Yay! Jack started middle school this year. He gets the ride the bus! Hurrah! He's happy to have a friend and some classmates from elementary on the bus with him.

Today was all orientation for 6th graders. Jack came home brimming with excitement. There were definitely nerves, but overall he seems psyched. He has friends in almost every class, including 3 classes with a friend he made in the summer camp program. He raved about his science teacher, who entertained them with pyrotechnics during their brief orientation period. He said math might actually be a challenge this year, since he is in the accelerated 6th & 7th grade math class. He's also taking Western Hemisphere studies, English/Language Arts, orchestra, and PE.

Sam is in third grade this year. He had a good day with no real surprises. It seems like he only has minor changes to his schedule and routine from last year. He said his new teacher even reminds him a lot of his second grade teacher, in looks, manner, and teaching style. She seems great to me, very experienced and easy going. Sam's best friend is in the same class again - yay! The school had some renovations over the summer, so at least that was new to him!

Sam was more resistant to me taking pictures than Jack was. He blandly obliged me with these pics, and then ran off to start the year.

Me? I had a fabulous day! I cleaned the house and it STAYED CLEAN. I indulged in some quiet morning time watching three new k-pop music videos that dropped last night and DIDN'T GET INTERRUPTED ONCE. I'm talking, like, 12 minutes in a row!

I made a new recipe, S'mores cookie bars. I love having fresh baked cookies ready for the boys after school. I usually bake on Wednesdays, but why not celebrate the first day? I got out my mixer and reached for my headphones, before remembering that I was all alone. I put the headphones back and pulled out a loudspeaker. It was really fun to crank up my music and dance and bake.

Cleaning, laundry, working, and reading made up the rest of my quiet day.

If I wasn't still suffering from an SI joint spasm it would have been an A+ day. This lower back pain pops up 1-3 times per year ever since my pregnancies. I already saw my chiropractor twice and have been throwing all my therapies at it (ice, heat, anti-inflammatories, rest, yoga, foam rolling, etc). I'm much better than when it flared last Wednesday, but not 100%. Dang, because I was thinking I could do a hip hop class in Boulder tomorrow morning while the kids are in school. Maybe next week ;-)

The kids wanted to share some magic tricks. I don't think a lot of practice or preparation went into these, but it's fun anyway :-)

The day he has been waiting for is finally here. Jack got braces today!

They put on a top set and will do the bottom layer. 18 months to two years of treatment, then a retainer to maintain. He’s so excited to be “full nerd.”

Caveman, words provided by Betty and Rick.

Here are a couple pieces that Jack learned during his orchestra camp session.

Here is "A Recipe for Ice Cubes" with words provided by mom via email.

If you want Sam to do your submission, email or comment your words to me. You can do the Caveman, previous posted, or The Blob:

Jack has been working on many different pieces this summer. Here is the theme from Ocarina of Time, a Legend of Zelda game. (He says the song fades out, that why he trails off at the end).

Sam would like to share two funny MadLibs we recently did.

Pirate Makeover, words provided by me.

Love Letter, words provided by Jack.

If you would like to do a MadLibs with Sam, comment your words for one of these pages below, or email them to me. Sam will fill them in and do another reading!