My BOYZ

I am so proud of my boys!

First let's talk about Sam.  He's having a GREAT year at school.  He has such a positive attitude and is always telling me about how he's being a good friend to those around him.  Well this morning he was recognized by his teacher at a "Rise and Shine" school assembly and named a "Marvelous Maverick".  I loved how his teacher entitled the memo in her email telling me of this award "Your sweet boy" because he IS sweet and I'm glad she's seen that in him.  Our being there for the assembly is supposed to be a surprise so Stephen went in late to work and we all walked together to the school and let K & Sam walk in then we lagged behind.  Kaitlyn saw us signing in and caught on quickly that we were there for the assembly.  She ran down the hall to tell her teacher she'd be a bit late to class so she could watch Sam get his award, then when she arrived in the cafeteria she took Lindsey and they sat together in the middle with the students--Sam didn't see any of us so he was really surprised!  When they read his name he was SO HAPPY, that kid can just have the brightest face, he truly wears his emotions on his face if you know what to watch for.  And I was also touched to see him see his sisters on his way to the front and he gave Kaitlyn a hug and kiss--(May my children always love each other!) I adore him!!  What was really cool was that there were 6 other friends from church who were also chosen by their teachers to be Marvelous Mavs!  Way to go Sam!  I emailed his teacher later thanking her for recognizing him, she said he deserved it.  Her note read "Sam is a Marvelous Maverick because he has a respectful attitude in all he does."

Then my other boy......IS POTTY TRAINING!  (Gasp)--he turned 2 1/2 this week which is super early for boys but he's been showing signs of being ready and since I have him alone for a bit during the week while Lindsey is in preschool I thought I'd give it a shot.  He's taking to it a lot better than I imagined.  Sure this is going to take some time but he is really doing well.  Such a big boy!  I have had at least one kid in diapers for 9 years, most of that time I've had 2 in diapers and for a few weeks I even had 3 in diapers.  To be a diaper free home is something I am pretty stoked about.  I keep telling Stephen that it's time to go on a lavish vacation to Disney World because we don't nap and we don't need to carry diapers (and possibly not even need a stroller!)  How awesome is that!?!?

Mid September 2012

We've been getting into the groove here with school in full swing.  Hard to believe how fast the month has flown by!
 Last Friday we spent some time at the Dallas Arboretum where we met up with Rachel and Clara.  All the Fall decorations are out and all the orange pumpkins add beautiful color to the already glorious arboretum but it also offers great photo ops for my 2 tagalongs.  We'll have to go back though because the little pumpkin village wasn't open yet.  I LOVE that we have a pass and can just go whenever.  We still need to get Stephen there though to see the Chihuly exhibit.

 Oh yeah, and I was the mom of the century....Kaitlyn had a loose tooth that she was asking me to pull.  I grab a tissue, grip the tooth hard at the gumline and pull while twisting a bit.  Out popped a molar.  She quickly informed me that THAT WASN'T THE RIGHT TOOTH!!  The incisor next to it was the right one.  So I went and grabbed a second tissue and pulled that one out too.  There was a bit more blood than I was expecting and it was exciting.  But we got the bleeding to stop.  Ironically we went to the dentist the next day and by the morning you could see the top of her permanent molar coming in where I'd pulled the"mistake" tooth, so it WAS ready to come out and it wasn't a bad thing I'd pulled it.  Apparently she has a whole mouth full of loose teeth and our tooth fairy will be a busy lady for the next little while.  Sam incidentally is really anxious to loose teeth.  He hasn't lost any!  I think he's a bit excited for the revenue stream he knows it is.  Silly boy!

We also had a VERY busy Saturday.  The morning started with an annual Balloon Festival Breakfast hosted by some Plano friends, the Blacks and the Mathenys.  From their backyard you can see the hot air balloons lift off from the Plano Balloon Festival.  We enjoy some pancakes, sausage, juice and festivities and start our morning off right.  There is face painting, balloons, bounce houses and just a great time.  Sad that there are some friends who we only see this one time a year so I'm glad we make it a point to attend.

 We couldn't stay too long though because we had soccer team photos and a game.  It was a very warm day with 10:30 photos and an 11:30 game, there was no shade, we kept running to the bathrooms and drinking fountain to refill water bottles.  It was a good game.  Our team played against a "club" team that hammered us last year and we really held our own.  I think the score was 5-3 and though we lost, they had some really random lucky goals that we just couldn't have blocked.  This season has been so fun because the boys (who many of them have been playing together for a couple years now) are finally "getting it".  Stephen is coaching them and he does so great with the boys.  His priorities are in the right place with not really caring about winning but about teaching the boys how to play and getting them to play well and giving everyone a chance to play.  I LOVE watching him coach and I LOVE that he's so involved with Sam in something.  Sam has grown so much.  He used to love to kick the ball hard and far but has really been mastering dribbling and took a turn as goalie during the first game and was an excellent defender!

From our soccer game we RAN home to change as quickly as we could into church clothes (The girls wore dresses to the game, Matthew was halfway dressed--which was good because he was pretty worn out and promptly fell asleep in the car).  We were headed to a favorite place--the Dallas Temple for a Primary Activity.  It was special to walk around that place with our children and let them feel what a special place it is.  Matthew was a bit concerned that we'd forgotten his tie and our children were so well behaved I now know that they CAN INDEED be reverent and for that I am glad and so proud of them.

Kids say the darndest things...

My children have been saying funny things lately and I have to write them down:

Matthew has a new thing he does when he's frustrated.  He pounds his fist and says what sounds like "Donut!", (Darn it)--I try and not let him see me smile since it only makes him more frustrated.

Lindsey in her first week of preschool was asked to spell her name outloud.  She complied and started spelling, L--I--N--D.....then she got lazy and told her teacher to do the rest.  Ms. Kim encouraged her to finish spelling her own name to which she replied, "But I did the first half, it's only fair!"

AND yesterday when I picked her up from school I asked her about her day.  She couldn't come up with an answer to my question so she bangs her hand on her head and says "Brain, wake up!  Wake up brain!"

Then Sam said something really sweet this past weekend.  I was away at a scrapbook retreat having some "me" time.  He had a soccer game, that Stephen coaches.  I had always planned to come to the game to help corral the 3 non-soccer players, but I guess it was unexpected by Stephen and Sam.  After the game before I left to go back to my retreat Sam came to me, "Mom, am I more important to you than scrapbooking?"  to which I answered, "Of course!" and his face brightened into a huge grin.

All about my Lindsey

This post is all about my Lindsey:

Preschool has started for this girl!  She went to meet her teacher, Mrs. Kim, dressed in pearls and a new favorite dress.

And we met a few kids in her class.  There are a lot of girls in her class, and some of them even live in our neighborhood.  We were able to arrange some carpooling too--I think it's going to be a great year!

And then after Labor Day she started school!  When did she get so big?  She only goes to school Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.  The school isn't open on Friday and we have to keep a day open for speech (which also is not done on Fridays).  It's also a longer school day for her (from 9-1:45).  She's going to have a GREAT year

With the older kids in school, sometimes kung-fu (Matthew) naps and that gives us time to do things like reading lessons and special time:

And we had an exciting adventure.  Lindsey and Matthew are great sports and let me go for runs while they ride in the jogging stroller.  The other day we were going around a bend and saw this turtle just right next to the sidewalk.  We stopped and let the kids see it.  We thought he might make a great pet so we ran home to get a box.  But after a couple hours we could tell he did not want to be a pet and wanted to be let free.  This was very sad for Lindsey and she cried a bit.  But we took this photo and then let him go in the creek and he crawled off.

Now she wants a real turtle for a pet for her birthday........

School's in

Sign #1 that schooltime is fast approaching:

It's the BACK TO SCHOOL PARADE!!  We anxiously await the letters from their teachers that arrive about a week before school starts.  And then the morning of "Meet the Teacher", usually on Thursday there is the parade!!  Where a police escorted parade of cars and trucks (one for each grade and a bus filled with the administrators and their kids) drive around our neighborhood.  We meet with friends for potluck breakfast at the park and wait anxiously to see the teachers.

When the first grade teachers came by (Sam) I got Mrs. Keim's attention and she yelled, "What's your name?"  We screamed "Sam!", she then yelled back "Hi Sam!!"--it was very exciting!

But I am so sad for summer to end.  It's been our BEST ONE YET filled with so many fun adventures and time to do whatever we wanted.  The school time routine is so busy and rigid....

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!

Here is Sam--ready to go, a little nervous about everything.  Sporting his new favorite "Angry Birds" shirt!  He starts 1st Grade with Mrs. Keim.  Mrs. Keim can be intimidating.  She's tall and has a deep voice.  But she's a GREAT teacher and she's been teaching for a long time.  I told him that it's good she's loud because he is too!  

Kaitlyn has Mrs. Asif, for third grade.  Mrs. Asif is a mother of 6 and also an experienced teacher.  She is calm and that will be good for Kaitlyn.  Kaitlyn is nervous until she identifies a "friend" in her class.  She did.  She was so excited to wear a certain new dress to school but within the first hour of wearing it the spaghetti strap on it came undone so she had to change.  She was upset but this could have been a REALLY BIG disappointment for her but she was pretty flexible and quickly changed into this dress (which we all LOVE).  

Kaitlyn was also VERY ready to GO!  She wanted to walk on her own, walk with friends, and I was so proud of this confidence in her.  She walked into her classroom and was great but at the last minute needed one more reassuring hug and kiss.  She's going to have a GREAT year!

 I sure love these two--the house is much quieter with them not around.

Clara Elizabeth gets blessed

This little girl can draw a crowd!!

Most of the McKneelys and some of the Bennions gathered to celebrate the blessing of baby Clara.

We headed to the Arboretum which is always a good place to go.  We took some photos (of course) and saw our favorite Chihuly sculptures (Stephen had a Young Men's activity):

And then a family meal at our home because we could accommodate a crowd--I don't think we've ever had so many people at our home before....(and this was just the McKneely side, there were a few Bennions there too!)  Please don't judge the lack of curtains, decorating my house is a process.....=)

Then on Sunday the blessing was lovely and it was so good to be together!

(nice shot of all the McKneely grandkids!)

August FUN

In the spirit of catch up I thought I'd give you the highlights of August...

We spent a lot of time at the pool (sorry I have no pictures) where Kaitlyn and Sam took some swim lessons from the awesome Shanette Pettersson.  They were inspired by the 2012 Olympic Games and did AWESOME at swimming.  Sam still leans towards the breast stroke but he knows the right way to swim free style and backstroke.  Kaitlyn showed amazing promise with swimming and we're thinking of looking into swim team or year round swimming!

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We headed to the zoo with friends the Dakins and the Maygrens:

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And the "beach" with the Wilsons and the Komendas:  This is a great place it's really part of Lake Lewisville in Little Elm.  My children while they love the water, they love the sand more!  We dug holes, made "castles" and got really super duper dirty!!

 

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And then as a celebration of the end of the summer we stole away a bit spontaneously  on a family camping trip to Dinosaur Valley.

The weather had cooled to where it wouldn't be unbearable.  We were looking for an excuse to use our new tent so off we went.

Our 10 man tent is HUGE and took a bit to set up.  We opted not to put up the rain fly (10% chance) and we knew that the air circulation would keep us cooler, well at 6:00 am we were awakened to drops falling on us.  So like crazy we're trying to put up the rain fly, in the dark, on a tent we've never put up before.  Needless to say we were all up too early.

But it didn't really rain....THEN.  So we got up and got dressed, rolled up the sleeping bags and started making breakfast.  Only to have it REALLY start raining.  We had fruit and eggs but had to pass on "dad's donuts".

We went to try and do a few activities in the park but the park staffers didn't show, recent rains had covered the dinosaur tracks, and their wasn't enough water in the river to go swimming.

All our gear was wet and things weren't panning out so we decided to pack up and head home, where we needed to set up camp AGAIN to let it all dry out.

But even though to us it was a bust, our children didn't know it was a bust.  They LOVED running around the "woods" and building rock castles and playing hide and seek.  They love being outside.

I'll say it again, the McKneelys are campers!!