Back to School

Today was Blake's first day of 3rd grade and Dylan's first day of Kindergarten. They want to ride their bikes to and from school....when the weather is nice enough.

A lot of people have asked how I feel since it is my youngest to start kindergarten...well, I am super excited. I am not sad at all--no tears folks. I just need to figure out what I am going to do with my time...once I catch up on everything.  Dylan is really ready and excited for kindergarten. We know a lot of kids in kinder this year, but none that are his best friends so I asked him who he was going to play with and he just looked at me. So I asked if he was going to play with Braydon who is a friend from church and he asked, "Um, why would I play with him?" Yeah, he hadn't thought about it and wasn't worried at all. This kids makes friends with everyone so I'm not worried about him. I'm hoping he won't cause too much trouble, but Mrs. Robinson has a son just like Dylan.

Blake is totally ready too. They both worked really hard over the summer on school work. Blake wasn't nervous at all. I don't ever worry about him causing trouble at school..at home is a different story. (Maybe I should knock on wood) He was really excited too to see his best friend, Kenny.

I rode with them to school. I was able to take them both to their classrooms.

Dylan had no problem going to his class. He told me good bye and then got to work.

Blake said good bye and got to work too. After school Blake will get Dylan and then they will go get their bikes and ride home. I will meet them, but maybe by the end of the year they can ride home by themselves...we will see. When I was telling this plan to Mrs. Robinson she looked at me kind of with a nervous look and then said, "Oh, wait, this is Blake..he is totally responsible."

I hope this year is a great year for them both. I'm excited that they get to be at the same school for 3 years together. There is something fun and special about having your sibling at school with you. They are (most of the time) really great friends.

After I got home, I met up with some friends for breakfast.

Soccer Games

Saturday morning I woke up to go run--it was 72 degrees with a cool breeze. It was heavenly. It has been 80 degrees at 4:30am and hot--real feel is much warmer. I enjoyed my long run that day. Came home, had breakfast and it started to rain, so Aaron and I quickly went outside and mowed the lawn, edged, etc. Then it stopped. Both the boys were playing at 10:15 and we weren't sure if they would cancel and from the picture, you can see they didn't get cancelled. The fields were fine....we didn't get that much rain, but look at the sky---it was ominous for sure. I watched Blake's game while Aaron went to Dylan's game. 

Blake did great. I was really proud of him. He was aggressive and had some great plays--smart plays. The team was down 5-2 and then came back to tie it. The first game is always a slow start for this team, but they found their grove.

Dylan's game got over before Blake's so they came over and watched the last couple of minutes. Dylan's team won and he scored a goal! Yeah! 

We got home, ate and then it started to rain....not a ton though like we were expecting.

Sunday--went to church, came home gave Father's Blessings, went for a walk and got ready for school. We took out the trash cans and all the neighbors were outside...all the parents are excited for school. My kids are the only kids excited for school. It made me happy that they were so excited for school. 

Hurricane Harvey

Friday morning we ran some errands. We went to McDonalds too so the boys could get their free hamburger from their library reading program.

We came home and swam after lunch and then it started to rain. In case you haven't heard, Hurricane Harvey was threatening Texas. We are about 6 hours from the coast, but we were supposed to get a lot of rain. This is what the sky looked like in the late afternoon--totally blue. But our first soccer games were scheduled for the next day and everyone thought it would be rained out.

Pump it Up and Meet the Teacher

August 22--we went to Costco and then had the Neumann's over to swim. They just got back from their 3 week vacation. Kelsey got run over by an ATV so she had to get stitches, but that's it. It is an amazing story actually. All I will say is that that little girl was watched over that day and I'm so glad that she was. That night I had my self-reliance class.

August 23--Blake had his popsicles in the park and we met Mrs. Gullickson..again. She was there Monday night because she has a daughter going into Kinder who is in Dylan's class. She seems great. She seems really on top of things and organized. I think she will be great for Blake. But I was sad  to learn that Ms. Brewer from last year quit. She sells lipsense and is one of their top sellers. So, she made enough doing that and wanted to be home with her kids more. I can't blame her, but she was such an amazing teacher and I was hoping Dylan could get her. She has been my favorite teacher for Blake so far. Oh well, I'm happy that she gets to be with her kids more.

Then we went to Blake's den meeting and then came home, ate dinner and then went to his soccer practice.

August 24--it was raining and we wanted to do something fun before school started, so we went to Pump it Up. It is such a good deal and they love it. We ended up seeing one buy that Blake's used to play soccer with and then I saw his friend that he went to preschool with--Aithen and his brother, Austin , who went to preschool with Dylan. Then i noticed that they were there with this soccer friend....ends up they are neighbors...small world. Anyway, it was fun to catch up with them.

This is Blake and Aithen--he didn't want a picture.

We got home from that and then headed over to the school to drop off our school supplies and meet the teacher--if we hadn't already. This kid is soooooo excited for school.

Here is Blake in his class. Mrs. G is behind him.

We found his locker. Then we went and said hi to Mrs. Sias. They were gone most of the summer so Blake and Kenny didn't get to play, but we found out that Kenny wrote Blake a letter saying how much he missed him. Too funny!

We were headed out and I saw this line up of golf carts--it made me laugh. 15 seconds after I took the picture, another golf cart pulled up.

Dentist

August 21--(My mom's birthday!!) We went to the library and saw this huge book. Had to take a picture because well, it is Marvel, but look at the size! 

We then came home and ate and then the mailman came and dropped off the postcard that said what teacher they had. So, on our way to the library I saw our neighbor who told me that her daughter and Blake were in the same class again (3 years in a row). They did not post the lists anywhere this year for privacy reasons (ridiculous!), Well, she knew someone at the district office, so got a class list, so I then saw the list.

Blake has Mrs. Gullickson--didn't know anything about her

Dylan has Mrs. Robinson--this is who Blake had and I love her and I see her a lot since she has kids in cub scouts, etc. She knows Dylan and even remembered his name. He was really excited about it.

Then we went to the boys' dentist for their cleaning. I was  telling them that he was going to get braces on in a couple of weeks, so  they made sure that he really did need them. Yep, they agreed. The dentist is our friend and also a very good dentist. They also let us stay a little longer so they can put sealants on Blake's back molars since he has a lot of ridges (extra ones even), which makes it easier to get cavities. This is a lot easier to do before you get braces on. They had no cavities and said they both were doing a great job brushing and flossing. 

Then we went straight to school to have popsicles in the park and meeting Dylan's teacher...even though we knew her. It was fun to see everyone.

Then we went home, had dinner and then headed over to Dylan's soccer practice. 

Kyler's Birthday Party

August 18--Friday, we went to Hawaiian Falls again. We had some more free tickets. It rained a little while we were there, but nothing too bad. We had fun.

August 19--the boys went to Kyler's birthday party. Kyler is a daughter of Connie (who is Blake's den leader and a friend of mine). I dropped them off then came home and finished my talk that I had  to give the next day at church. Once the boys got home we went swimming.

August 20--I gave a talk in church. I was in the first group for our stake at church to participate in the self-reliance initiative so the Bishop wanted me to talk about it. I started my talk by saying  there were 10 spots open to our ward so it was my job to get those filled. At the end of the meeting Bishop told me that 4 people texted him during my talk saying they wanted in, then by the end of church it was all full. I guess I did my job so I think it is only fair that I don't need to give another talk for oh, 7 years or so. 

Dylan gave a talk as well. He helped me write it and he was able to read a lot of his talk. He did great. It is fun to see kids grow and do more things. For me, seeing kids start to read is one of the coolest things. I also taught Blake's class, which was so much fun. Blake was excited to have me to teach him and I love his classmates. One girl said, "Oh, I love it when you teach our class!" Primary is so much fun.

Blake Earned His Wolf

August 17--Blake received his rank advancement. He earned his wolf. He just joined a couple months ago, but well, he has been working hard this summer.

Our pack meeting was a swimming party at our pool. It's a tradition (although not at our house). Anyway, I froze the parent pin so Blake had to get his water gun to get the pin unfrozen.

Then he gave the pin to Aaron...the one who didn't help him earn any of the adventures. That's what happens when the mom is the committee chair and is an acting den leader.

We had one of our boy scouts give us a lesson on water safety..it was riveting....haha.

Totally forgot to get pictures so this was when we called them out to get popsicles.

We did get another wolf den leader finally (it only took about 5 months). She is awesome and I'm so glad because it means less work for me.

Good job Blake!

Beach Club

Tuesday we had the Campbell's over to swim in the afternoon.

Wednesday, after lunch, we went to the beach club since we hadn't been all summer. Yicks! The boys really wanted to do the paddleboats, so we did that first. It was so hot, but fun.

Then we played and swam.

And this kid ate and ate.

We came home and had dinner and then went to Blake's soccer practice.

Cops and Soccer Practice

Monday morning Dylan had his screening for Kindergarten. It is totally useless, but we go anyway. We did see a lot of friends there so it was fun. Mrs. Robinson, who was Blake's teacher was there doing testing. We see her a lot at school, but she is in cub scouts so we see her even more now. Anyway she came over and talked with us and said hi to Blake and Dylan...she is so good and even remembers Dylan's name.

Blake is sooooo excited for school to start. Dylan is too. Then we went to the scout store to get awards for Pack meeting. We came home and I made bread and we played and swam.

Then we went to Dylan's soccer practice. For the first time he is on the same team. We love his coach so we are so happy. We went a little early so the boys could play at the park. But as we were turning on the street a cop was behind me...totally freaked me out, but then he turned into the apartment complex. They played, then we walked to the soccer field and saw the cops. They had about 5 barricades set up. I still do not know all of what happened, but hearing things from other parents. There was some guy at the apartment complex with a gun and he was outside. The cops told us we were safe. There were a ton of cops there and a lot with their guns drawn....some even had rifles. Our practice was an hour long. We were talking at the end when a gun shot fired. I didn't know how we were going to get out. I had texted this picture to Aaron and told him it might take us awhile to get home because they had everything blocked. I didn't really feel like getting closer pictures of the action. But right when we were leaving the cops were leaving, so we went home the normal way just as an ambulance and fire truck were coming. We were glad when we got home.

Rain

Aaron's flight was delayed so he got in very late Friday night. We were doing yard work on Saturday when Aaron said that no one showed up to clean the church so we needed to go do it. We came back, did our yard work (good thing I had done some the day before) and then it started to rain. We were still able to swim later on.

Playdate with Nolan

This is Nolan. He is Dylan's best friend from preschool. These 2 just love one another and are very similar. At the end of the school year Dylan was sad because Nolan wouldn't be going to the same elementary school so I talked to his mom and got her number to do some play dates over the summer. Well, we got a little busy, but I finally planned it. She works so it was a little challenging, but we met up at a park during lunch.

At the end of the school year, they were the same height. Yes, Dylan has grown this summer.

They had the best time. His older sisters were there--ages 10, 11 and 13. They are great girls. His dad even came by to meet the famous Dylan. The dad, Brian, does all the stats for the Cowboys, Mavs, TCU and I think even the Rangers. They are big baseball fans, hence Nolan's name.

Nolan is 1 day older then Dylan. How cool is that?! We are hoping to get together one more time before school starts.

While we were at the park, I got a text from my friend Aleasha (Caleb's mom) seeing if the boys wanted to come over and play. So after the park, we went home and changed and then headed over. While they played I went and did some grocery shopping. It was a fun day with friends. 

The next day was the start of our tax free day in Texas. So we were at the store at 8am and got the rest of our school supplies. Then we headed over to the outlets and  they each found new shoes for the school year. They needed new ones at the beginning of the summer, but I had them wait. Dylan is 1/2 a size smaller then Blake. Ridiculous. Yep, glad I waited until the end of summer because as mentioned before, he grew in height and in his feet. 

After we shopped we went to have lunch at Raising Cane's since the boys earned free meals through the library program. We came home and swam and played.

Cub Scout Fun

Wednesday we had the Stott's over to swim. This is Aaron's cousin, Amy and her kiddos. They have been gone for 40 days. Crazy huh? So, they came over to play and catch up. Her husband, David, was just called to be a seminary teacher in our stake. 

Later that day we had our committee meeting and then our den meeting. We launched rockets. How cool!! Our fearless leader Connie getting all messy in order to launch them. The boys are working on their NOVA award which is an extra one, but super cool.

After cub scouts, we went home and ate real fast then took Blake to soccer practice. It was fun to see everyone. Most of the team is back. 

Heard Museum

The summer is almost over and we have a lot of things that we still wanted to do, like go to the Heard. Last week Aaron was in Boston. On Tuesday we woke up and it looked like it was going to rain, but we went anyway to the Heard. It ended up being the perfect day to go because no one was at the museum and it was overcast so the sun wasn't blazing down on us and it was cooler weather. 

We also wanted to go to the museum to do some stuff for scouts. Seems like we do that a lot! We had to learn about some trees, animals, plants and habitats native to our area. The pecan tree is our state tree.

We saw this butterfly. They are so pretty.

We do have some flowers that grow in the summer--obviously they are native because all the other ones die in our heat.

The prairie.

The wetlands.

We studied some rocks.

But maybe the coolest thing of all was watching them feed the snakes. We watched them feed the rattlesnake. It is super gross and amazing to watch it. It is sad to see the mouse start to die from the venom and flop around and see the snake just waiting for it to stop moving so it can gulp it down.

We also talked to some folks about owls.

We spent a little over 4 hours there. The hikes were fun and the learning was fun. So thankful for the nice weather.

We came home and hung out, had dinner and then the boys came with me to my meeting.