School fun

School is a true delight for my kids and so when they have a school project to work on, it isn't a stress yet.  I am sure the day will come when I hate homework and take home projects but not yet.  Shortstop chose Italy as his country to research and present on.  I was able to go and see him present and just loved how well it turned out!  Thankfully he has a cousin who had a full Italian soccer uniform he let Shortstop borrow. 

Plus it was on the same day as Fullback's Thanksgiving dinner so I got to pop in and say hi.  I love seeing my kids at school!

Back to School

How the summer went by so slowly and so quickly is beyond me.  There were days I did not know if I could pull through and do another one and then others that I could not believe how little of summer we had left.  Thankfully, my kids look forward to school and Fullback was beyond excited to start kindergarten.  I put him in the afternoon class and boy am I glad I did! ACE still has him in the mornings to play with and then he is at school while she naps.  It is a beautiful set up.  I miss him so much though as he is my little buddy, my cleaner, my helper, my babysitter and my cuddle buddy.
Of course we had our back to school caveman feast, a popular meal for sure.  I hope my kids still want to do this when they are in high school.

First days of school are always hard for me.  I just miss having my babies all under my roof and sending them out in the world in the care of strangers makes me so nervous but they are so confident and so excited to learn and grow that I try not to let my anxieties cloud their joy.  Fullback loved going in for kindergarten testing and thought it was pretty cool to do.  He rocked it of course!

First day of 3rd grade

Fullback has the baby and ACE all to himself with big brother gone all day

Kinder testing

Love his little smirk

Running in to each other at school!

ACE just wants to be a part of everything

Goodbyes are hard

But he seems ok

He did it!

My afternoons are spent with these two cuties

Shortstop has a young teacher who is new to the school this year for 3rd grade so I don't know much about her.  And Fullback has he most amazing teacher for kindergarten and I have heard nothing but amazing things from those who have had her.  I know both teachers are lucky to have my boys so that counts for something.  

We also enjoyed the jog-a-thon in the middle of September and after three years of watching his brother, Luke was THRILLED to be participating.  The boys were so good to ACE and let he run with them a few laps here and there.  Mark was able to see Shortstop run and I got to see Fullback.

Shortstop happenings

With the start of school comes the annual jog a thon that Shortstop looks forward to so much.  He sets goals and practices running so he can be better than the year before.  And the littles and I love watching him.  This year, Fullback is getting pretty fast and can often beat Shortstop so he gave tips to his big brother before the day came and you can hear him reminding Shortstop to do "what he told him".

The brotherly high five

He was pretty happy to see us there to cheer him on

A well deserved popsicle with friends

Shortstop hasn't quite decided the sport or activity he loves yet so we are trying everything.  This year we did Jr Jazz basketball.  He had such a great time.  He is learning coordination and good teamwork.  He even made a basket and that one basket for him made the whole season!  It was so fun to see him so proud of himself and talk about it for days afterwards.

ACE wants to do everything her dad does...even stand the same way when watching sports

First day of school

As much as the first day of school makes me sad and nervous, I love the traditions we have surrounding it.  We enjoyed back to school night and seeing his classroom.  His amazing teacher from last year moved up to 2nd grade and he got her again for this year!  We are all so beyond happy.  She really saw my boy for who he is and his goodness last year so I know she will be just what he needs this year.  The night before Shortstop's first day of 2nd grade we had our traditional caveman dinner of spaghetti, jello and garlic bread with ice cream for dessert).  We all loved it as usual.  Mark gave Shortstop a wonderful back to school blessing and of course Fullback wanted one too. 

ACE got in to the spirit of things...but food in her hair isn't unique to this dinner

The ice cream was too cold to pick up with hands so Fullback found a good solution

So handsome

Super pumped

So silly

We will miss our big brother during the day but will be excited when he comes home to tell us all of his adventure each afternoon.

Mom time

Mother's day was very nice this year.  It is a rough holiday so now I have decided to not see it as a break or a holiday at all but a day to really soak up the joys of motherhood...and that often includes a guilt free nap since Mark is home from meetings on Mother's day.  Hey, no one said you have to soak up the joys of motherhood WITH your children.
But it was a nice day.  Mark let me get ready uninterrupted for over an hour so I listened to talks on motherhood as I got ready for church.  It was very enjoyable and helped bring a peace to this day that can sometimes be lost.
Church was enjoyable and I got to go to relief society since the men were subbing all the Primary and Young Women classes.  Oh how I miss being with the women of my ward!  Don't get me wrong...I love teaching the young women but it was nice to be in a class where I was being taught.  Plus they had a delicious luncheon spread we could enjoy while the lesson was happening.
Mark got me a beautiful pair of diamond earrings that I just love!  He knows the way to my heart!  The rest of the day was spent napping, enjoying dinner and watching Singing in the Rain.  Not a bad way to feel honored and loved.

Later in the week all the moms were invited to Shortstop's class for their last Tasty Tuesday.  Once a month on a Tuesday they make a fun recipe in class and enjoy the eating it at the end of the day.  I loved getting to be there with him for his last one.  When I walked into his class he just grinned from ear to ear, ran over to hug me and led me to his desk holding my hand.  Then he wanted to sit in my lap while we worked on our treat together.  He presented me with an awesome book he made for mother's day and kept hugging me the whole time I was there.  He has my heart!