Back to School!

 Well, we are back to school in the Martino household! The girls are back at their Montessori school and Levi has officially started first grade! The kids have also both started soccer practice. Things have been busy but surprisingly smooth so far apart from Isla coming down with a fever and rash the first week of school which was no fun for anyone. I have committed to getting up at 6 am to work out every day and I have stuck with it and not missed a day so far except for the morning after Isla was up for hours with a 104 degree fever in the night. It's not as hard as I thought to get up in the morning and it feels good to take that time for myself while the rest of the house is all still asleep. I don't work out for long, just 15-30 minutes before I head down and start helping with lunches and getting the kids and myself all ready to go, but it's still enough to make me sore and feel good that I'm doing it. I also feel like it has been giving me more energy. I have dreams of being in shape again and these past two weeks have made me think it may actually be possible. 

In other big news, our Isla Sage has started walking! I can't believe it. She took 7 steps yesterday without holding on and is ridiculously proud of herself. She's my earliest walker and I just wish time would slow down a little! She also has gotten more vocal about expressing her opinions. She now yells and waves her arms and even sometimes throws a whole-body fit if we take something away from her or don't let her have something she wants. She also has started trying to feed herself with a spoon. She's completely unsuccessful at it but she won't let us help her. And she has been talking more and now babbles with the "g" sound a lot. Pretty sure she has said "go" a couple times. Baby girl is just trying to grow up so fast! 

First day of first grade! Also featured- my poor plants killed by this darn TX heatwave and drought. Although to be fair, everything I have ever tried to grow in that spot by the door has always died! I do such a good job keeping my houseplants alive but for some reason I just can't seem to manage it with potted plants by the front door! 

Levi likes to show off his Lego creations and Emery just loves to have her picture taken haha. 

Isla loves the remote. She knows which one is the real one and she will look at the tv after she pushes its buttons to see what she made it do. 

And this is the face she makes when I take it away. SOOOO much expression and passion in such a little person! 

I made key lime pie for the first time for family dinner last week at Erin's request. I had to go to two different stores after 9pm at night on Saturday to get the lime juice which was a pain but ended up being worth the effort because it actually turned out delicious and I got a lot of compliments! 

The kids both started soccer practice this past week. Poor Emery got the short end of the stick though because she ended up on a team that practices far from our house and practice is in the middle of rush hour. Traffic was so bad getting there on Tuesday that the normally 15 min drive took us 25 minutes and then her coach ended up calling practice early because it was soooo hot so she ended up with only 9 minutes of practice. So we essentially drove 45 min (when you count both ways) for 9 minutes of practice. Booo! Thankfully Levi's practice is much closer to our house. His coach seems awesome and Emery was definitely yearning to join his practice, I could tell! 

Levi and Isla duets are the best! Levi has been pretty good about doing his practicing this week! It's fun to hear our piano actually being used.

Life is full and crazy and hard and good. I'm proud of my kids and the people they are growing to be. We've got some fun fall plans coming up including Isla's first birthday (!!) and a camping trip to Arkansas with my Mom planned in October. I'm just hoping this little blog of mine helps me freeze time a little bit and remember these days that are flying by.

And the heat just keeps going and going and going and going

 Well, this has been a VERY hot but very nice summer. And it has just flown by and I can't believe that school starts again this week! It has been so nice to take it easier this summer. Having a nanny was wonderful. We didn't have to get the kids up early or get them dressed or make any lunches. They could still be eating breakfast in their jammies at 8:15 when the nanny got to our house and it was fine. And I loved that they got to be together and spend time making memories together. Levi and Emery have gotten really close this summer, especially with them sharing a room right now. I kind of wish things could just stay like this and we didn't have to go back to all of our separate busy schedules.

I feel like our summer adventures can kind of be summed up into a few categories:

Date Night/day adventures:

The week of the 4th of July, Eric spoiled me with a day trip down to Waco to eat at Magnolia Table and see the Silos. It was such a nice little getaway. We don't get to spend that much time together one-on-one usually so it was really nice to escape our respective responsibilities and just relax, enjoy some yummy food and look at all the overpriced merch. 

Although Magnolia Table had great vibes and decor, and the food was good, it honestly didn't hold a candle in deliciousness to this little hole-in-the-wall Lebanese place we found for dinner which was DELICIOUS and had the best falafel I've ever had. We were both wishing we could just bring that little restaurant with us back to McKinney. 

Eric and I went to Star Wars night at FC Dallas which was a lot of fun! We played the LA Galaxy and won- woot woot! And then after the match there were fireworks and a really cool drone light show Star Wars themed. I'd never seen a drone show like that before and it was pretty impressive.

Family Fun:

Last weekend we took the kids to Limestone Quarry Creek. It was afternoon and HOT so we actually had the place to ourselves! It's a pretty bad drought this year so the water level was low but that was actually perfect for us because we didn't want Emery getting her ears in the water anyway and that way we could put Isla down to play too. 

We had to watch this baby girl like a hawk though so that she didn't eat any of the creek rocks! She definitely licked a few before we could stop her though!

The "waterfall" is actually run off from a nearby water treatment plant and is pretty cold. I'm just hoping it's the treated rather than untreated water! Haha

Yesterday we went over to Carma and Travis's house and got to eat pizza with them and play games while the kids played with their cousins and watched a movie. I love it every time the kids get to spend time with their cousins. Here Levi and Hyrum are trying to see who is taller. I think Hyrum is slightly the winner. 

Staying home shenanigans:

Isla has gotten so mischievous and is already into everything!

If the kids ever leave the gate at the bottom of the stairs open she hurriedly crawls over to it and scurries up the stairs as fast as she can while giggling to herself! I was in the laundry room the other day and I heard her giggling and sure enough, she was halfway up the stairs before I caught her! 

She also likes to make big messes and pull things out of boxes and drawers. 

Emery took this picture of me and Levi. Both Levi and Emery LOVE playing tickle-monster and wish that I could just play with them all day instead of doing boring things like laundry. I try to make time to play with them for at least a little while every day. 

My lone project I finished this summer: an outdoor chalkboard for the kids! This one had been on my list for a long time and I'm proud of myself for getting it done. Eric helped me mount it on the fence and put on the roofing. 

Speaking of projects, Levi got this puzzle from his cousins and he and Emery and I did it together in one afternoon. The kids were pretty proud of it and wouldn't let me put it away for days! Levi wanted a picture of it with Kyler even though he wasn't actually there when we did the puzzle haha. Levi has got to enjoy several play dates with Kyler this summer and we're crossing our fingers they're in the same class again this school year although that's pretty unlikely. 

Oh hey Mom! No,I don't want any more nursing, I'll just eat my toes :P

Kids' Activities:

We did quite a few splash pads this summer, both me and the kids and the nanny and the kids. They all love them :) 

I took the kids to a dinosaur activity at the Frisco library and they got to look at and touch real dinosaur fossils. Emery really liked the magnifying glass! 

Levi's favorite part was putting together a dinosaur skeleton foam puzzle. 

The kids also got to go to a primary activity at the church to watch the new Primary Broadcast. 

Our nanny Emily took the kids to Hero's Day at the McKinney library which the kids also had a great time at. 

Levi happened to be wearing neon green shorts that day so he totally blended into the green screen and he looks leg-less! Haha

Not pictured but still good times:

* Levi started piano lessons

*Emery started dance classes - and is obsessed with it! 

* Levi did an art camp which he loved

* Bike riding for both kids when it was cool enough. Emery has gotten much braver on her bike with training wheels and Levi learned how ride a pedal bike with no training wheels at all in under an hour! And now does tricks on his bike too!