Second Half of September

I went on a trip to hang out with my college roomies. It was the first time that we'd all gotten together since my wedding. I hope that when my kids get to college they get roommates as wonderful as I got. When I got to BYU I felt like a fish out of water. Not only had no one in my family really gone far away for college, (My mom went to Denton, within hours of where her family lived, and my dad never even went to college.) but I had no idea about the Mormon culture that BYU had. I had no other friends from home at BYU or any family in Utah. I was completely alone and these girls became my best friends. They were not only fun, but they also helped me to be my best self. They studied in the library, so I studied in the library. I had never planned to go on a mission, but they were going so I prayed about it, and discovered that I too should go on a mission. We supported each other through tough times in and out of college and missions. I still feel most at home with them of anyone except family. I hope that all of my kids get this kind of roommates in college.

At Tim's Sloth themed birthday party. The big girls helped to run some of the games and keep all the littles happy.

Timothy was very pleased that Leona gave him a squishmallow for his birthday. I know that Leona is hoping that now he won't steal hers, but she shouldn't hold her breath.

 

First Half of September

We went over to the Caldwells' house for some swimming and snow cones.  With the extra snow cone ice Auntie Mel made snowballs and the kids had fun with the summertime snowball fight.

Leona was really thrilled with the panda mural that Gpa Cole painted on her side of the room. I have to admit, I was against unbunking the girls' beds, but I was wrong. They have gotten along so well and Leona has really done a good job of keeping her side of the room clean. I thought with less space Clara and Leona would fight more, but they have done a great job of being roomies. They both like getting to decorate their side of the room too.

Leona the gymnast jumped through the last hoop to pass off the "Gold Level" of gymnastics. She did all three levels in only six months! She was invited to join the team and compete at meets, but ultimately decided that she'd rather just keep going to her gold class and then transfer to power tumbling silver when a spot opens up. She wants to do gymnastics just for the pleasure of doing it, not with a competition aspect.

 

The Rest of August Fun

Ice cream sundae party, with cousins and unfettered access to toppings- dreams come true!

Leona celebrated having gone to school for two weeks by getting covid and missing the third week of school. The good news was that since it was so early in the year she somehow didn't have any makeup work. The other good news was that no one else caught it from her.

Luckily for Leona the skate night was after her initial quarantine so she was able to go and have fun skating the night away with her buddies.

 

Back to School- 3rd Grade Edition

Leona at Back to School Night with her 3rd Grade teacher, Ms. Ramsey. Ms. Ramsey was only hired 48 hours before this event. There was a big upset with 3rd grade teachers at Coyote Ridge this year and they were scrambling to find the last teacher. Luckily they found Ms. Ramsey, and luckily Leona ended up in her class.  Ms. Ramsey had previously taught for LISD, but had been in west Texas for the past five years, and was suddenly moving back. It worked out great as she is a great teacher- definitely the best in the grade.

PAG activity on the first day of school

 

End of Summer

A mourning dove made her nest and laid eggs on top of our hose. She was not a very tough momma bird and anytime we went close she would fly away, giving us total access to check out the babies.

Leona read this chapter book, mostly on her own. It was a big achievement and despite the face in the photo she was proud of herself.

This was the day that Leona moved up from Silver to Gold in gymnastics. It was been so impressive to see how fast Leona picks up the skills at gymnastics. She is a natural! She is turning into one solid muscle and she doesn't walk anywhere, she cartwheels. Leona was sad to leave Coach "Sparkles", but happy to move up to the next level.

 

Galveston

We took a trip to Galveston which was super fun and relaxing. The first day at the beach we met up with the Dykes and everybody got to hang out with old friends which was really fun. Everybody loved boogie boarding and playing in the sand and water. On Sunday we went to church and doubled the size of their primary and increased their YW class by 50%. They were really disappointed that we were only visiting and not moving in. 😆 The next day we went to the beach in the morning and then left for home by way of Houston.

We stopped off at Brazos Bend State Park to see some old friends, the Martins, and some alligators. It was so unbelievably hot that all the gators were in the water, but we could still see some in the water. There were also lots of banana spiders to check out. After that we stopped for some frozen yogurt before driving the rest of the way home. It was a fun vacation.

 

Second Half of July

While I had my ear surgery the kids went and partied at the Caldwells' house for a couple of days. 

About a week later we went back out to the Caldwells' house to try out their new toys. The kids had a lot of fun both riding the jet skis and riding the tubes.

Also at the end of July was a cooking camp that Clara, Leona, and Veronica went to. They cooked lots of fun stuff including: muffins, zucchini fries, calzones, and many other things. They all really enjoyed the class. Writing this post reminds me that I haven't had them cook us dinner. That needs to happen soon.

From a PAG activity.