And then there was multiplication. Boy was there multiplication. In an effort to help Julia with math, we had her make flashcards and began reviewing with her. It quickly became clear that we would not get out of this unscathed unless we found some way to motivate her. So we dangled ear piercing (pun intended), which she was going to get on her 10th birthday, as the prize for learning them all. There were many tears, arguments, sighs, complaints...and that's just from us parents-- don't even get me started on Julia's demeanor during these 15 minute, twice a day sessions ;). But finally, one week before school started, she did it! More about that process below.
Lastly, basketball. We did the summer rec league and boys had to be in different age groups, so there were lots of separate trips over to the rec center, but it's close and they love it so much. Both teams did well this year and the boys seemed to progress a lot with their skills. Joshua is continuing to work toward his goal of making the school team and will do a short weekend league this fall.
Here's how we spent August....
Family walk while Joshua had practice. Allie-- Miss Fine Motor Skills-- taught herself to put her hair in a ponytail this day. She still has that toddler body structure where her head is so much bigger than her arms, so she can only put it in front like a unicorn, but hey- I'm still impressed.
Gray headed off to his 3rd year at Camp Lutheridge with buddies Will and and Eli.
And Julia got to have some fun with the Baker girls hitting the movie theater and Freddie's.
Gray all settled into to his open air cabin. All it takes is throwing your blanket on the bed to be settled in, apparently.
Wonder Woman herself, getting strong on the rings. This summer Joshua also took up weightlifting, Matt of course continued, and I maintained a pretty good streak of lifting too. Joshua has nearly caught me already. Matt has a ways to go. ;)
Julia LOVED her week of farm camp just outside our neighborhood. She got to go with some of our new neighbor friends and Addie. They did farm chores, played in the creek, held bunnies, road horses, and stayed outside all day every day.
Gray loved his week at camp. It was a smaller group and they had adventures, fun, and bonding.
The kids tried their hand at the neighborhood yard sale. Julia spend days cleaning and organizing her stuff, which was awesome, and then the boys threw in some stuff last minute. They all made some money. Gray spent a good bit of his on dvds from the neighbors, but all were happy!
Our good friends the Steinrucks moved to SC mid-August so we had a going away party at our house to say goodbye. Sad to break up this great crew of adoptive families!!
Meanwhile Matt was enjoying his annual trip to the river with his friends.
The same weekend of yard sale and going away party, we threw in a 4th grade playdate to help our new neighbors have some familiar faces when they started school. There were new friends and old and it was a wild time!
Julia's earrings! We had a great experience going to Merle Norman. The lady that did it used to work with Matt's mom and remembered Matt as a kid. While they reconnected, another customer calls down to Matt and said she used to babysit him. So funny. Took a little of the tension away with Julia, who kept a death grip on my hand. It was over quickly and she did great. She's been very responsible about taking care of her ears too. Something tells me we'll have an easy time coming up with Christmas/birthday gifts this year.
Everyone got a little restless the last week of summer. It's that in between feeling of knowing your freedom is gone, but not quite knowing what to expect from school yet. There was a lot of waiting and wondering about schedules this year, which came very late for the boys. Gray dealt with his uncertainty by creating a new hairstyle-- ponytail-- and often wearing his old "night night" as a cape. Whatever works, buddy.
Julia got to go to a fancy tea with Nanny and the Washington Duke Inn.
The Friday before school started, Julia got her special trip with Matt to Carowinds. She was quite cautious about riding rides...and felt frustrated with her fear... but overall had a blast and only left around 8pm when they got caught in a downpour.
Meanwhile, Joshua had an end of summer pool party with friends. He was a little outnumbered, but doesn't seem to mind. ;)
And Gray had a fun "progressive" party with three friends, traveling to three houses for dinner, dessert, and movie. They loved it!
Gray's team made it to the championship game against his buddy Will's team. I loved watching them play together, trying to guard and steal each other's ball.
Gray's team ended up winning. Very exciting. Matt helped coach and enjoyed working with the team. There were some characters for sure!
Final moments of summer were spent at the pool. Ready or not, school is coming!!
Oh school mornings, I have not missed you. Getting everyone ready, no matter my approach, is always a little hectic at the least and maddening at the worst. The barefoot one cannot take his attention from Allie for anything. Anything. She has some kind of magnetic force to him that he can't resist. But we made it out the door and all were smiling.
Sadly, I got a call midday to get Julia from school because of an earache and fever. She had to miss the 2nd day too. The boys had a great start to their year. They like their teachers, have had a few bumps with using lockers for the first time, but overall managing the logistics. Gray made a new friend who was born in South Africa and reconnected with a friend from 4th grade that had moved schools. He has football practice every day after school and loves it (195 on a scale of 1-200, he says). He can't wait to start hitting and scrimmaging (today...yikes!!). Joshua gets to come home at 4 and he's working on weight lifting and practicing basketball and lacrosse. He's keeping up with his responsibilities, though I'm trying to sway him from his new technique of using his arm to write down his assignments. He enjoyed meeting friends to fish at the end of the summer, but they are in school sports practice after school now, so it's a different kind of season for him. He will start with his sports in a few weeks. Julia went back to school today and was happy about that. She doesn't have any close friends in her class, but I'm hopeful she will make some. She's excited to see her old friends and our new neighbors on the playground. She was so pumped to be allowed to ride her bike with them (and no adults) or run down to their house on her own this summer.
And Allie and I are passing the time till our school starts. We went for a walk in the rain today with Raven. I'm still teaching most mornings and hoping to start subbing at Cameron Park soon, though I've heard that process is much less simple than you'd think. I will start my 5th year of teaching 4's next week and I'm looking forward to it. Here's to another great school year for all of us!!
