Starting School and Sports

My anxiety settled in at a soft purr all through the summer as I was constantly wondering about whether or not full-time school would truly and actually resume in the fall. I was hopeful but untrusting because I had been burned in the past. 

Our school also seemed hesitant to make any promises or really any announcements about the upcoming school year until just a week or so before the start date. They finally announced all systems were a-go, school would be regular hours, and it was time to rock and roll. 

Nevada did (and still does) have a mask mandate inside buildings, so the kids are required to wear masks all day. It sounds horrible, but they don't ever complain about it and don't really seem to mind, and I'm actually glad the kids wear masks at school because I am still a little nervous about Covid spreading through the elementary schools where the kids aren't vaccinated (mostly because I don't want everything to get shut down again)! So we will happily take whatever precautions are necessary to just get these boys back to the classroom!

Poor Lincoln has never experienced regular school. His kindergarten year was super weird, and first grade is proving to be a unique situation too, but he's doing well and his reading has really taken off in the last month or so! That's always exciting to see when they can start reading fluently and figuring out how to spell words on their own. He's doing great!

I just got an email from Carson's teacher saying he is always such a polite, kind, and helpful boy at school. He really thrives in the school setting, so I am most relieved these kids are back in the classroom for this one's sake. 

Eli is in middle school now! All three boys go to the same school, but Eli's day is set up a little differently with more class changes and more teachers. He has a great teacher that has already been such a mentor and a great role model to Eli.

I feel like a whole person again to not have to be my kids's everything! It was so exhausting to have to keep track of their classwork, keep them on task, figure out three different sets of assignments, arrange the Zoom calls, keep the house learning environment friendly, so on and so forth. And then to have to be their everything else on top of all that.

I have seen how important it is for my kids to have outside influences in their life. I'm so grateful for great teachers who support, teach, love, and encourage my kids to be the best they can! Their influence is noticeable! It's also so nice to have my kids be around other kids regularly. There are a million reasons to be grateful for school. Even my kids who used to complain about going to school can now easily recognize that it's way better than the alternative of being stuck at home staring at me all day!

Well...there is one person who actually thinks he prefers to be home staring at me all day. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for Jonah and preschool. Super last minute I found out that our elementary school actually has a new preschool program. I was able to get Jonah enrolled like 2 days before school started and he got in! That was such a blessing for us!

Jonah loves school now, but it did take some serious convincing those first couple of weeks.

I was so happy to learn the schools were providing free lunch to all the kids...until my kids tried school lunch and said it was nasty and they would never eat it ever again. Wa waaaaaaaaa. Being stubborn, I told them I refuse to spend my mornings making three lunches when they have school lunch available to them for free. Them also being stubborn, they said, "Fine then we won't eat."

The compromise was a freezer lunch system that I'm now quite proud of. I made a million lunch options and put them in the freezer. This way I don't have to do it in the morning, and the kids can easily pack their own lunches. It's been awesome! I have to restock one or two of the bins about every two weeks, so the maintenance isn't too bad. It sure beats scrambling to put things together in the morning! 

I also have a tote full of pre-packaged snacks that they can pick from just for lunches. It's taken so much stress out of our mornings. 

Jonah loves to help with the meal prep whenever we need a restock. 

Eli got quarantined for being exposed to Covid early into the schoolyear. After settling into this position to do his schoolwork during the day, he coyly announced, "The teachers are on my turf now."

Jonah's learning so many skills in preschool. He has a homework packet each month. His tongue always appears whenever a task requires complete concentration. 

I knew we were getting in over our heads signing all four boys up for fall sports, but I got carried away in the excitement of activities opening up again that I just went for it. Jonah has always loved baseball, so he's had the best time actually being on a team.

He's so cute out there! As we knew he would, he picked up on all the little rules and techniques of the game, and he's always all in out on the field. He even did a front flip (...landed on his back...) after he made a good throw. He plays with bubbling enthusiasm. 

His coach wears his hat backwards, so Jonah likes to follow suit. 

Eli's doing baseball again, too. He plays for the Angels. Fall ball has been so nice. The weather is absolutely dreamy! Makes the hours spent out at the baseball fields enjoyable. 

Lincoln and Carson are doing soccer. I enjoy the fast pace of soccer and the cute little uniforms. Something about little kid legs in shin guards makes me smile. 

Sports have turned into our Saturday 9 to 5. Being a soccer mom was on my high school bucket list, and after this season, I think I can officially cross that one off the old list!

2021 End of Summer Fun

Have I made it through a whole summer's worth of blogging without once titling any of my posts Summery Summary?!? I can't tell if I've grown over the years or if I've lost myself. 

We're down to the last two weeks of summer, folks. A time that shall also be known as the phase where Jonah refused to go to bed at night and instead would mischievously run around the house like a crazed animal until he finally tired himself out so much that he would put himself to sleep on the couch. Happy to say that phase was short-lived. 

We reactivated our Pogo Pass after Covid put it on pause. This allowed us to hit up SeaQuest. 

And the doctor...(unrelated to Pogo Pass...or Covid) We were just overdue for some well-child checks. I am happy to report the children are well.

However, we did learn one needs glasses!

Pogo Pass took us to our first Aviators game. 

Eli and Carson made it onto the big-screen. 

Then certain big-screen characters made it to Jonah. Just behind the Aviator guy is the opposing team's dugout. There was this one player that was standing right next to the fence, looking right towards us and repeatedly waving. I convinced myself he was waving at Jonah because...well...he's adorable and oozes a love for baseball, so it seemed as though he recognized he was a hero in Jonah's eyes and was giving him attention. 

I told Jonah, "Wave to him!" So Jonah did. Then the player kept looking and smiling and coyly made a "come here" type of gesture with his hand. I said, "Jonah! He wants to talk to you! Go say 'hi!'"

Jonah sheepishly walked over to the baseball player...just as an adult woman approached the fence. 

It became clear there was a slight misunderstanding and all the communications I thought were directed at Jonah were in fact for a girlfriend just behind Jonah. However, now Jonah was triangulating himself with the baseball player and the girlfriend because I had convinced him the player was trying to get his attention. And then Jonah stayed there waiting for the recognition he now felt he deserved. However, baseball player was blinded by love and barely even noticed Jonah's adoration. 

It was hilarious and awkward and was obviously the highlight of the evening. 

We love the kids' school! It's a STEM-focused school, so they have some neat computer, science, and technology programs. Eli did a robotics camp over the summer where he made a car. He spent a lot of time thinking about his car and perfecting it. His teacher was so nice and kept the car intact so I could see it at back-to-school night. 

Eli also got into a robotics special this year and he has chosen to be part of the competitive robotics club. Ever since he could express what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would always say, "An Electronics Maker," so it seems like he's right on track in his pursuit of that dream!

We finally made it up Mt. Charleston where certain people get mad when posing for pictures interferes with their wilderness exploration. Sorry, sir, as you were.

We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary! We went to a Thai restaurant and then got frozen yogurt. Food is my love language, so it was an ideal way to celebrate. 

My friends told me about a hike up Mt. Charleston called Cathedral Rock. When I learned it was only 3 miles, I felt an urge to take the boys to see if they could handle the challenge. 

We found Grandma and Grandpa Thomas along the way.

We had to stop often for motivational pep talks and Jolly Rancher breaks. 

But the little dudes did it!

The bigger little dudes did it, too. I was so proud of them! 

I was amused one evening to find Jonah sleeping with a gun under his pillow. 

Eli offers to teach our Come, Follow Me lessons about once a month (usually when Jeff and I are being too slow and he's anxious to get to the Sunday movie and popcorn). He always comes up with something, cute, captivating, and creative. 

Our last big hoorah was going to Cowabunga Bay. Eli and Carson were sick, so I just took the little guys. We met up with Torrie and Melissa to celebrate Dex's birthday. 

We made it through another Vegas summer (mostly by running away to Utah). It was so nice to be able to get out and do things again after being cooped up last summer!