Back to School: 4th Grade

up and at em super early

scrubbed up like a new penny

cute outfit

new back pack

painted nails

lip gloss

 a little taller

a few butterflies

an apple for her teacher

excitement to meet back up with friends

All set and ready to go for a fantastic  school year!

Party Pictures

We capped off  Kendle's birthday week with a little get together with some of her girl friends last night. We had all the girls wear their pajamas and had kind of a mock slumber party with out the sleeping over part.

Dinner consisted of pizza, watermelon, chips, and  ice cold strawberry crush. Then  they were welcome to the candy/treats buffet I had put together to snack on the rest of the night.

They painted their nails, made necklaces, and watched a movie along with lots of laughing and being silly. Lots and lots and lots of giggling and smiling.

It was a lot of work, (especially with all of my kids underfoot the whole day) but it was so much fun and worth the effort. My favorite discovery was finding the polka dotted crepe paper at the party store. It is so cute when you see it in person.

Ok, here's some pictures in bad lighting taken on my phone because my real camera needed new batteries:

Nine

Today my first born turned nine years old. Nine years have flown by in a flash and I could never have imagined as a new mother holding my sweet little baby girl, what a unique and wonderful person she would be growing into at this stage of her life. Challenging, stubborn, willful, outspoken, and utterly determined and dead set in her ways -- but absolutely wonderful just the same.

The last year has had many ups and downs for Kendle and I've watched her learn some important lessons that I hope will stay with her always:

That friends can be fickle, you don't always get what you think you deserve, just because you gave it your all doesn't mean you'll always win, and sometimes you have to make the best of the situation you are in because whining doesn't get you anywhere.

On the other side of the spectrum she's learned:
That mom and dad are and always will be her biggest supporters, family comes first, good friends sometimes pop up in unexpected places, and that most of the time even if you don't win but you still gave it everything you had it still makes you feel pretty darn good.

There are so many things I love about Kendle, but I think my most favorite thing is that when she smiles and laughs, she sparkles like the 4th of July. She has an energy about her that is so happy most of the time. It is hard because these days I feel like we have many disagreements and are constantly butting heads, but when we can share a laugh about something and I see her light up like she does, it reassures me that it will all be ok and we can find a way to work out the kinks.

I love watching her interact with her little brothers when they are all playing and getting along and am so proud of the high bar she has set for them to follow. I love that she is goal driven and has high hopes and dreams for her future. I know that along with a positive attitude will carry her far in life.

I hope she knows how much her father and I love her, and it's not for scoring the winning goal in a soccer game, or getting 100 percent's on tests, or for getting awards or doing all her chores. Those things are fun and make us proud, but we'd be proud no matter what.


Kendle is a never ending wisher and dreamer. I hope all of her wishes come true this year.

Coming to a Close

Next week is our last week of summer break before school starts. Things are wrapping up and the nights are starting to get cooler and darker earlier. This time of year is always filled with highs and lows. We're trying to hang onto summer for a little bit longer, especially now that we are finally having "real" hot summer weather. But, I am also at my breaking point that I reach every summer where I am ready for school to start again. This is the time where I start organizing and cleaning out with a vengeance. It's time to clean out the closets and dressers and get set for a new school year. Next week is Kendle's birthday (she'll be turning 9!), the fair, and sports practices are starting. Here is a little more of what we've been up to:

*Kendle's team competed in a 3 on 3 soccer tournament last weekend at Columbia Park. Her team did extremely well and although they didn't get to play in the championship they really impressed us and played super hard. We were there all day playing in the hot weather and we only had four players so those girls ran their little legs off and never gave up. They won three out of their four games outscoring the teams they defeated by at least six or seven points. One of the most ironic moments was when the coach of the team that beat us went to complain to the people running the tournament that our team was being "too physical". As if it wasn't enough that they beat us, but I think he was just kind of scared because we outscored them in the second half and if we would have played like that in the first half we would have smoked them and he knew it. Just kind of funny how a lot of the other coaches took it so seriously and were just yelling and screaming at their players. I'm so glad Riley does not do that with Kendle's team. We were wishing we could keep all the girls together for their team this fall because they would be so awesome. I think the highlight of their day was going for ice cream afterwards and they more than deserved it.

We are also attempting to let her play some fall softball. I don't know if it's going to work out that well or not to be doing two sports at one time, but I told her coach we would have to just play it by ear and make whatever we could that didn't interfere with soccer. It is pretty laid back and mostly fun though so it's not that big of a deal if she misses something here and there. Just fun to keep her skills going from the spring and get some more game time in. Kendle's favorite part of summer is staying up late at night. She thinks that is a real treat.

*Riley has been doing lots of soccer related extra work lately. What? That's nothing new you say? I know, I know. He's started doing private training sessions for goalie's and is training two high school players in the evenings and mornings whenever he can squeeze it into his busy work schedule. He also is volunteering as the team coordinator for Pasco's tcysa. The spot was vacant when he called to check on Kendle's team and with all the problems we've had in the past he decided to just step up and help make the organization a little better. So now he also serves on their board and goes to their meetings once a month and hopefully can help impact some positive change. Needless to say, it is a LOT of work to put together every team from Pasco and there had literally been nothing done when he assumed this responsibility three weeks ago. Despite all of that,  he is pretty stoked to be getting to coach Kendle's team this fall and helping her team rebuild their skills.

*Morgan has been growing this summer and is a skinny, muscly little guy. He plays hard all day long and helps me by being my "garden monitor". He checks every day for veggies that are ready to be picked or need water. He always has interesting questions to ask, or cute little stories to tell me throughout the day. His favorite thing this summer has been sitting around the fire pit at night making smores. He asks us every night if we can make a fire. I think that boy has eaten his weight in marshmallows this summer. We've tried taking his training wheels off his bike a few times and will keep working with him on that because I think he is going to get it really soon. He loves riding his bike and racing Kendle. He is excited for preschool to start in a few weeks so he can go school supply shopping with me to pick out his own things just like I did with Kendle. He is a rocket of speed and jumping and playing all the time.

*Cooper and Kale have been wild little boys this summer. They love playing outside and getting really dirty. Also, if there is even an inch of standing water anywhere they will find it and wreak havoc. I've taken to letting them sit at the picnic table and eat whenever I can because they are SO messy. It gives us all a good excuse to eat outside though and it's fun. Except for the bees and wasps have been really bad this year and Kale got stung a couple of weeks ago when we were eating dinner outside. They love to go on our morning walks and cruise the neighborhood. They are still the biggest cry babies I've ever seen and super clingy. I keep thinking they will grow out of it, but maybe I'm just destined to have super clingy mama's boys? They are getting to be good helpers though and love to help do little tasks like wiping down the table or putting their dirty clothes and shoes away. Their favorite thing this summer has been running around naked in the sprinklers and eating a gazillion popsicles. If that is all they got to do in a day they would be happy boys.

*My summer has been pretty great for the most part. I made it a goal to do at least one fun thing with the kids every day even if it was just something little like going for a milkshake or letting them help me make some treats. This is the first summer in a long time that I have been able to be outside a lot and take the kids to go and do more. I've gotten super tan and am almost as dark as Kendle and Morgan. I've tried not to let the constant messes of summer and my untidy house stress me out like it usually would. I've loved my daily walks with the kids and also just having those lazy afternoons when the twins are napping where I can sneak out the backyard and put my feet up in a comfy chair and soak up the sun with a good book. I've tried to just enjoy my children more this summer because they are growing up way too fast. I need to work on being more patient with all of the little voices around me wanting my attention. Yesterday I went to my parents house and my mom and I made strawberry and raspberry jam. I am trying to get stocked up for the year and keep Kendle in good supply for all of her peanut butter sandwiches she eats. My favorite thing about this summer was having Riley home more and having our schedules be a lot more laid back.

Hopefully we are can try and fit as many more fun things in as we can before school starts on the 30th.