Summer ends, school starts

I officially have a 2nd grader, AND a Kindergartener:

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But before I talk about the first day of school, I have to show you some fun photos of our END OF SUMMER FAMILY FUN!!

On Saturday we headed to a splash fountain and then to In & Out for Hamburgers for dinner. I love watching this one discover water play and enjoy it so much--he was a riot to watch and play with.

And Lindsey had some fun too. As you can see she was hard to catch on camera, she ran and screamed and just LOVED playing here.














So the first day of school went REALLY well. I was worried that Kaitlyn would have a meltdown and I'd have to leave her in a puddle of tears. But we had a "talk" and Sam really needed to have me with him to make sure he felt safe and so in she walked into her classroom and was immediately greeted by some of her classmates from last year which helped A LOT. She was happy and got right to work and I walked out of her class in no time. WAY TO GO K!!
Then it was Sam's turn. As we walked down his hallway, he said, "Mom, I'm scared." I told him it was normal to be nervous, but he was going to be just fine and that I wouldn't leave until he said it was okay. We walked into his class, found his seat and a coloring sheet for him and he got to work. After just a couple minutes I asked him if he was okay. He said yes, hug and kiss and I was out the door! YEA for both of them.

Then, this little girl was anxious for Matthew to take his nap so that we could have "special time" together. We played with play dough and.....made cookies for an after school treat for the older two.

I am really just sad to see Summer end. I have LOVED spending so much time with my kids, having the flexibility of doing whatever we wanted whenever we wanted, having all day to do chores. And I'm also glad I feel this way. I know a lot of people who are so excited to pack their kids off to school and have them gone, I don't feel that way at all and I can't wait for next Summer to have some new adventures!

Back to School Parade!!

One of the things I LOVE about the school my children attend is that every year they have a PARADE through our neighborhood just days before school starts to get everyone excited.

We make signs to celebrate and this year we made 2 because Sam is starting Kindergarten. We go to a park in our neighborhood along the parade route with our friends for breakfast and wait for the teachers to pass.....

Then the moment we've been waiting for arrives, a school bus filled with the administration leads the pack, followed by a decorated pick-up truck for each grade with the teachers, we yell and scream at them as they pass trying to get them to look at us! They honk their horns and waive at us.....

I was surprised because I got a little emotional at it this year (and so did Kaitlyn--she is me in so many ways) we saw her beloved teacher from last year (they've been pen pals this summer) and since Kaitlyn was sitting with some of her friends from last year Mrs. Donahue saw a huge pack of her "kids" and later she told me she just cried when she saw them she was so excited.

So the emotion was from so many things, the relief from seeing your first glimpse of a new teacher, the elation from seeing a fabulous former teacher, the realization that school is starting soon and the nerves and anticipation for that BIG DAY. And for me, I was sad to see Summer coming to a close.

Hanging out at the Grandparent McKneelys

Kind of last minute, I decided to take the kids and run away to College Station to be with Aunt Sarah who will soon leave for BYU and to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa. We'd been waiting for a time for dad to join us but school starts next week and the opportunity wasn't going to present itself so we just went. Here are some of the highlights:

The kids dressed up. They always do, I think Lindsey wore this princess dress more than any of her other clothing. At this particular moment, A Dragon (Kaitlyn) was chasing a Princess (Lindsey) who was protected by a Knight (Sam).

And we swam--a lot! 3 separate times in 2 days. It was so nice to be able to put Matthew down for a nap and let the other 3 keep swimming! It was fun for Sarah and Grandma to see how much they all had progressed in their swimming. They even surprised me by jumping off the decorative rocks into the deep end--even Sam who just started swimming this summer was all into it!

Lindsey enjoyed swimming too, even though she wasn't all into the jumping stuff. She's a cutie and will have those floaties off by next summer for sure!

We enjoyed a Family Home Evening lesson about some of our favorite "water" stories from the scriptures, and Sam wowed me with his sponge like ability to remember details from scripture stories he's only heard once--geesh he's bright! And the boys enjoyed wrestling with Grandpa:It's just so nice to go and visit and get away, we always enjoy our time there. Thank you grandma, grandpa and Sar--we had a great time!

Some Welcome RAIN!!

We woke last Saturday morning to a wonderful sound......RAIN!!

And then as I laid in bed, I heard the pitter patter of my little Lindsey who comes up to my side of the bed and asked softly, "Mom, can we go outside and play in the rain?"

Of course! So at 6:45 am, I had 3 small kids dancing, running and playing in the rain. (Sam isn't a fan of playing in the rain)

And I loved the realization of my children that Heavenly Father answers prayers, because we'd been praying for this much needed rain!

it's a DADDY DAY

My wonderful husband has been SLAMMED lately at work, and working over 60 hours a week for a little too long. Seeking balance between work and church and family life is in constant flux and we seem to ebb and flow through busy times and not as busy times just like everyone else. But we have really missed him-- A LOT! So today we're enjoying a DADDY DAY!!

We had home made cinnamon rolls for breakfast--it's his favorite and my kids too.

THEN we got on our bikes,

We've inherited a bike trailer from some friends and "Maddie-ruscos" and "Math" LOVE riding in it. And I got on a "new to me" racing type bike for the first time in probably 15 years (this past Sunday was the first time and it took some getting used to) and so now we can go on FAMILY BIKE RIDES!!

So we got on our bikes and rode all the way over to Celebration Park, and found a trail that went back behind a neighborhood and rode it all the way to our neighborhood pool. We'd packed our swimming stuff, changed there and cooled off for an hour swimming in the pool.

Then we came home and had lunch. Then Dad took the 3 older to see Cars 2 while Matthew took his nap.

I don't know what more is in store for us today, but it's so nice to be able to spend this time together as a family--I love these guys so much. They have the BEST life--they have no idea. But know what? I have the best life and I'm blessed to know it!!!

It's like a HEATWAVE!!!

Folks, just thought I'd share:

Here is our weather reader on Tuesday:
And here it is on Wednesday:
Dallas is on track to suffer through it's hottest summer on record, we haven't had rain in too long, things are dry and hot and water restrictions and rolling blackouts are on the horizon. It's HOT and MISERABLE!!

What we're doing to beat the heat is get out early in the morning and play--my kids have a lot of energy and if they don't get the energy out it leads to fighting, tantrums, and crazy kids!!! We still swim, but early because by the afternoon the pool water isn't cool--it feels as warm as a bathtub (YUCK!) and then we come home and keep as many blinds closed and lights off as possible and hang out. We watch movies, play the wii, and just play.

I've got a creative girl

Kaitlyn is an artist. She LOVES to draw, paint, craft, cut and paste, stamp, etc. We go through lots of paper and crafty stuff around here. She REALLY wanted to do an art camp or something this summer and I thought of this place:

LETS ART PARTY

I would drive by this place in Old Downtown Plano and it looked like she'd LOVE it. It's usually a "girls night out" kind of thing where people can go as a group and paint a copy of a famous painting, but they sometimes do pieces more geared towards kids and I thought it would be fun for her to create something to hang in her room.

Grandpa Lewis is an artist too so I asked him to be the one to take her on this outing--they're two peas in a pod!

She didn't let him help much though, and from what I hear was eager to be the "first" to complete each step. But she's really proud of her painting and shows it to everyone who comes to our home. We're contemplating the best spot for it in her room.

Then they went to Yougurtville for a special treat--it was a very special one on one time for her with her wonderful grandparents--I think that was just as special as the painting she is so proud of!