End of School

That's a wrap on our school year! This year was so great- all three boys in the same school for this one year! They all took off every morning (that it wasn't snowing) on their scooters together. Always in the same order- Chase, Davis, Hudson. When Davis was sad at school, Megan went to get Chase out of class to help him. I loved that they were all there together!

Davis totally rocked kindergarten! I was a little concerned how he'd do, but it's been magic! He's loved having Megan, or as he now calls her, Mrs. Joseph, as his teacher. He had so many little friends from the neighborhood in his class and made several other friends too! 

Luke R. became Davis's best friend from day 1. These two just clicked. Every day at pickup they would hug before running to their moms. I'm glad I captured one last hug! Also, we carpooled home with Grant every day (Pictured with him and Luke). He hasn't played with Grant much even though he lives just down the street, but they really connected this year and are great friends now! 

Davis learned to read so well this year! He went from writing nothing to totally legible writing and the cutest spelling! He learned how to draw things that look like things, count to 100, count by 10s, add and subtract, the days of the week and months of the year, the list goes on and on. He learned so much! He was also the most enthusiastic little kindergartener there ever was! Megan said he was always on the look out for a kid who needed help (sometimes too much) and was a friend to everyone. She loved having him "that spicy redhead" in her class all year. 

Chase graduated from 6th grade! They had a really cute graduation ceremony on the last day. I was that totally embarrassing mom who was tearing up as the kids all sang "Try Everything" from Zootopia. Gosh, something about a whole group of kids singing their hearts out really does something for me!

Chase had a really awesome year! Between State Robotics and a Worlds Invite, a lead role in the school play, being a king at medieval days, several cool field trips, and getting to be last at lunch (and thus having the option to eat the leftovers from the day), he had a BLAST in 6th grade. Mrs. Bywater was a fun teacher and she seemed to love him (as teachers tend to do).

6th grade wasn't without it's challenges for him. The social scene felt really intense at times. I don't know if it's all typical, or if Chase's group is a little extra (I think some of both) but there have been some weird dynamics with cool kids, pushy parents, cliques, etc. in his grade. I felt like he just really rolled with it and just tried to be nice to everyone. In a lot of ways Chase is an old soul and his intellect is just lightyears ahead of most of his peers, but he truly enjoys other kids company and their uniqueness. He's such a kind and forgiving kid- all things that will serve him well in life. He didn't let rudeness or exclusivity get him down for long, just kept pushing through and trying. I'm so so proud of him!

 

4th grade was awesome for Hudson! In a lot of ways, this year felt new to me because Chase did 4th grade through Covid and so many of the extras didn't happen that year. Hudson got to relish in all the fun 4th grade had to offer and truly loved it!

He came home from the first day of school in tears feeling like such an loner and that he didn't have any friends. It was his first year separated from Hyrum who has been quite the safety net for him. He quickly made friends- it was probably a good thing for them to be separate and have to bond with other kids more this year. He had lots of nice kids in his class!

Highlights of his year were the field trips (they did so many!), the 4th grade program, the Mountain Man Rendezvous, county reports, and his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Schoneman. He was the first kid to pass off all his times tables. And we also barely made it through each term's project, always finishing it at the last minute and totally down to the wire with us both promising we'd be more on top of things the next term. (We never did learn that lesson). 

Hudson made us laugh a lot this year with his ideas and style. He knows exactly how he wants to look each morning and puts together outfits and hair styles he thinks are cool. He took his yoyo for their end of year talent show. And on the baby picture day he had me send one of him dressed in USU gear at 2 months old because "they'll never guess that one! They all know I'm a BYU fan!" 

We had a really fun end of year party with the Josephs and Hickmans! We got pizzas and I made brownies and the boys all swam for hours! I love this picture because it shows our little army of boys- all of them get along so well. Not one kid is in the same grade and between our three families we’ve had a boy in every grade at Creekside for the last two years! In order, these boys just finished 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st and kindergarten (and one tiny little princess at the end). We’ve really got something special here!

May

 

May brings the most glorious weather! We spent every free minute outside just loving it. All month long I had a perma-smile on my face just basking in the glory of spring after the longest winter ever! We took the cousins to the park on this particular Friday. These kids are the cutest little buddies.

The pool was open! I went on this day to vacuum it and even though it wasn't super warm outside we couldn't resist getting in for awhile. 

Hudson got to be part of the Mountain Man Rendezvous! I had signed up to help with setup- it was happening on Wednesday morning which is when Ray usually watches Lila so I can help at the school. When I got there they informed me that they were still several volunteers short for the afternoon, so once we were all set up I grabbed Davis and Lila and we spent all afternoon there running the "panning for gold" station.

It was a blast! Hudson had such a great time and it was fun to see him having fun with his buddies experiencing all these fun activities. Davis and Lila were so good and basically panned for gold all afternoon long! Even if we did all come home sunburnt (it was a hot day!) I was glad I was able to stay for all of it. They also make homemade rootbeer and scones, which Davis and Lila were thrilled to be part of, and Hudson deemed his favorite part of the whole event. (Also, I love that he isn't too cool to sit by the littles when all his friends were also around).

The boys helped Papa a lot in May in his yard. Which means we had a LOT of donuts dropped off in May. 

It was lilac season! I love my little Lila C! I always tell her about how her name spells out the same name as the flowers, so she calls them "Lilas" now.

The 6th grade did medieval days! For weeks leading up to it, the kids could choose to do a bunch of extra stuff to earn high ranks for the day. You had to do everything to be a king or queen- and of course my little over-achiever wanted to be a king! He worked really hard. There were assignments and art projects to complete, you had to make a catapult and a castle (he constructed both from legos), and a bunch of service that had to be done. He did it all with so much determination and got to be a king for the day! His favorite part was the feast- where the kings and queens got way better (and more) food that the rest of the kids.

Davis insists that Ben put him to bed every single night. And Ben has needed to work late A LOT. Hence, Ben's working and Davis is asleep next to him in our bed.

Davis did his hair like this one night after the bath "I look just like JackJack!" It made me laugh because when we first saw Incredibles 2, Davis was about 18 months old and we were sure the creators had clearly met Davis and patterned JackJack's whole character after him! 

May was the month I bought a huge thing of side walk chalk, which delighted Lila to no end and we colored on the driveway almost every day.

Star Wars Day! Somehow I have no pictures of my big kids (who were dutifully wearing their star wars shirts), but I do have Lila with her "Rey" hair. She wanted to wear this specific dress because "it has stars on it!" These are the little lightsabers she helped me make for dinner.

Davis requested C3PO on the brownies this year. he was delighted by my efforts. We had our fun dinner and watched Episode 7 together. I think younger Courtney would be shocked by the amount of joy this holiday now brings me. These boys- their excitement is contagious!

I love evenings spent out in the yard! Lila was making faces so her brothers up in the tree would smile nicely for the camera. I love that I could capture it!

All month long I kept breathing in the moment and just loving MAY. So many fun end of school activities. The weather is glorious. The world just felt a little lighter!

Job Stuff

 I realized I never updated this journal about the job roller coaster we’ve been on the last year! At the beginning of 2022 Ben took a new job with StockX. It was a great opportunity and he was excited about it. He liked the people he worked with and all was well. In June, StockX did a big lay-off, but he wasn’t effected. They said they made “deep cuts” so they wouldn’t have to lay off again. We felt like we’d dodged a bullet. Sadly, in October his lovely boss gave him a heads up that another layoff was coming and anyone who had been there less than a year was automatically cut, meaning, Ben. Yuck. That’s just the worst feeling. He still had a few weeks before it was official, but he began looking for jobs immediately anyway. 

At this point the job market was okay, but not the best. Big tech was announcing huge layoffs every day. And even though we knew it was coming, when the official day came that they told him what was for sure happening I was pretty teary. It was just sad. Luckily they gave him a decent amount of severance. I’m not going to lie though, it was just felt crummy. We had savings. We knew he’d find a new job (although no guarantees it would be quick). It still felt very unsettled.

Ben worked so hard and interviewed a lot. The first week of December he actually got two job offers! Neither was an ideal fit for him and he had concerns about both. But after prayer and fasting, he felt good about taking the offer with a company called Extensive. He had two weeks before he could start- meaning he’d start a week before severance ran out from his previous employer. We felt thankful for the job and were fairly optimistic about the opportunity. Our very own little Christmas miracle.

Since anything can happen and Ben wasn’t sure he loved the idea of the Extensive job, he continued to interview up until his start date. One interview was with a company called Axon. He loved that company. He loved their mission (better police force through tech, all non-lethal solutions). It seemed really cool and cutting edge. He was hopeful to get an offer from them before his start date at Extensiv, but sadly they went with another candidate who had more industry experience. Ben started the Extensiv job and immediately did not love it.

A month later, and still not loving the job at Extensiv, the recruiter from Axon reached back out wondering if Ben was still interested as another job came up. He ended up interviewing for two more positions at Axon over the next few weeks and very quickly an amazing offer came through! It all happened so fast. It all felt right immediately and really their offer was everything he asked for. It felt awkward to quit a job he’d only worked for 6 weeks, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

Ben started at Axon mid-February and has really loved it! It has, of course, had stressful moments and a big learning curve. But overall it’s a great fit for him, 100% remote, and working on a solution for real world problems. 

The timing of all of this has really shown that the Lord is aware of us! There has been a lot of discomfort and some tears and nerves along this journey. But things have had a way of working out so beautifully! He ended up getting a huge raise to go to Axon, one he wouldn't have gotten had StockX not let him go. As uncomfortable as that was, there really was something much better in store. What a wild ride!