This trip to the cabin was a fun one. I took the girls to Mammoth Cave to explore while the boys fished. Then we all went over to Brian Head for zip lining, tube sliding. Then the boys went back to the cabin for more fishing and I stayed with the girls while they performed tricks on the tramp and the climbing wall. We stoped to see the beautiful Cedar Breaks on our way back.
Well, it's September 2022 and we are back to the routine and stress of school. Ivan is in 9th grade. He got pulled up in football and is playing on the sophomore team. They spent all summer working out in the mornings and practicing in the evenings. With school starting, they now practice everyday after school from 3:45-6:00. Games on Thursdays. His first game they played Salem Hills, which is his cousin Rykers team. It was fun to be in the stands with family. He's doing great and enjoying the games, not the practices. He loves to be sarcastic. It's really fun. He loves to pick me up. He loves to watch his film on Hudl and he loves to rub his nipples. He spends his free time with Max and or Crew. He's on a fishing kick and wants to be out fishing. He and Crew go to a nearby pond once in a while. He likes to eat a bowl of cereal and watch a show on the phone. He likes to snuggle Kate. He likes to hand out in my bed at night. He likes to either watch Seinfeld with me or a hunting show with Mike. He likes his hair to hang in his eye's. Until Max shaved it at the beginning of the summer. It has grown out and will soon be to his eyes again. He likes to say, "oh my," whenever anything is requested of him. He does great in school. He's in an accelerated math class. I'm amazed at his ability to keep his schedule straight. He has gotten straight A's since he started Jr High 2 yrs ago. I am making the boys ride the electric scooters to school. Boy they put up a fight. I hope they are enjoying it more than they thought they would. I think it sounds so liberating to ride them and come and go as you please.
Jack entered Jr High. His 6th grade teacher was really impressed with the kind of student Jack was and would often tell me that she worries about some kids going into Jr High, but not Jack. She felt he was definitely ready. About a week before school started though, he was getting a bit anxious and was all mad about his classes. Last year we got an email from the district letting us know that he scored in the top 15% on the standardized test and suggested we have him test for the A.L.L program (advanced learning lab). He was hesitant. I told him just to do it to prove it to himself and if he didn't want to be in the program he didn't have to. He took the test and then we didn't discuss it much after that. About a week before school started he began stressing out about being in the A.L.L classes and saying he didn't want to do it. He was pretty mad. Mad that he wouldn't be in classes with his friends, mad that I "lied" and told him he didn't have to do it. Luckily the first day he came home and discovered his good friend Oliver is in a lot of his classes and he likes all the teachers. Yay. Then next he got all mad at me because I didn't order PE clothes, because he already has a Willowcreek shirt. And then when they dressed in PE he realized it wasn't a big deal and his shirt was fine. Now he's mad at me because I signed him up for tennis. He is an awesome tennis player, he's been playing for the past 2 or 3 years and then Tuesday, the day they started, he wouldn't go. I'm trying to bribe him. We'll see. He's still playing soccer with 3 neighbor friends. He's still learning piano. He likes to tell me he's practiced when I know full well he hasn't and even when I know that he is still capable at looking me in the eye's and saying he has. He loves the Netflix show "Stranger things." He has an awesome little group of friends. Jack, Logan, Logan, Jesse, Charlie, Luke, Jace, Carson. They are a fun group of boys. Jack and Ivan have been growing their skills in tramp ball. I like it when they get out there and play. They are also growing their skills in arguing and making life miserable for each other. I don't love that one. Jack loves to settle into a video game with his friends. They can talk to each other on line. He's been working on building his strength and does push-ups and sit ups before bed. He's got a fun sense of humor and I like hearing him interact with his friends.
Emery girl is in 5th grade this year. She is also in the A.L.L program. I think she wanted to test for it so she would get Mrs. Shliefarth and then just before school started we learned that she was moving. Emery now has Mrs. Hunt. I think she was VERY disappointed, but Mrs. Hunt will be great. Emery pretty much lives with her little friend threesome; Her, Clara Worle, Zoey Orton and sometimes Lynnex Holbrook. All summer she was gone morning till night with these girls. They all have little electric mopeds and ride around like a little motorcycle gang. She's overcome her fidget toy addiction. She's in Ballet 4 days a week. She just got her first pair of point shoes and loves them. She also signed up for a rec volleyball team with Zoey and Lynnex and she is LOVING it. She wants to get banana cream pie at handles every night.
Kate our little caboose started kindergarten. She sleeps in in the mornings, so Mike and I first get the boys up and off by 8:00. We get Emery off at 9:00 and then we hear Kates little voice from the bedroom yell, "mom, come snuggle me." So I get some alone time with my little Kate. At 12:30 we hop on the little moped together and ride to school. It's pretty fun. She's so mature and smart and funny and snuggly and playful and all the good stuff. Her little best friend is Ellie Worle. She's in 2nd grade, but they are the cutest little friends. She also likes to play with Stella and Lucy. She's doing one ballet class, one tumbling and one little hip hop class. She loves them all.
As a family we like to watch Goldbergs together. We like to laugh at Johnson files. We like to watch little Ophelia. We like to play cards.
