September Stuff

 

We got Heidi home for a couple of days right at the first of September and had a lovely time with her. Lila especially bonded with her this trip (which may have been helped along by the fact that Heidi brought lots of make up for her to play with). Everywhere Heidi went, Lila was close behind! We did sneak away one day to get pedicures and lunch.

We did a fun Labor Day swim and BBQ night. These cousins all bonded so much at the pool this summer- it was one of the best parts of the whole summer for all of us!

Our peach largely froze this year, but we did get a good handful. I made a few batches of jam, some delicious peach crisp and then we ate a lot of them fresh. Whenever I’m in the kitchen, my little assistant is right there alongside! 

Double-decker cozy-couping became the favorite game for these two. Almost every day when Davis gets home from kindergarten they do this (notice the different outfits, all on different days). Lila usually hates to share her car, but this is an acceptable option to both of them!

After his initial rocky start, Hudson settled into a great groove with school. He took this selfie and thought it was hilarious. His homework isn’t much, but it is mostly stuff for me to do with him (study spelling and vocabulary, timing reading fluency and quizzing math facts). I’m loving it. He’s happy to do it with me. All the other kids tend to demand more attention than Hudson does, and sometimes I feel like he falls through the cracks a little. I like having this homework time together to spend time with this sweet boy! He’s also finally really gotten into reading! He has to read for 30 minutes every night but usually ends up reading more than an hour. It’s paying off too- his reading scores are awesome. He also qualified to do DEEP (the school enrichment program for smart kids) again this year.

It’s hard to tell, but this photo is Chase being the sweetest big brother. He’s letting Lila paint his nails. She likes to pretend to paint the boys nails with her lip gloss (then it easily just washes off). She even goes and gets her hair dryer to dry them like I do with her. Chase was so darling letting her do it with him!

Initially Davis hated having to write his name, but pretty quickly it started to get easier and then he didn’t mind so much. He actually feels so big to be doing his homework alongside his big brothers!

The big kids have blown me away with what good students they are! They are responsible about school work and seem very devoted to their studies! I hope they always stay this way.

Davis’s little soccer team is the cutest! He kicks the ball a lot, not always even the right direction and I’m not sure he even cares. He’s having fun which is what really matters anyway!

I love the creative play Hudson, Davis and their buddy Will are always doing! This day was Harry Potter play and it lasted for well over an hour! Sometimes Will feels like basically a member of the family he’s over so much. He even told me “You guys are kind of like my cousins, like best friend cousins!”

 Hudson got his green belt at karate!

Chase had so many opportunities to do fun outings with friends this summer. Some of them were friends treating him to fun things like Cherry Hill and Boondocks and some of it was him using his lawn mowing money to go out to lunch with friends (riding their bikes). Hudson was feeling a little jealous of all the cool things Chase got to do. And while we explained part of it came with Chase’s age and level of independence, we also wanted Hudson to get to have a little more fun. So I told him he could invite a friend and I’d take them out for a night of fun! He invited Hyrum (who is the sweetest boy ever) and I took them to Boondocks to do go karts and arcade games and then to Chick-Fil-A for dinner. It was such a fun night and I loved being out with these darling boys!

Poor Lila got hit with another bug and spent two days throwing up! It was awful. Except that she was so snuggly and snuggling with my baby is always a treat.

The boys all unintentionally matched this particular day. What I love most about this photo is just how delighted Davis is to be between “his boys”. He loves these guys so much and they are so sweet to him. I love watching their relationship grow. 

Gosh, sending my big 6th grader out the door is wild. He’s almost as tall as me. He’s so independent about getting all ready and all his jobs done in the morning. He’s just awesome. September brought us new piano teachers for both boys! Our beloved teacher Jodi moved this summer, so we haven’t had a teacher since May. The boys have been awesome to keep practice and learning all summer, but it was definitely time for some direction and a teacher! I thought I had one teacher arranged, and then her schedule changed and she was no longer going to teach. So I found another one- Connie Johnson- and started both boys with her at the first of the school year. After two lessons she called me to tell me she didn’t think she could teach Chase. He’s just too advanced and she was worried she’d hold him back. So I began looking for another teacher for him, and I think we’ve found the right one! He started with Brenda Peters at the end of the month. I’m hoping she’ll keep him moving along and enjoying the piano! Hudson really likes Connie Johnson, and she is closer and much cheaper, so we are keeping him with her for now. So piano isn’t as smooth and easy as it was when both kids were with Jodi, but I think we are ending up in a great spot for both boys. 

Davis cracks me up because he was so excited about this gray jacket. He bought it on his back to school shopping date with Nana and she was surprised because he was so excited about it then! It’s just a plain gray jacket. Then some cool rainy days came and he got to wear it to school and he was so excited about it again. It’s the simple things I guess! 

Queen Elizabeth passed away in September which made me so nostalgic for London. I really wish I could visit London every year, I love that place so much! So I did the next best thing- invited some friends over and we had High Tea! It was lovely! I pulled out my fine china, used the tea cups for the first time, and made British scones. I bought eclairs, and my friends brought cucumber sandwiches and tea and we had a really lovely little tea party complete with deep discussions about life and friendship and the eternities.

September was so hot- like the hottest on record in Utah ever! But towards the end of the month we got some nice rainstorms and it started to cool down. We love spending our evenings outside together when it’s just so comfortably pleasant!

Hudson, just sweetly doing his homework. I love the way he talks my ear off while he works on his stuff. 

Chase started doing an extra 15 minutes of practicing after school (in addition to his morning 30) and it was a really good thing for him. He doesn’t usually have homework, but needed a way to transition from school to going straight out to play with friends. This is a good compromise. Plus- I’m often working out during his morning practice sessions and thus don’t get to hear his songs. This way I get to hear them!

The littles and I took birthday presents to Will and Anna one night and stayed WAY longer than planned because the kids were having so much fun. Like so much fun we didn’t even see them! I love seeing these cute cousins connect. 

Sometimes (like  all the time) Davis is so cute I think I might eat him…