Catch-up!

Wow, time sure did get away from me!  I don't think it is possible to cover all that we've been up to for the last five months - but I'll try to hit the highlights.  The kids finished first grade - Katie earned the math award and we were really proud because by the end of the year she was "getting it" when she was struggling a bit early on.  Tyler was a reading machine and got an award for most books read (and luckily they had to take a quiz on the books to get points to prove they were actually comprehending the stories). The end of the year was bittersweet since it was our last time at that school, but we have great memories from Kindergarten and First Grade!  One of the funniest is of Tyler's attempt to cut his own hair.

This was the before picture - and as you can tell I was not very happy with him when I made the discovery.  

 This was after and the shortest haircut he has ever gotten!  I drove him immediately to the barber!!!

We settled in to the new house and are still loving it!  We really like that the kids have lots of room to play, and we have great outdoor space to hang out and grill.  The kids have kind of migrated back into the same room at bedtime, but occasionally they will seek out their own space for a bit.  We are fine with letting them share, for now, and for them to have an opportunity to talk about their day at the end of the day since they are getting used to a new school, new friends, new routines, new everything!  

It was a busy summer, and fun-filled, at least for the kiddos with the exception of Katie's first big injury.  Tyler accidentally swatted her in the nose at a tennis lesson, but luckily they were able to use glue instead of stitches and we had our pediatrician do it rather than having to go the hospital.  You can barely see it in this pic - but it is at the bridge of her nose and will leave a scar.  She has lots of oh so cute freckles for it to blend into, though!

I actually had a surgery, too (hysterectomy - that now at 12 weeks out seems like the best decision ever) right as summer began.  My awesome mom came to help me recover and take care of the kids.  They went home with her, and then to visit my dad for a couple of weeks and had a great time in Florida.  When they came back I was more on the road to recovery and got to spend a few weeks as a Stay at Home Mom (never been able to do that before)!  We went to the pool, had picnics at the park, they got to take tennis and golf lessons in the middle of the day, and a lot of the time we just played at the house like in the summers that I remember from my childhood!

I wasn't able to get in the water until August, but I still had fun watching these two make friends and swim while I got to read and play Candy Crush :)!  

 They both did a mini golf camp and are excited to be learning to play!  

I let them play in the sprinkler behind our house not realizing that it is a very, very powerful stream of water.  It didn't last long - but we set up our own slip n slide that was pretty fun too!  

My sister and family came to visit In July and we discovered another perk of the new house - an awesome fireworks show put on by a neighbor that can be seen from our deck.  It rained on 4th of July, but the boys still shot a few fireworks of our own (the neighbors waited until the day after to do their show) and the cousins had a great time together, as usual!

The remainder of the summer was spent at camps.  The kids practiced a lot at the pool before camp started and were so proud to pass their swim test!  It was a BIG deal, because passing the swim test not only means that you don't have to wear a life jacket, but it also gives you access to the pool waterslides!  

   
There was no camp available the week school started, and it didn't start until Friday so we took a short beach vacation.  The water was rougher than I ever remember it being (when there aren't storms and bad weather), but we didn't have much rain and it was good to have some beach time and good food before the craziness of a new school year began!

School is now pretty much in full swing.  The kids like their new school (Tyler says he misses the old one, but this one is okay too), they are riding the bus for the first time ever and think that is awesome (I do too, since it picks up right in front of the house), and they seem to be settling in pretty well - making friends, and remembering the school routine!

First Day! You can tell that Katie was nervous, but she did fine and has proclaimed every day to be a 10 out of 10.  They both like that they can wear whatever they want this year!   

I like most things about the school - the aftercare program is much better, they have smaller classes and fewer students so everyone gets to know each other a bit more (their old school had 8 2nd grade classrooms and the new one has 4), they are taking things like typing class, and have computer lab time daily which I think is a good addition, and so far they haven't implemented some of the crazy things we experienced last year like intervention/enrichment that meant Tyler was sitting in his classroom doing nothing  for an hour every day, or giving obscene amounts of homework that has to be finished in addition to 30 minutes of reading daily.  It's still early, though, and I would not be surprised in the least if things change soon. I'm really hoping, though, that homework stays at the manageable level it is at now.  This week Katie learned to ride her bike without training wheels and Tyler and Lance played catch and basketball and putted on the green for hours, and both kids played outside every day when we got home.  None of that was possible last year because they had hours of homework to do on days that we didn't have activities. It helps that the weather has been absolutely gorgeous this week - a touch of Fall almost!  Unfortunately, the nice temperature and sunshine doesn't really change my opinion on what I hate about the new school - it is impossible to get to from my work!  It takes me an hour or more every day to get the kids in the afternoons!  We have had to miss tennis lessons, were 30 minutes late to the first soccer practice (that starts at 5:00 - which is a bad time anyway), and the kids have even been the last ones to be picked up - all because if I don't manage to leave work before 4:30 I am not able to get there until 5:30 or after!  Hopefully I will figure out a better way or get a new job ;)!

Soccer practices and games have started for Katie, and baseball games (already doing practices) will soon begin for Tyler.  He is in a new league (machine pitch - real rules) this year that is closer to our house and their new school and he is loving it!  He has already learned more than two years combined in only two practices, but is is much more intense!  Practice doesn't start until 7:00 in the evening and ends at 8:30 and then they have a second practice, also for an hour and a half, on Sunday evening.  He likes it, though, and the times actually work better than trying to get somewhere during rush hour - it just seems so late!  It probably seems late, however, because it is hard to believe that my "babies" are going to be 7 years old.... next week! We are having a birthday party at the house for them this year, and they get to choose where we eat on their actual birthday so the kids are super excited for birthday time to finally be here (they are also tired of being the only 6 year olds in their class), but first we have to get through a crazy busy weekend that I think may be an indication of what all of the weekends to come will look like!  Sports, and birthday parties, and sleepovers, and get-togethers that require babysitters - but it is so much fun, for all of us!  I will try to do a better job of posting from now on!