Farewell to September

It's funny because September comes every year.  Same time.  I know it's full of birthdays and back to school.....BUT I always seem to barely keep my head above water all month!!!  I just now feel like I can have some sort of normalcy to my life.  Hello dishwasher, washer and dryer.  Hello bathroom cleaner and WOW!!  Hello floor.  Anyway, it has been a crazy month and I had to do at least a few posts, so here's one I forgot!

Back to school.

I totally forgot to post all about our back to school.  I managed to get some pictures of the kids-if you are on FB you've seen them, but I know lots of you aren't and I want them in my blog book, so here they are!

Logan is the first to leave the house at about 6:20.  He is in 9th grade now.  Crazy to think about because it makes me feel so old.  His classes are Geometry (Acc), Spanish, Biology (Acc), English (Acc), History (Acc), Speech and PE.  He has focused a lot on his grades and as you can see he's doing well with four accelerated classes.  I told him to take at least one "fun" class and he chose PE.  I find that humorous because I hated PE, but he enjoys the work outs!  He is also getting close to Eagle scout and recently completed a hunter's education class so he can go hunting with his friends family.  He is hoping to take drivers ed next year too.

 Here he is holding a Kindergarten picture.  (He was a bit tired)  When he's a senior I want a picture of him holding this picture.  I think it'll be cute!!

Yes, I took a quick picture of him going into the seminary building.  (He loves it by the way!!)

Kolby leaves the house next around 7:00.  He is in 8th grade now.  He is on the football team again as the receiver.  His classes are Earth science, Algebra (Acc), Engineering, English (Acc), World studies, PE and Orchestra.  I am so thrilled he is continuing on with his violin.  He is first chair and is just really talented.  His teacher recommended private lessons, but I'm not sure how we can afford it.  We'll see, maybe next year.

The next three leave about 8:20.  Preston is in 6th grade, Dallin in 3rd and Tayla started Kindergarten.  I did pretty good when I dropped them off.  I stayed with Tayla for a bit and got some pictures of her in class.    

Tayla has been soooo excited to start school and loves to learn.  She is already reading smaller words and knows every single rule in the classroom

Her best friend is in her class too, which is like a playdate every day for them.  Her mom and I were friends before they were born, and having little girls one month apart bonded us AND them.  They have been like sisters ever since.  I'm so happy Tayla has a friend like her-and I'm so blessed to have a friend like her mom!!!  On Wednesdays we drop the girls off at school and go straight to the temple.  It's been awesome to do that together.  

  

 I love how they sat right in front of the teacher.

It was a half day of school, and I counted the minutes until I could pick up Tayla  (it was only 1 1/2 hours, but it felt like forever!)  It was hard for me.  She's been such a companion for so long, and now she's gone half the day!!!  We went to McDonalds to celebrate.

That afternoon I decorated the house for our back to school celebration dinner tradition.  

The kids loved dinner-scalloped potatoes, pork chops with orange rice and corn.

My favorite thing was this wreath I made.  It was so fun to have on the door!!  And super easy to make-hot glue and school supplies.  

Now I can hang it up every year!!

What do I do with my time now?  I get asked that a lot!  Well, I try really hard NOT to waste it.  I am up at 5:00 every morning and try to schedule my day in a productive way.  There are still many household tasks to complete, but I do have more time for family history research, reading, baking and serving.  Wednesday is temple day (which I mentioned) and there are several families I babysit for every other week.  I am also working on more art and hope to keep up with my sweets business for the holidays coming up.  It's not hard for me to keep busy that's for sure!  It's been great though!!  I am really enjoying this season of life!  Beth