back to school (for me too!)

School started on Monday, July 22.  Burke is in 6th (Mrs. Dailey/Mrs. Iyer), Hewitt in 3rd (Mrs. Barakat), Tosh is in 1st (Mrs. Delsman), and Liv is in preschool (Ms. Montes).  We have THREE different elementary schools this year.  I was worried about the schedule, but it has worked out great.  Tosh catches the bus from our neighborhood every morning at 8:00am.  Liv's school is MWF mornings, and thankfully Burke and Hewitt can catch the bus to their school from Liv's school at 8:30 (same time she starts).  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Burke has band that starts at 8:15, and Hewitt catches the bus from Tosh's school at 8:45.  Did any of that make sense?  Luckily it all works out and I can get everyone where they need to be.    Next year Burke will be in Jr. High and Liv will be in all day kindergarten!  Crazy!!!

We were all ready by about 7:45 the first day so I had plenty of time to get a few photos:

Do you recognize Tosh's shirt from just about every single picture taken this summer?  He got it from a friend for his birthday, and it is no doubt his very favorite (certainly 'first day of school' worthy).

Over breakfast on the 24th, I mentioned that it was Pioneer Day, and Liv went upstairs and grabbed this bonnet.  She was all set to wear it to school.  If this was a video, you would hear Burke playing, "Come, Come, Ye Saints" on the piano.  You'll just have to take my word for it.

Tosh lost tooth #2!

Hewitt got the idea to take our old printer apart and invent something new with it.  When I asked if he had permission (from Rob) he replied, "Yes; I suppose he wants me to be like Arthur Weasley."  He is such a funny kid...and a little obsessed with Harry Potter right now (as I write this he is on the very last book).  Such a cute assistant lending her brother a hand:

Everyone gets in on the action:

Burke went to his first Boy Scout Court of Honor--  I know, I know, family; Burke was not in full uniform!  Can I even claim to be a Dunning? :).  Burke received TEN merit badges (and a bunch of other patches and awards from camp).  Way to go, Burke!  He also just completed the swimming merit badge last week and is really enjoying scouts.  I'm thankful he has some great leaders.

With school starting, the kids have piano practice and lessons before school.  Hewitt is so awesome about practicing without being asked (or nagged, or bribed (etc.) like another child might possibly require).  He is really improving and enjoys playing more and more.

Our bed got taken over early one morning by these two little monkeys.  I love Tosh's arm around Liv.  So cute:

I was downstairs doing dishes one day and Liv came halfway down the stairs and said, "Uh Mom, I need some help; how do you get this off?"  I guess her first attempt at mascara didn't go exactly as she had planned.  It was the 'waterproof' tube that she used, of course:

I was able to fly to Colorado the first weekend in August for my 20th High School Reunion!  I spent the majority of the weekend with my good friend Lori (we started singing together when were 11, I believe).  We are like sisters, meaning we have spent thousands of hours together, have traveled all over together, have fought and made up, and been through so much together.  Twenty years ago this summer we were performing in Asia with a DOD tour--can't believe it's been that long.  Lori just had her first baby in November and it was great to see Lori as a mom!    Lori teaches at Lifetime Fitness and I went to her core class on Friday (was very sore the next day) and then Leslie Von Forell joined us for lunch.

On Saturday we headed to Ft. Collins.  We ate at Young's Cafe (a very favorite) for lunch and saw some old performing friends (Jalyn, Dan, Scott, Shelby) and then stopped by our old High School (isn't it the coolest looking school ever?) before heading downtown for our reunion.  The reunion was nice (and a little trippy to be honest).  It was sorta bizarre that some people look exactly the same and others (especially the guys) were harder to recognize.  I was thrilled that my very best friends from Elementary, Jr. High, and High School were there.  I wish we had had more time to visit.

Unfortunately, I hardly took any photos (what you see is really all I took, and they are not great iphone pics), but I got photos with Jennifer Owen, Carla Cockerell, and Lori and Shelby (Shelby is actually a year behind us but is married to our classmate, Luke--we had forgotten to take a photo at lunch).

Sadler Merrill (my very first kiss!) showed up to say 'hi' at the very end of the night (he was actually a year ahead of us, but was friends with everyone).  We go way back and exchange Christmas cards (he has the cutest little girls), but it's been a few years since we've spoken and it was great to catch up on his family (our brothers were best friends back in Jr. High).

We stayed with Lori's parents Saturday night in Ft. Collins, and enjoyed a lovely breakfast and visit with them on Sunday morning.  Lori then dropped me off at Mark's house in Littleton, and I was able to join them for church, and hang out and visit some.  Mark took me to the airport in time for my 7:00pm flight home.    It was a busy and fast weekend, but so great to see everyone.  I was glad I made the trip.