life in september

I was out running errands one day in an area with zero rain, so I was completely shocked as I drove closer to the school to find it raining buckets!!  The wind was torrential, so despite having an umbrella, my clothes were completely soaked and I could hardly keep my sandals on.  Poor Brooke, who leaves on her own to meet me at the 1st grade door, looked like she took a shower in her clothes.  

I had to take pics once we were home...

It poured again the next day, but I was better prepared at pickup so I didn't have to deal with wet backpacks and sneakers again. 

Colby and Brooke were invited to a birthday party for their friend Frost and both kids deemed it "the best birthday party ever!"  Their whole dining room table was covered in legos and they were told that they could create and take home anything they wanted.  Troy (Frost's dad) is a big collector, so he had more than enough legos to spare :)

Then the kids went to swim outside where they were eaten alive by mosquitos.  That might be an exaggeration, but the mosquitos were awful and they were both rather itchy for a few days.

Marlie Hawkins was baptized on the 3rd and asked Brooke to be one of the witnesses.  She felt so honored to be asked by one of her best friends. 

Love these sweet girls!

That afternoon, we went to Marlie's birthday party at the pool.  The highlight was definitely the piñata :)

That evening we tried going boating with family, but the outing was cut short due to a crazy storm that rolled through (think 60 mph winds!).  The cousins quickly made a plan to continue hanging out at our house, which worked out perfectly. 

Brooke allowed Emery to have one of her old t-shirts after her bath and you could see how special Emery felt about it.  I can still picture her sweet face as she walked into the room where all the big kids were playing. 

Brookie decided to run for Student Council and I was more than excited to help her make a poster and write her speech.  

Kevin actually gets credit for her slogan, but I was so proud of her confidence and excitement about the whole process. I took a video of her giving her speech at the front door since I wouldn't see her actually giving the speech at school.  She said she was nervous about speaking in front of the class, but I assured her that she would rock it. 

After practicing several times, she had her speech nearly memorized, which was good since they never returned the speech papers to the kids after they turned them in.  Brooke said she remembered most of her speech, but was frustrated about the part she forgot.  And they didn't even give the speeches until like two days later, then voted the day after that.  The whole thing wasn't nearly as organized as I think it should've been, but it was still a good learning experience regardless. 

Speech day...

She seemed so confident, and I was confident as well, but she ended up losing by one vote.  Although she was disappointed, she took it surprisingly well.  I was so proud of her courage and grit!

I surprised the kids at lunchtime one day and it was so refreshing to have this sweet one-on-one time with them.  Especially since visitors weren't allowed for a few weeks due to a cyber attack on the district's system!

I always gets pics when I meet them for lunch, but I especially loved the one where Brooke asked me to kiss her cheek.  I'm feeling sad about the fact that this is her last year in elementary school. 

My friend Stevie joined the Walnut Creek Country Club, and we've met up to play tennis a few times since the kids have been back in school.  We were ridiculously sweaty, but still had so much fun! 

The RS hosted a fun activity at our home one evening.  Catie Villescas taught everyone how to make soap, and Chelsea Cleghorn (our activities coordinator) had everything set up to make a hand scrub and a foot soak. It was such a fun, low-key night of chatting and hanging out with our sisters. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my morning scrubbing headstones at the Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery.  Our Stake was participating in this National Day of Service for 9/11, and since I woke up thinking of my friend Ashley, I decided to invite her even though I thought the chances of her being able to come last minute were probably slim.  But, she totally changed her schedule and was able to come with me! Hundreds of people showed up and I was humbled as one of the event organizers shared a few words.  He asked us to speak the names on the headstones and honor their service.  As we did just that, I felt such gratitude for those who have served our country.  

We even made the local news, but the video clip is the worst, haha.  Ashley said great things about how her husband served two tours in Afghanistan, but they didn't include that part in our terrible clip. 

And the kids enjoyed Grandparent's Day at their school. My kids always look forward to this day when Grandma and Papa can join them for lunch, so I was glad that it all worked out. 

            Jerry and Bev even offered to stick around until the evening so that Kevin and I could go on a date.  Since I've had a lot of fun getting back into tennis, I suggested we go play together before dinner.  Fun fact: Kevin and I played a lot of tennis when we were dating.  In all that time, I only beat hime ONCE, so it was extra fun to beat him in our second set. 

Saturday morning snuggles...

Brooke pulled the sick card one morning saying that she "felt really weird." That's totally unlike her, so I caved, even though I knew that meant a battle getting Colby to school.  But we managed and I came home and tucked Brooke into bed.  About 45 minutes later, she came downstairs asking for a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and to go on a walk.  I was fairly confident that whatever "felt weird" had passed, so I agreed to take a quick walk and then get her to school so she could still get credit for the day.  

This wasn't how I imagined my day would go, but I loved chatting and walking with my girl.  Somehow the topic of language came up, which turned into a practice session of the ASL alphabet.  Then she was excited to go to school to find out which of her friends knew how to sign their names. 

The after-school Baby Rhys fan club :) These girls are all smitten!

They needed an extra helper at Activity Days, so I quickly volunteered.  We watched the most recent Friend to Friend broadcast, which was all about temples.  As the girls sang the closing song together, I felt the spirit so strongly testify of the special spirits in that room. 

Showing off their temple pictures...

I was completely ready for church when Colby announced that he wasn't feeling well.  It was the Sunday after his surgery, but he had seemed fine all morning, so I figured we would go to church.  In his defense, he had been laying around in my bed, so I hadn't been requiring him to expend very much energy.  I was happy to stay home with him, but I gave him a bit of a hard time that he didn't tell me before I got ready, haha. So I put on some comfy clothes and took a nap with my little buddy. 

Daulton implemented something called "Hello Week" mid-month, and the kids were supposed to wear green to go with the theme, "We are 'growing' kind children at Daulton." I loved the motto and the whole initiative. 

I took my friend Sherry to lunch for a belated birthday celebration.  We started working out together during the Spring and have become even better friends the last few months. 

It's not always roses and sunshine after school, but sometimes it is!  And those are the moments I want to remember :)

The Activity Day girls focused on temples again with these beautiful crafts to keep in their rooms.  Brooke came home and promptly rearranged her shelves to make space for her new creation. 

House Day (AKA: The day we raid their closets for anything to coordinate with their color!)

These sweet friends (and Rachel, who left before we took the pic) took me to lunch for my birthday and I felt so spoiled and loved all day.  Joanna even took me for a pedicure before lunch, then took me shopping after lunch. I'm so grateful for sweet friends and family who made me feel loved all day. 

We didn't have many plans for that evening since Colby had baseball practice, but Kevin called and asked if I wanted to go to Char'd for dinner.  I thought it was sweet that he remembered that I didn't love what I ordered the other day with Sherry, so he said I could have a "redo."  It was a lovely dinner and then I was surprised at home with flowers from Kevin.  My face is nice and shiny after sweating to death at Colby's practice, but it was a great birthday. 

A few days before my birthday, Melanie found out that she miscarried.  Her doctor recommended that she try to take the medication that would cause her body to pass everything, so she asked if I could come up and be with her since Jeff needed to go to work.  My kids had the day off school, so the plan was that I would drop the kids off at Grandma and Papa's house, and then I would go to Mel's to help take care of Emery.  That morning, as I was riding the bicycle in our exercise room, Brooke came in and showed me the letter she wrote for her cousins.  It was such a tender note and I loved that she thought of doing it completely on her own.  She has such a tender heart and I love that she can empathize with people who are going through the same thing that our family did.  

Since we didn't need to be at Mel's until 2, I took the kids to a trampoline park that morning.  We have been trying to get Colby comfortable with the idea of falling asleep on his own, and since he has been really wanting to go to a trampoline park, I told him that he needed to fall asleep on his own at least 5 times to earn a trip there.  Well, he did it!!  He still prefers us to lay by him, but at least he knows he CAN do it if Kevin or I are unavailable. 

After Brooke's softball games (in another post), we went up to watch Aubrey play soccer. This is the first time she's played on a team (besides maybe a game or two when she was little), so it was fun cheering her on!

Then these two hit the bike trail for a bumpy adventure, but not before I could take a picture of the whole get-up.  The safety glasses just made me laugh :)

A little Sunday night archery...

I just love that Brooke is still rocking her Merida dress despite the fact that she has nearly outgrown it.  What once was an ankle length dress is now knee-length with 3/4 sleeves. We were thoroughly enjoying the cooler temps until it turned into a downpour.  I should've know based on how moody the sky looked!

First Grade hosted their annual Johnny Appleseed day and although Colby was pretty excited about the pot we made for his head, he became really embarrassed when we arrived at the school. 

I thought he looked great, but was honestly shocked that he kept it on as we walked over to the school.

What started out as a park playdate with the Nesbitts and Claire...

Quickly turned into a playdate at home, complete with a whole dance routine.

I don't always buy their school pictures, but I most definitely always take a picture of them the day they get dressed up for the occasion, 

Another lunch date with the littles...

These special one-on-one dates really are so precious to me.  Sometimes I bring them lunch, but sometimes I just join them while they eat the lunch I packed for them that morning. 

Nay Nay sent the kids a Halloween package with new pillowcases, so of course they had to try them out right away.  Colby gave it two thumbs up :)

Colby and I kept ourselves entertained while Brooke was at Activity Days.  He is going to be so happy when he can start attending the boy's group in January. 

I am so glad that Brooke has Hattie to play with during the Thursday evening baseball practices.  And according to Hattie's mom, she tells everyone that Brooke is her best friend.  She may only be 5 years old, but Brooke treats her like a bestie. 

Daulton Dashers, the running club, started up again and Brooke was pumped to wear her new running shoes.  She showed me where they would track their mileage and told me that she wanted to be the girl with the most miles!  

I watched for a few minutes as they got their laps marked, then headed home to get Colby ready for school. 

They are required to get 7 laps to stay in Dashers, but Brooke ran 9 laps with her buddy Harvey.  Thankfully, his dad sent me the cute video of them running together.  

One afternoon, Colby asked me for a stamp, then asked if he could go outside for a minute.  I had a sneaking suspicion that he was trying to mail me a letter, and that is exactly what he was doing, but he needed to look at our house number first :) I told him that next time he didn't need a stamp if he was just putting it in our mailbox, but it was super sweet nonetheless. (Oh, and I taught him how to correctly spell Frontera and Katie.)

Friday night at the batting cages...

This was seriously such a fun family date!  The kids were hitting so well, and Brooke mentioned that she was really proud of herself.  Kevin tried out the 80 mph cage (SO fast), but did much better when he moved to 50 mph. I wasn't dressed for the occasion, but didn't want to miss out on the fun, so I opted for the slow pitch cage.  I honestly envisioned myself swinging and missing, so I did better than I thought I would, haha.  Definitely something we'll do again soon. 

Our month was full of so many great memories!