Gemma started preschool the day after Labor Day. She was so, so psyched! Huge grins, lots of gratitude, tons of excitement. She feels so big. She keeps talking about how big she is and how soon she is going to be as big as Jack, and then as big as Hazel, and then she will be a mommy! I asked her how many kids she wanted a few days ago, and she said, "all of them," which I thought was a wise answer: all of the kids you are meant to have. Then she said, "I will have Jack, and I will have Hazel, and I will get to sleep with Daddy!" Such a sweetheart. She makes me grin all the time.
The next week, Gemma started dance class, which she is also exuberantly in love with. She gets to wear ballet shoes and dance to pretty music in a room filled with mirrors, and I just can't take my eyes off her the entire hour. She is always beaming with joy. It's the cutest thing.
I might as well finish up with Gemma here. She has also outgrown her balance bike, so we put training wheels on the 14 inch bike and she's been practicing in the cul-de-sac. She was frustrated at first that she can't go as fast now, but she's been putting in a lot of effort, and before we know it, she'll be zooming past people on the path once again.
I've been volunteering in Hazel's and Jack's classrooms while Gemma's at preschool on Tuesdays. I love being in their classes, watching them interact with their friends and teachers. They both get so excited to have me in there. I love that when I give my time, they feel my love. They both have just excellent teachers this year and are thriving.
Hazel's piano teacher is calling her a "natural" and praising how quickly she is learning and how well she seems to understand the concepts of music. I don't know if she's really musically talented or just plain smart, but either way, I love that she hears herself praised and deserves it. It's good for her self-esteem and is quite powerful coming from an outside source. She's also crazy about reading, is testing at an upper 4th grade level right now (early second grade). Haz always carries a book or two with her. It's thrilling for me to see how much she loves to read. I even caught her reading while she played some memorized music on the piano a few days ago. I had to laugh and take a picture.
We've been working on a family goal of being peacemakers in our house. There's been too much contention the last few months, so we've had a few FHE lessons on peacemaking, and we've got signs all over the house to remind us to be kind. Hazel painted this lovely family portrait that states, "All I want for Christmas is a happy family." She's been a great leader in our efforts to love one another. (Not to say she's not causing any contention - but she is definitely spearheading our efforts to remember our goal.)
Hazel and Jack are a few weeks into soccer classes. Both seem to have a lot of fun, and finish the time sweaty and tired, so they're meeting our aim: to exercise and have a good time. I thought I took pictures the first day, but evidently not, so I'll have to make sure to get some this Saturday. Keep an eye out in my October post!
We drove down to Sunnyvale to have dinner with Chrissy and Suzanne and their families the Sunday before my birthday. It was so good to see them. I brought my birthday cake so they could help me eat it. Todd got me a pedicure and a massage at a spa for my birthday. It's so nice to be treated to a luxurious experience every now and then.
Croce had their fun run and I helped tally up the kids' laps. I thought Jack would want me to walk with him, but he was totally confused and embarrassed and told me he thought I was going to hang out on the sidelines. I guess he doesn't remember walking laps the last two years as we cheered Hazel on. Anyway, after that, I'd cheer him on every time he came through and shout his name and run for a high five, and he would look away all embarrassed and try really hard not to smile. Funny shy boy. He made it six laps, so two miles! Hazel rocked it, as usual, running almost nonstop even though she was feeling a little sick, and pulled in eight laps.
Jack's favorite parts of school are "special art projects" and "busy bee writing club." He is rocking it at writing! I'm so happy about this. I wasn't sure what the kid was going to do walking into kindergarten already reading chapter books and kind of shy. He's discovering all sorts of new talents and is very excited about it. He can't decide when he grows up if he will be a scientist, a writer, or an artist. He loves it all! He's writing this epic, pages long story about our family reunion in Utah. Mrs. Allen has been pleading with him to finish it up and start a new project, but he just keeps going and going. Here's a sample page, for your reading pleasure:
He is getting all sorts of creative, suddenly. Like, hey, how about some cat ears and whiskers? He taped pieces of elastic string to his cheeks!<3 p="">
He's been saving up his allowance and finally had enough money to buy a much-talked-about dinosaur kit, in which he wears adorable goggles and digs up bones. It also came with a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur skeleton, which is now displayed on his dresser. The archeological bones, however .... proved quite daunting and have been sitting on my kitchen counter for longer than I'd like.
It got blasted hot again for a week, so we found the time to go swimming. Everyone loved it. It was 100 outside and we had the pool to ourselves. Apparently, everyone else decided it was too hot to swim.
Todd took the girls out on a daddy/daughter ward campout in someone's backyard, and Jack and I had a nice date. We went to Croce to get free ice cream for participating in the fun run (man, was he excited to eat ice cream dished up by his teacher and principal!) and played Candyland and Battleship at home.
I took the van in to a repair shop to have the body work done from my little accident in July. It was awful carting the kids around in a little rental car for three days, but it's been nice to have the van look new again and not make me feel guilty every time I step in the garage.
Todd's been working like a madman, long days and most Saturdays, too. We can't believe it's been two years and we're still not in love with his job. There are pros, but the cons are heavy. Also, he got called to be Young Men's President. Not sure how he's going to manage to find the time to do it right, but we'll do the best we can.
Sayonara, September!
