September 2016

The most exciting news around here is that baby Vivian was born! She sure is a cutie and I am so excited to have a niece live less than half a mile away from us! I will be babysitting her twice a week when Katie goes back to work, so life will be interesting! I am looking forward to kissing her chubby cheeks often!

Mitch was out of town over Labor Day weekend, so I took the kids to This is the Place Heritage Park. I hadn't been in years and the park was bigger than I remembered. We were there for almost 5 hours and we didn't see or do everything! We had so much fun though and we need to go back sometime!

 

The highlight of the day was running into a former missionary companion of mine. Becky Oman Engh, aka Sister Oman. I am terrible at keeping in touch with people, and I quit Facebook, which she didn't have anyways, so it was a very nice surprise to run into her with her husband and two cute boys. I have so many fond memories of my time with her. She is a naturally funny person, as in she doesn't try to be funny, she just is. She was so sweet and while she was very homesick when we were in Latvia together, she was still a joy and taught me a lot about loving people. I will always look up to her and am thankful for her example to me, even ten years later! 

We spent some time picking peaches at my grandma's house over Labor Day too. I love her backyard. There used to be so many tall trees and a barn. She had it all taken out after my grandpa passed, but I still love it.

Marcus started preschool in September. I joined three other moms and we take turns teaching, so I end up teaching once a month. I also joined a second group, but we only have three moms, so some months I teach that group twice in a row. I don't mind, in fact it's fun teaching these cute kids! And the best part is it's free. ;) The women who are in the groups are all wonderful and I'm grateful for them. It's Kellee Mudrow (Mason's mom), Lara Lifferth (Anna's mom), Jessie Molyneaux (Taysom's mom), and Camille Bennett (Brynlee's mom).

Marcus was so upset the morning of his first day of preschool. We hadn't seen Mitch for over two weeks at this point and Marcus was struggling. So these pictures are what I ended up with.



Speaking of Marcus, a couple of his funny quotes from the past couple of weeks:
I told Marcus he makes me happy, to which he replied, "You make me happy AND grumpy, Mom." Well, if we're being honest ...

"Mom, someday I want to be a human boy bigger than you!" I told him that I bet he would be someday. "Like Daddy?" Yes, like Daddy.

He ate his first Reese's peanut butter cup. He asked what was in it and I told him peanut butter. He said, with big eyes, "I like this better than peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches!" Me too!!!

I love that boy!

I was on a (long) phone call with my friend, Brandi.
When I finished I found the kids like this. :)

Layla had a piano recital and she played amazing! This recital was a big deal because she graduated from Level 1 of the Suzuki program. It takes most students 2 years to pass the first level, she did it in 1.5 years. She is becoming such a talented pianist and has passed me in ability. She played her recital piece perfectly and I was so very proud of all her hard work. Her teacher had nothing but praise, which is saying a lot since she can be extremely critical (in a good way). She said of all her students who played that song, Layla did the best. We gave her flowers and a card, she earned a Suzuki certificate that we framed and hung above our piano, and my parents gave her a small bust of Beethoven and a piano pencil and pen. My grandma Ruth also came, but Mitch's mom had just had her back surgery so they couldn't make it. It was a very rewarding night after a lot of hard work and tears!

Layla has also been practicing the monkey bars every day at recess. She has some impressive calluses on her little hands! Now she can do the monkey bars easily. I love that she's learning the lesson of hard work, practice, and perseverance!

The months of August and September were rough! Mitch was out of town for both months, only coming home for one or two weekends. I'm usually one who can take care of myself and am introverted enough that I don't mind him being gone on work trips once a month or so, but this about killed me. We didn't see him for two weeks at at time, or longer, and it took its toll on all of us. The poor kids missed him so much! Marcus started really acting out, Layla cried every night, and I broke down and cried several times too (and I never cry). Finally, two weeks ago, this d@m* project ended and Mitch came home. Wahoo! He took the last two weeks off and it has been wonderful! Not only do we get to hang out with him, but he has been incredibly helpful! I should add here that I was very, very sick since the last part of August and only this week did I start feeling 100% again. So, Mitch was helpful since I was so far behind on life and just making through one day at a time and he helped me get caught up and rest until I felt all the way better.

The kids and I also joined Snapchat to pass the time while Mitch was gone and I was too sick to do anything. Some of our pics had us laughing pretty hard!

My parents and our neighbors and friends were also helpful when Mitch was gone and I was so sick. They brought dinner and watched my kids a lot. My parents took my kids for an entire weekend and I seriously didn't get out of bed the whole time. It was depressing. I had some sort of infection in my lungs (the chest x-ray didn't show walking pneumonia, but it was something similar) and I couldn't do anything. I had terrible stomach aches from all the antibiotics. It took three rounds of antibiotics, one steroid pack and lots of cough syrup before I started feeling better.

They have so much fun sleeping over at my parents' house!
Especially with a pile of whip cream for breakfast!
And my mom always takes them to do fun things!

Our friends, the Mudrows, took my kids several times while I was sick.

Marcus loves their baby boy, Brody!

But now all is right in the world again! Mitch is home and I feel better and life is wonderful. My only complaint is that Marcus is definitely less of a mama's boy after Mitch was gone so long and then has spent two solid weeks doing nothing but playing transformers with Marcus. ;) He's more of a daddy's boy now, but he does still ask to "snuggle wif a bwanket and mama" every day, and he loves my kisses, and he hugs me a lot, so I'm not mad about it. I know Layla is delighted to have Mitch home as well, but since she's at school she didn't get quite as reattached.


Layla and I were able to join Nicole and Oakley on our 3rd annual girls trip this month! We saw the play, Peter Pan, at Tuacahn. It was so much fun, as always. I'm so glad we started this tradition and that our husbands are okay with it! We stayed at my grandpa's house this year and he has the most incredible view from his porch! Mitch bought Marcus a Transformer toy for them to play with while we were gone, so they had lots of fun too.

I have been busy the last few weeks with photography. It always picks up in the fall. It's a fun job to have and I've learned a lot this year, especially about editing. I like the challenge that comes along with it. Someday I'll put in more of an effort and have a legit photography business, but for now it's a good amount while my kids are young. I've also been really busy with the PTA. We had our first book club meeting where we discussed the book The Wednesday Wars, which I loved. It's a good feeling to get kids excited about reading!

Maybe I mentioned this in my last post, but I went
to the Coldplay concert in August. Ahhh, words can't describe the joy I felt.
My most favorite band. Ever. The concert was incredible! It was also very loud and
my left ear hurt for two days afterwards. I was slightly worried. #worthit

Halloween is coming up and we are expecting Brock and Natalie's baby boy any day now. Life is good!

First Grade

The rest of the summer was great. We went swimming at the aquatic center and both of the kids LOVED the water slide! I guess a trip to Seven Peaks is in our future! We made cookies for the neighbors, had lots of play dates with friends, and soaked it all up as much as we could. We also spent some time at Mammy and Grandpa Bott's house, which we are now referring to as "The Transformers and Barbies Library" since the kids each "check out" a Transformer (for Marcus) and Barbie (for Layla) every time they go and return the one from last time. The toys were Mitch and Katie's when they were little. Funny, huh?

Baking cookies on a Sunday.

Waiting for dad to finish working.

Visiting the Planetarium with our friends.

 

Marcus and his BFF, Mason. These two kill me with their cuteness.

And Marcus and his other BFF, Layla. Most days. ;)

Goofballs.

We also did swim lessons. Layla passed two levels this round. She's a fish, I tell ya. Marcus didn't hate being in the water this year, so that is a vast improvement over last year. I think he actually really enjoyed it this time. Success! He did make me laugh every time he would yell across the pool to me, "Hi Mom! I swimming! Wook at me, Mom! I know how to swim!" Oh, and Layla's class was right next to Marcus's in the pool and their teachers had to constantly chide the two of them for talking to each other and trying to hug each other over the ropes. I'm glad they love each other so much.

Last day of swim lessons.

 

 

Frozen yogurt the day before school started.

Finally got a raspberry on our plant!

I planted our garden this year. We had a good round of peas on the trellises, plenty of

butternut squash, cucumbers (many eaten by potato bugs!), carrots, and green onions.

Playing school.

At the same time, Mitch was out of town SO much and it made us sad. Thank heavens it came to an end and we are all together again. I think I spoiled the kids too much trying to make up for Mitch being gone and they now both beg for toys every time we go to the store ...

Then, Layla started first grade! I can't even believe it. It makes me so sad to have her gone for so long. It really feels like forever. Marcus misses her too.

My mom sent the kids a package of

back to school clothes and "smarty pants."

They loved it!

But, Layla likes school. For the most part. She has her moments when she really doesn't want to go.
On the first day of school she asked me if I could ground her so she could stay in her room and not go to school. What?! While she might complain in the morning, she is happy when she gets home. She said she remembers a lot of her Chinese from last year, and she seems to really enjoy learning a new language. It throws me for a loop to see her writing Chinese characters though!

Riding her bike to school on the first day and today.

She has two new teachers this year. The English teacher did not impress me at first (terrible communication with the parents, etc) but it has already gotten better so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be a good year with her. I LOVE her Chinese teacher. She interned in Layla's Chinese class last year, so I know her a little bit and from what I know I am impressed. I think she will be a great Chinese teacher.

Layla is not allowed to speak English in her Chinese class. She cried the first two days because it is hard to speak only Chinese, but I am not one to let my kids stop when things get hard, so she will continue. I know deep down she really likes it, I think the beginning of each year will just be an adjustment.

I am so proud of her and the wonderful person she is becoming. I am thankful every day that I get to be her mom, and that I can be home with her before and after school each day. I know I am blessed to be able to do that!

Marcus is starting preschool next week, and I also feel very blessed that I am in a position to be able to do a joy school with several other moms in our area. This sort of thing is exactly why I did not  pursue a career in editing after I earned my degree. I wanted to be available full-time for my kids and I am so happy with what I am doing now (and clearly I have not retained my editing/writing skills over the years, as evidenced by this blog, ha!) . I am excited to participate in Marcus's preschool and I'm grateful that we have other moms who are responsible, fun, and who I know will help make this preschool year the best for our kids. Marcus is excited to start and has started asking daily if it's preschool time yet. I think he'll really enjoy it!

Here's to a new school year!