Hey kids. What's the deal with homework? you're not working on your home!

It's back to school time at the Vos Household.  It's my very least favorite time of the year.  I love having the kids home.  There's nothing I can do about it so I try and make the best of it.  This year we had a special back to school FHE and talked about each of us setting a goal for this school year.  The goals they set were very thoughtful and relevant to their lives.  I read this on another blog and decided this will be my goal:

Three Unbelievably Simple Parenting Ideas: 1) Children need a minimum of 8 touches a day to feel connected to a parent. 2) Each day, children need one meaningful eye-to-eye conversation with a parent. 3) There are nine minutes during the day that can have the greatest impact on a child: the first three minutes right after they wake up, the three minutes after they come home from school, and the last three minutes of the day before they go to bed.


They sound incredibly simple and like "Duh, aren't I don't this?"  But sometimes I need a reminder.  Especially the eye contact.  I am the queen of multi-tasking.  I talk to them while cooking, cleaning, folding, washing.  I need to be more present.  Hopefully I can keep it up longer than a week!

On Labor Day we spent our time swimming and BBQing with Anna and Tony.  At night all the children got their Father's Blessings.  It never ceases to amaze me how the Priesthood works.  I love that Heavenly Father knows what my children need and need to hear and then He works through the Spirit to tell my husband what to say.  It was a very special time together.

All the backpacks got packed.  All the clothes were laid out and washed.  The new shoes were all ready.

We woke up bright and early at 5:05 and I made omelets for each child before they left for school.  This was the first year that Emily drove herself and Christopher to Seminary.  I love it!

They returned home from school with all positive experiences.  Spencer has all of his friends in his class.  Almost every single one.  That teacher is in for a boisterous year.  Cameron, on the other hand, only has 2 friends in his class.  But he was ok with meeting new friends.  Calvin is starting Chinese as an extra class at the high school every morning.  That should be a challenge for him.  Christopher has classes from one end of campus to the other.  He said he will be late to one class every day.  Emily has a class called Advanced Science Fiction.  Really, this is a high school class?  I'm very interested to read the syllabus.  Lizzie doesn't go to school until tomorrow.  She's super excited about it.  Her backpack is almost bigger than she is.

Six kids at 4 different schools.  I'm tired already and it's only day 1.