how it felt. I pulled out a small plastic sign and turned it to the little light that was coming through our window.

"Beware of the scorpion".
I threw it across the room and started hitting Steve repeatedly. He laughed uncontrolably next to me as my heart slowed to its normal pace. He thought I would come across it in the middle of the night, not realizing he would be awake for my reaction. Just having to look at that creepy picture that early in the morning made me shiver.

I have a feeling this little sign will be a permanent member of our family. Who knows where Steve is going to find this next!!

We're home...

We just got home from our annual pilgrimage to Idaho. Here's a quick recap while I try to catch up on life at home:

1 month and 1 day
More than 50 hours in the car
Almost 3,000 miles
A couple round trip plane tickets
4 stops at Costco/Sams Club
1 family reunion
Over 100 spikeball games
1 dental emergency (Hallie's broken tooth...again)
11 times watching Kung Fu Panda 3
2,300 pictures
Helped 1 brother move
1 camping trip
Swam in 2 pools
2 sick kids
4 different beds
Walked around 2 temple grounds
Played at 13 parks/playgrounds
9 times listening to the Annie Soundtrack
Learned 3 new board/card games
Celebrated 3 birthdays
1 small town parade and a rodeo
2 fireworks shows
Ran into 4 people we knew on BYU-Idaho campus
6 items ordered from Amazon
Listened to 7 years on the piano 37 times (it might have been more)
2 visits to Chick-fil-a, 2 McDonalds, 1 Subway, 1 Burger West, 1 Cafe Rio, 3 Pizza places
10 loads of laundry
2 state parks
and...
Way too many late nights and early mornings.

I think it would feel better to be home if we hadn't been welcomed to Arizona with 110 degree weather! Although nothing can replace sleeping in your own bed. Time to start editing photos!

The texture of summer...

In my mind, cotton candy is the texture of summer. It's light and airy and dyes your mouth all sorts of fun colors and leaves your hands and face completely sticky. Perhaps most parent's nightmare. I realize I might be in the minority here, but I love myself some cotton candy. The kids know I'm a sucker for the fluffy stuff and I rarely turn down an opportunity to coat their teeth with this glorious sugar.

But I don't share. I always get my own bag. I'm not a fan of smashed cotton candy or even worse when they lick their fingers and then go to grab more and leave their slobber marks on a perfectly good cloud of candy. And blue is my favorite, I always go for blue. Oddly enough I'm not sure the blue smile is nearly as cute on me as it is on those younger than 6 years old!

Sugar Cookie Cake...

My sister-in-law made this for us last week and I was reminded again just how much I love this cake!

When the Pothiers get together for a birthday or holiday celebration it is a big crowd. Typically the easiest way to treat so many people to dessert is to make a sheet cake. Depending on the RSVPs it may be one or possibly two sheet cakes. Most everyone is familiar with the traditional chocolate "Texas Sheet Cake", and it's a family staple. But last year my SIL Laurel decided to mix things up and bring a "Montana Sheet Cake" to a gathering. It has since been lovingly renamed sugar cookie cake (thanks to the almond extract) by our family and it is delicious. Two weeks ago I decided to make one while visiting my family in Idaho and just 5 days after it was devoured, my SIL had purchased the ingredients for me to make it again. It's addicting if you like sugar cookies.

Here is the recipe from Laurel, from her friend, from her niece, from her monkey's uncle. I love how recipes float around!

SUGAR COOKIE CAKE
2 1/4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cubes butter
1 cup water
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup sour cream

Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Heat butter and water in a saucepan until butter melts and pour over dry ingredients. Mix until smooth. Add eggs, soda, extract and sour cream, mixing after each addition. Bake in a half sheet pan (18x13) at 350 for 20 minutes.

FROSTING
2 cubes of butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp almond extract
5-6 cups powdered sugar
Heat all ingredients except sugar until butter melts. Remove from heat and add sugar gradually. Let cake cool before topping with frosting.

I make the frosting really thick. I like it to resemble sugar cookie frosting but you can alter it to your preference.

Wedding weekend...part 1...

Something the Pothiers do well is weddings and parties. The third grandchild was married recently in Arizona and it didn't disappoint. (The first and second wedding)

It was rather convenient that the wedding was held in Arizona, although the bride and groom live in Wisconsin. Every one of Steve's siblings and spouses were in attendance and Steve's parents came back for a week from their mission in Ghana. No one wants to miss out on a fun party!

Steve's brother offered to host the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, so Friday morning we came in full force to transform the back patio. Let me tell you - if I need to get something done, I want these ladies on my team. They know how to get stuff done and they're fun to work with. We created order out of chaos!



That night, we were able to sneak a couple pictures while everyone was showing up. Getting a family that large all together takes some serious effort - we always document with a picture when we can make it happen.


And because it's often hard to tell who's a sibling and who's an in-law, there is always an "original" picture.


Our nephew and his soon-to-be bride rolled in to the party in this old truck that she had worked on with her brother growing up. If I pulled up in that truck I would look ridiculous - but when you ooze cool like these two, it fits so well!


We talked and laughed. We ate great food. We celebrated love. It was a fun celebration.





And as much time as it took to set up this beautiful environment, we had it torn down in a fraction of that time. Benefits of a large family - many hands make work light!

Family of 7...

Shortly after Briggs was born my sister-in-law took some pictures of our new family of 7. They ended up getting lost in a sea of pictures and I'm just barely seeing them for the first time. I love them. Many capture the craziness that comes with 5 kids. Some capture the love everyone has for this little one and for each other. Others capture the personality each child has.

We took them at my sister-in-law's home so the kids were comfortable and relaxed. Although excited to be seeing their cousins. We weren't stressing over hair or clothing. It's just our family on a Sunday afternoon (which means they showered that morning and we indeed did their hair at some point that day!)

There's plenty more to sort through but here's a couple I'm loving so far.