Hi Ho Hi Ho Back to School We Go

So I was worried when the big kids went off to school that Isla would be bored without them around to play with but actually, so far, that hasn't been the case at all and I have been loving my quieter one-on-one time with my little caboose! Things have been overall quieter, and less stressful, with just one little at home and I have especially been savoring her two-hour (knock on wood!) nap time where I can get so much done and maybe sit down and read a little bit while I nibble a treat! But yeah, Isla is such a delight right now. She is so expressive and her facial expressions crack me up! Tonight, she and I were outside playing together since it was actually a little cooler this evening (only like 95!). First off, when the neighbor's dog started barking she very emphatically told it "No parking! Stop!" in a very firm voice with her hand out and everything as if the dog could see or hear her. Haha. She and I jumped on the trampoline together and did Ring Around the Rosy which is one of her favorite games. I asked if she wanted to do it and she looked at me so seriously and earnestly with big eyes and was like "yes. I do." She has pretty much learned the words to it and would sing "Ring aroun' the posie, ashes, ashes, all fall down!" I hope I  always remember the sounds of her laughter mingling with the wind chimes, and the look of her beautiful face and sweet little curls blowing as the breeze cools us down from the warm summer sun.

She LOVES riding this thing at Prestwyck park. We've gone there twice for playgroup since school started and it's fun to spend time with the other moms now that all the bigs are back in school and play group is pretty much just the littles around Isla's age now! 

She is actually moderately successful at blowing bubbles. Yet another way she is so precocious for her age! 

I feel like this picture just so captures the whimsy of childhood! 

My big kids are doing well too and I'm blown away by how fast they're growing up. I love that Levi gets along with everyone and is so thoughtful. This past week, he made a bracelet for Kennedy (Kyler's twin sister who happens to sit next to him in his class this year) just because. He also draws pictures for his classmates and works hard to make each one how he wants it. He always seems to be creating something- whether it be a "ship" out of items he snuck out of the recycling and taped together, or a picture he is drawing. His favorite special is still art. 

He was all "watch how I get my treat!" Haha

First day of school porch picture!

Levi: "ahhhh relaxation." Kyler: "You're my humongous child." Both: laughing like crazy. 

Emery also reported today that her favorite special is also art, although I honestly think she likes most of school. She has been very enthusiastic about telling people that she is in kindergarten now. She comes home happy and chatty about her new girl friends in her class (although she has already brought home some girl drama about how so-and-so said she wouldn't be friends with her if she played with such-and-such!) So we've had to have some talks about navigating that. But overall she seems to be getting along well and is happy at school. She is also enjoying dance class. She's taking both tap and ballet and honestly, during class they mostly do drills but she doesn't seem to mind that at all. She stays engaged (if a little chatty) throughout the class and seems to like it even though if it were me I would find it boring. I'm starting to try to let go of some of my biases and prejudices against dance moms too and actually talk to some of them. Haha. One of them is a PA for a pediatric plastic surgeon so she and I have got a little in common at least and we've been getting along all right. 

First day of school porch picture! 

Emery's teacher, Mrs Radcliffe is really great about taking pictures of the kids during their school day and uploading them to Seesaw. It's really fun to see what she's up to at school and be able to go through the pictures with Emery so she can put faces to the names I hear about! 

Anyway, so the kids are doing well as the school year starts out. I've been super busy at work with a very full caseload and also training Pam, the new PT on our team. Pam has been really great to be around. She's got like 40+ years of experience as a pediatric PT so I have a ton to learn from her and she is just super positive and seems to really enjoy the kids. She's very good about thanking people, me, the families who let her shadow, etc. and is quick to say how much fun she's having and how great the kids/family/team is. So that makes the extra work of showing her the ropes a lot easier. And I've been appreciating her insight for my patients! Thankfully, my kiddos are making progress, and even though there are a lot of them right now and it's hard to fit them in, I don't have too many difficult families right now so sessions tend to go well. 

In the midst of working and kids stuff, Eric and I have been having some fun this month too! We went dancing last weekend at this fun place we'd never been before called Studio 22 and honestly, I loved it. It reminded me so much of the place I used to swing dance in high school and it was just soo fun! I had a great time and definitely want to go back although I was VERY sore the next several days! And then last night we went to and FC Dallas game which was fun. We were playing Austin and it was a good game! Tied up 0-0 until the very last minute when we scored which was awesome! It was also Star Wars night so there was a cool drone light show at the end. My only complaint was the weather- it was 102 when the game started and never cooled down past like 98 even though it was 10:00 at night by the end. I don't know how the players managed to play- I was dying and I was just sitting there watching! So. Much. Sweat. 

Star Wars drone show at the FC Dallas game last night

One last picture from Grandma's visit. She and I took the kids out to Olive Garden together. I'm already daydreaming of Thanksgiving and having everyone all together again!  

Goodbye Summer

I can't believe the school year is already upon us again! It snuck up on me this year- probably because it's still 106 most days with the humidity. The heat is relentless! Emery is very excited to go to kindergarten. She had a kindercamp last week and got to tour the school and do some activities and she made a new friend right away. 

We find out who her and Levi's teachers will be later today. Eric and I are trying to figure out schedules and how to logistically make the next few months work. The kids have piano on Mondays, Emery has dance on Tuesday evenings, Levi's got soccer on Wednesday evenings and then on Saturdays Emery has dance again and Levi will have his soccer games. It's what we have talked about in the past and decided we wanted (one musical and one athletic thing per child at a time) but once it's on the calendar it just seems like more... and Isla hasn't even started anything yet! It makes me realize a bit more why the families with kids older than ours in our ward spend so much time driving around dropping kids off and picking them up places! But Emery is loving dance and Levi is excited to get going with soccer again and they are both progressing with piano soooo here we are. 

Anyway, this has been a wonderful summer. We checked off almost everything on our summer bucket list and the kids really grew close together this summer and made a lot of great memories. I am really grateful because I got to take Isla to CA to meet Oma and spend some time with my family and it was so nice to be able to see Ava and meet Leila for the first time. I am really looking forward to them all coming out to see us for Thanksgiving! 

My favorite picture from the whole trip! It was so fun swimming with all these babies! 

I absolutely LOVED getting to snuggle Ava so much! I wish we lived closer so I could see her all the time! 

Isla was actually surprisingly good and gentle around Ava and didn't try to pick her up or mother her too much haha. 

Isla gave lots of gentle hugs to Ava. 

They mostly had fun playing near each other. 

And Isla did a pretty good job trying to share toys. 

On the Monday I was there, Isla and I took Oma out to breakfast and then got to go back to her place afterwards for a little bit. It was nice getting to spend time one-on-one with her and see where she lives. She and Isla had fun taking turns with one of them sitting on the walker and the other pushing the walker around. It was very cute. Isla was also very interested in Oma's cat Gibbs who was terrified of Isla and hid under the bed the whole visit. Haha. 

Oma showed me some of her paintings and the next project she is going to work on (a portrait of Gibbs). I was very impressed by how well Oma is getting around, how healthy she looks and how much she is still painting (she said usually 2 hours/day) when she can barely see! 

We stayed with Lynn and Jon while we were there and their pool is just absolutely delightful. It was so relaxing to hang out in the water and Isla LOVED it and just wanted to jump in off the side over and over and didn't want to get out even when she started shivering and her lips started turning blue. Girl is a water baby for sure! 

The Saturday Isla and I were in CA, Eric took the big kids to the arcade with friends of ours. Eric said they had a blast. 

So yeah, the CA trip was really great. And then since then we've just been trying to squeeze in some last-minute summer fun and also get ready for the school year. Isla is talking a ton now and can speak in longer sentences that make her sound so old! She will say things like "Grandma here at our house!" She also has a great sense of humor. The other night we got to go to the ranch and go swimming with cousins and Weston was playing with Isla and she was cracking up at him the whole time. Then on the drive home, she just kept saying "Wessin funny! Wessin funny!" She is also incredibly mischievous and loves water. We had to get child locks for the fridge, freezer, all the doors of rooms we don't want her in, and all the kitchen cabinets and drawers. We also have to flip over all the stools and put the chairs on the table when not in use otherwise it's nearly impossible to keep her off the counter and out of the kitchen sink. That's her favorite mischief right now- climbing all the way into the kitchen sink and turning the water on. So the other day, I let her practice pouring water from one cup to another and stirring or ladling water with a measuring spoon and she LOVED it. I am really looking forward to the big kids going to school and Isla and getting to have some one-on-one time and go do fun toddler-oriented things again like storytime. I am a little nervous about not having anyone else to keep an eye on her or help entertain her without Levi and Emery around but I am just hoping it all works out! 

 

Isla is also a big fan right now of putting on other people's clothes, especially Emery's underwear and anyones' socks and hats! 

She is still a huge fan of putting things on her head like a hat- in this case, the delicates bag. 

I took the kids and got them back-to-school haircuts. Levi really needed it and he looks so dapper now! 

 

Before his haircut his hair was long enough to put in a little pony-tail on top of his head! And it was completely covering his eyes which didn't seem to bother him but was driving me crazy. 

 

 

When we had our BBQ and swimming at the ranch with cousins, Isla loved petting Scout! I am really glad she's not terrified of dogs like Emery is. 

Because Friday was the last Friday of summer we had friends over and ate Braums for lunch! 

Grandma is here visiting us right now and we had a blast the other night playing Just Dance together. It is such a work-out doing like 5-6 songs in a row and meanwhile Levi is not even breaking a sweat and he's like "why are you tired?" Haha oh the energy of a young and active child!