One day we were out mattress shopping and the kids found this beanbag to lounge on. They think we need a big bean bag for our house now. Maybe someday when we have a basement again!
Kylee and Skyler started school on Aug. 8. I can't believe how old they are getting! Kylee is in 6th grade this year, so she goes to the 6th grade school, and Skyler is in 1st grade. They have so many kids here, they have one Elementary school that is all for Pre-K, one Elementary school that is all for kindergarten, a bunch of schools for 1st-5th grade, one Middle school for all the 6th graders, another Middle school for the 7th-8th graders, and then the High School (which is a Jr. college campus) is for 9th-12th grades. That's a lot of different schools! It seems crazy, but it works.
Ally started school a week later, and she was so excited, she set out all her clothes the night before. A couple of days before school started we went to her school to get her bus tag and see her classroom, and she discovered that the bathroom had tiny toilets, tiny sinks, and tiny hand drivers. "Just exactly my size, mom!"
She has been so ready to go to preschool. She's been asking and asking when she gets to start. I was a little worried that she might not get to because when I was first looking into it in the spring, they only had private preschools and they do registration really early and fill up super fast, and then put everyone else on waiting lists. Since we weren't even in New Mexico yet, I missed registration. However, around the end of May they announced that they had gotten funding to open up an older Elementary school as a public preschool, and they were going to do first-come, first-served registration. My friend and I went at 6am on the first day of registration (it started at 7am) so that we could be sure to get spots. We later found out that they even offer busing services and free breakfast. Ally is in absolute heaven. She LOVES it.
One day when I was at Walmart I found that they had a bunch of baseball/softball gloves on clearance for $1.50-$4.00, and baseballs and softballs were 25 cents each. I bought enough for our whole family (even found a tiny glove for Colby), and the kids have fun tossing the balls around with Andy in the backyard.
And since Andy is so fanatical about having a good looking yard, I'm including the photo below to show that he DID manage to make it look amazing. The photo above was when the sod had only been in for about 3 weeks, which is why it is still yellow in some spots. The one below is from about 2 weeks later, and now it looks even better. We're so excited to have a yard with REAL grass again! One night Kylee set up an obstacle course for us all to do. It involved baseballs, jump roping, tennis, frisbees, and a few other things. Needless to say, Andy is the champion. He is FAST!
One day Ally and Colby were "playing" Mario Cart (Colby holds a controller and pretends he's driving), and I found them laying on the floor like this. He's almost as big as she is! I still think he may pass her up in the next year or two. Another day Colby decided that he needed FOUR spoons to eat his breakfast. This kid is so crazy, but who can resist that smile?!
For a few weeks Colby was in a weird nap situation. He didn't want to take one in the morning anymore, but he couldn't quite make it to after lunch...even though I was feeding him lunch at 11-11:30. He kept falling asleep in his high chair mid-lunch. Finally he got it figured out, and now most days he takes a morning nap, and then a few days a week he takes and afternoon nap also.
Andy brought a couple of hammocks home from Paraguay when he was on his mission, and they pretty much sat in boxes for the last 15 years. Now that our back yard is done and we have a big patio, I ordered a hammock stand and we FINALLY got to put up a hammock. I LOVE it! It's so relaxing to just go chill out there and read my book.
Colby is a HUGE daddy's boy. If Andy is not around he is perfectly content to hang out and play with me, but if Andy IS around, I'm chopped liver. He'll choose daddy every time, no question.
Our neighbor used to drive her kids to school and back every day, but she decided that this year since we moved in and my kids are going on the bus, her kids can go on the bus, too. The one on the right is her daughter, and I love that she is so sweet to Ally. She walks with her (and holds her hand) every day.
Skyler and a couple of his friends are playing flag football this Fall. They went to a "boot camp" day to learn about it, and at the end a fire truck came and sprayed them all with water from 1/2 way across the field. It was pretty much the highlight of their month. They thought it was so awesome.
One night we put all the kids to bed, and then Andy wanted me to make a smoothie. Colby heard the blender and came running back out. How dare we have a smoothie without him?!
One night Skyler was mad at Andy (I'm not even sure why!), and he was crying and crying in his room after he went to bed. Finally Kylee was headed to bed and Skyler slid this under the door and said "Kylee, will you please give this to mom?" I confess, I think it's the cutest thing ever! I went in there and gave him a big hug and told him that he should just go to sleep and he'll probably feel less mad in the morning. He stopped crying and fell asleep. He's definitely a momma's boy!
