It’s hard to believe that September is almost over! Here’s what we’ve been up to for the last 10 days.

Both girls are in gymnastics again this year. Well, Maggie will tell you that her class is technically a tumbling class, but it’s all pretty much the same to me.

I am loving the surprises in Annie’s backpack each afternoon.

Instead of wearing their jerseys to school, Adam’s soccer team decided on Hawaiian shirts for their second game. Dave had plenty of options for Adam to pick from. Adam had a great game and his team won, 2-0.

A couple of action shots from the game.

Lieutenant Anne made it through ABC Bootcamp.

Maggie got to help fed Frankie. She’s a great big cousin!

Olive, just because.

After we dropped Maggie off at dance we had some time before Annie’s gymnastics class started.

Maggie dances two nights a week and takes five different classes. She does lyrical (which is her competition team), ballet, tap, acro, and hip hop. She had to get a new dance bag to hold all of her gear and looks about 15 in this picture.

Luke is still the cat whisperer.

More Annie Art.

The boys got their school picture back today. I think they both turned out great. The girls get theirs taken next month.

Okay, I think we’re all caught up again. 🙂

Last week was a crazy busy one and it looks like this upcoming week will bring more of the same. So here’s what we’ve been up to since my last post.

Annie continues to love school, even when it wears her out.

Olive had some complications from being spayed and needed a “cone of shame” for a little while. Thankfully she’s back to normal now.

We had our traditional “back to school” cookie cake. Cake decorating is not a talent I possess, but it did taste good.

Luke fractured his pinky playing football in gym. He’s seeing a specialist tomorrow to figure out our next step. Thankfully, it happened the same day as his yearly physical appointment – so we were able to get it seen by his doctor shortly after it happened and in for x-rays that same night.

Adam made the school soccer team! They had their first game last week. They didn’t win, but my sources (Dave) tell me Adam played really well.

The girls started back up with their dance classes. Someone’s mom missed the memo that since Annie moved up a level, they’re now supposed to wear black leotards. Oops. Thanks to Amazon she’ll have one before her next class.

My pretty plants had to be relocated because Hazel wouldn’t stop sleeping in them. So we got this fun hammock for them. They seem to like it so far (Hazel still prefers my plants though).

Friday night we went out to dinner with the girls. They practiced poses while we waited for our table.

Add in all the things not pictured/mentioned: 4th grade open house, doctor’s appointments for the girls and Adam, family pictures, gymnastics, house league soccer for Adam and Annie… It’s no surprise why I took a nap earlier and am still ready for bed before 9 pm.

She loves school.

This year we have an eighth grader:

A sixth grader:

A fourth grader:

And a brand new kindergartner:

They all had a great first day. Annie’s only complaint was, “We did music class, and colored, and had a practice fire drill…but we didn’t do any math. I really like math.” Maggie loves her new teacher and was excited that her class room was decorated in rainbows (and matched her outfit).

Adam says all his teachers seem really cool and Luke was thrilled that two good friends from fourth grade are in all of his core classes with him. He was a little nervous about making the jump to middle school and switching classes all day – but he seems to have gotten the hang of it.

I’m so glad that they’ve all had such a positive start to the 22-23 school year!

The girls have both really been into drawing lately. Here are some of Annie’s recent creations.

“Rabbit with Carrot”

“Apple Saying ‘Aaagh'”

“Panda“

“Pizza”

“Robin”

“Leprechaun”

Luke took part in his school’s musical this past week. They performed “Frozen, Kids” and the whole cast and crew did an incredible job.

Luke was a snowflake and it was so great to see him on stage with his friends. 97 of the fifth grade students participated in the show (I think there are just over 100 kids in the fifth grade, so that’s pretty awesome).

We are all so proud of Luke for trying something new and for working so hard at it. I can’t wait to get my DVD recording of the musical so I can watch it again!

Spider-Anne, Spider-Anne,
Does whatever a spider can

Harris is amazingly tolerant of us.

She even let Annie invade her current favorite place – the mat right in front of the kitchen sink. I think it helps that Annie brought a show for them to watch.

And that Annie leaves her notes.

3 out of 4 of our kids love the snow.

I love seeing them play together (from inside, with Adam).

Happy New Year!

We’ve had a bit of a rough time with this website recently. Fingers crossed that we’ve got all of the glitches worked out and can get back to posting updates.

I just wanted to do a quick test post to make sure things are working properly. So here are the kids’ school pictures (since I haven’t been able to share them yet). Hope your 2022 is off to a great start!

Adam – 7th Grade

Luke – 5th Grade

Maggie – 3rd Grade

Annie – PreK