Other BIG things that happened in September:

Allen Eagles Football season began.  We have this crazy ridiculous High School Football Stadium ($60 million dollars to build) which after 2 years of being open, had cracks all throughout the main concourse and needed to be shut down for a season for repairs.  It's back open!

Kaitlyn was invited to go to a game with her BFF across the street Katie Glaser.

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We survived the "BLUE BELL FAMINE" of 2015.  The Blue Bell Creamery has been plagued with Listeria and subsequently they shut down the facilities for months to completely rebuild their production lines since they couldn't find the source.  That meant that we had to have a summer without our Texas staple--oh the horror!  But you better believe THE DAY that it was available in my area I was at the store buying these bad boys!  YUM!

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My two older kids are part of an after school leadership club that helps promote heathly lifestyles called "Fuel up to Play 60".  Their teacher worked with 2 other schools to put on a heath expo called the Heath Hustle and they got to help man a booth with this Cowboys mascot guy!  So fun!

Labor Day 2015

Kaitlyn has been asking, and begging to go rock climbing all Summer.

We didn't quite get there during the summer, but we did go Labor Day weekend, and it was beautiful!

Matthew was the first one to head up.  And he surprised us with his ability to scamper up the rock.  Well, not really, this kid is incredibly strong and very competitive with his older siblings.  He'd never been big enough to try it last time we went so he was eager to give it a try.  He was amazing!

Lindsey gave it a go and did great!

Kaitlyn got to do it too.

And, I was so happy for Stephen.  He'd laid a really simple beginner route for us to do.  A group next to us had done a much more challenging route.  They asked if their beginners could use our route, and Stephen got to try their more challenging route, so he got to have some fun too.

I sure love doing things like this as a family.

Last lake day

One last fun day on the lake, end of the season.

I really enjoyed learning to drive the boat this summer.

Soccer

Soccer season has begun.

3 kids in soccer.

Stephen is head coach for the boys teams, and unofficial assistant for Lindsey's.

We are BUSY with practices and games.

First game of the season, Matthew played against a good buddy from his class, Trey's team.  And his teammate William Cotton is also in his class this year.

3 boys in the same class at school, fun!

School is starting!

Summer is coming to an end.  School starts next week.  We recieved the much anticipated TEACHER LETTERS, and I got the cutest video of them opening their letters.

Kaitlyn got Mr. Soloman Boatfield for 6th grade homeroom (but she has a different teacher for each subject so its not that big of a deal)

Sam got Mrs. Kim Powers for 4th grade homeroom and he will switch with Mrs. Kristi Berry for math, (Kaitlyn had both of them,)

Lindsey got Mrs. Erin Gray for 2nd grade and is super excited.  We haven't had her before, she was a kindergarten teacher last year.

And Matthew got Mrs. McIntyre for Kindergarten (same teacher as Lindsey), he's just so excited to finally be big enough to go to school like the big kids.

We made our posters for the annual BACK TO SCHOOL PARADE and put on our Marion spirit wear (over our bathing suits because we head to the pool with friends right after):

And that night we went to "Meet the Teacher"

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL:

Kaitlyn in 6th grade.

 Sam in 4th grade

Lindsey in 2nd grade

Matthew a BIG kindergartener!

Kids with Mrs. Walker, the principal.

I think we're the only family with 4 students at Marion this year.  And this is the ONLY year I will have all 4 of them in the same school.  (Fast forward 5 years from now when they're in 4 separate schools and I'll lose my mind, and spend a lot of time in the car).

And then this is me.  I asked Stephen to snap a picture of me after dropping them ALL off on the first day.  I shared a post on Facebook, What are you going to do now all your kids are in school?  Answer:  Anything I want!  

McKneely Lake Trip

Our second annual McKneely Lake weekend almost didn't happen.  The lake levels are at crazy record highs, people at our boat club have lost their homes (so sad), and the boat ramps were not open until late in the season.  But we persevered and still made a day or two of it.

Random Summer happenings

Here are some random memories from August that I wanted to capture.  

Matthew injured his middle finger at church, our friend Jon Foulger thought this was HILARIOUS and shared this photo with me.

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I LOVE having my children home and letting them do fun things.  Our neighbor, Mark had these boxes which he so lovingly gifted to my children to play with.  They were the favorite place to have lunch one day (and I was thrilled because for once Matthew stayed in place while eating!)

 

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I introduced my children to a Lewis Family favorite dinner in the summer:  Sherbet with fresh fruit, cheese and crackers, and nuts.  It was so popular, our friends the Lofgrens stole the idea and Trent was a HERO when he came home and announced that it was ice cream for dinner.  LOL!

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Kaitlyn perfected another baking treat--the BROOKIE

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 We had some neighbor friends over to bake cookies and enjoyed being silly....

(for the record, Matthew doesn't have his own apron so he borrows Sam's)