That Wylie Band 2018

This is Westley's second year of marching band.  He has really grown to love it and made the competition band this year.  He was quite excited about that.  I can't believe how grown up he is looking!  Like a young man instead of a boy.

First Friday Night Lights

The first Friday Night Lights of the year was great!  We loved being there with so many of us.  Eliza and Annmarie got to cheer during the first and second quarters of the game, something they get to do with their cheer clinic.  Westley performed with the band.  Travis came along because he always comes to the games.  Benjamin came to experience American football, Texas style.  It was a great night!  Next year Caleb will be in band too, Travis will be with us, so I guess Eliza will be babysitting.  Soon, we'll have to have everyone with us, though! 

Nathan and Travis

Nathan was having a ton of fun having a fight between Batman and Mr. Incredible on the bench at church.  I couldn't help taking a picture of it; it was so cute!

Travis had his first football practice this week.  He is very excited to finally be playing tackle football a year earlier than we had originally said.  We did this so that Eliza could cheer for his team and do it together.  He is a pretty good athlete and we are looking forward to his season.

Incredibly Busy Day

We had an incredibly busy Saturday the second weekend after school started. Westley had his March-a-Thon for his band fundraiser.  Eliza and Annmarie had a cheerleading clinic that I had signed them up for.  Jonah had a gymnastics showcase.  Benjamin had an exchange student orientation meeting and party to attend with the rep over our area.  Corey had a store meeting in the morning. And Westley and Benjamin went to a stake dance Saturday night. 

Ben Starts School

I wasn't able to get Benjamin in to be registered for school until today, Tuesday; that was the earliest the registrar's office would let us come in and do it.  Westley tagged along to help show Benjamin around the school, and they even signed up for a class together--architecture.  Benjamin is officially a junior.  Also, today was  his sixteenth birthday!  Welcome to America, Welcome to Texas, and Happy Birthday!

I made him a nice dinner and a chocolate cake and we gave him a Texas A&M shirt for college days.  He is excited to get going with school. 

Braum's Treat

Tonight was supposed to be Wylie High School's "Meet the Pirate" night, where we go and watch a scrimmage and the band plays and there are all sorts of booths and fun.  But, alas, we have had a lot of rain and there was thunder and lightning, so the evening was canceled last minute.  We decided to hit Braum's and show Benjamin one of our favorite ice cream places.  Yum!

Welcome Benjamin!

We agreed to host an exchange student this year.  We enjoyed hosting Margrethe, who was from Norway, and this time, we were able to select our student.  Benjamin is from Denmark and he is finally here.  Not very good timing to coincide with the first day of school and you'd think that something like could easily be avoided, but oh well.  Westley was the only one who came with us because he wasn't arriving until after 9 pm.  He'd had a long day of traveling, so we went straight home and he went straight to bed. 

First Day of School 2018-2019

Despite the late night last night after the In-N-Out picnic, the kids were up bright and early for school this morning.  Gratefully, Westley did not have marching band on his first day of school, a small bit of mercy the band instructors had.  He also doesn't start seminary until Monday.  And because it's a Thursday, that means they can wear college shirts with jeans (those in Intermediate School and higher), so they donned their BYU garb and repped the Y.

Westley--sophomore in high school
Caleb--8th grade
Travis--6th grade
Eliza--5th grade
Jonah--2nd grade
Annmarie--kindergarten

Nathan and I went to Walmart for a few things and he wanted a picture with the school bus display by the back-to-school items.  He is only two and has one year before he officially can be in my preschool and then will have two years of that before starting kindergarten himself.

Summer Ends With a Bang! (the In-N-Out Picnic)

The kids got the best treat to end the summer.  The In-N-Out picnic was on the last night of summer before school started back up.  School started on a Thursday (?) this year, and the picnic was on Wednesday night.  We got to go to Great Wolf Lodge for swimming and slides and a lazy river, plus free In-N-Out and all the free cotton candy and ice cream the kids could eat.  As usual, it was a lot of fun.

A cool thought...next summer Westley will probably be going to the picnic with his own guest, since he'll be sixteen and will likely (hopefully) be working for In-N-Out.

On a side note, I really  hate the new way In-N-Out does all the pictures at every function.  The pictures always look terrible, the lighting is bad, and the booth isn't big enough for our whole family.  I wish they would go back to the old style of pictures, ones that actually look good!

School Carnival

Groves Elementary had a Back-to-School night with a little carnival.  Sister Bach in our ward is the school librarian and also on the PTA and she was helping with the popcorn stand.  She asked Westley to come help with it.  Her son is a little older than Westley and they are friends at church, so Westley agreed.  Jonah and Annmarie loved seeing their brother at their school.  Westley never did go to Groves, so it was cool for them to see him there.

Last Full Week of Summer

I'm seriously so sad about summer coming to an end!  We signed Eliza and Travis up for a local community football league this fall.  Travis will be playing on the senior tackle team and Eliza will be cheering for his team.  We went in for a uniform fitting.  She is very excited about cheerleading.  Travis is really excited about playing football.

Nathan made himself a lunch out of some crackers and cheese.  At least it's something.  He is by far the pickiest toddler when it comes to food that we've had.  Hopefully he outgrows it soon.

Travis' football helmet that we had to buy.  Actually, I took this picture to try and sell it.  I had no luck, so I will try again in a year.  We bought the wrong size (it was too big) and next year he'll be playing for the school and will be provided a helmet.  So we won't need one in this larger size.

Westley started back with marching band at the end of July and has been busy for the last several weeks going to practice every day from 7 am to 4:30 pm.  They had their parent night this last week. I wasn't able to go because I had to take Eliza to her uniform fitting.  So Corey went and got to see Westley perform and then take Westley's place in the band.  I did it last year.  Westley is really excited about marching band this year.

On rainy days In-N-Out has free hot chocolate for kids 12 and under, even in the heat of the Texas summer, so I took Eliza for lunch and some hot chocolate.  They have the best hot chocolate.

Murphy Splash Park

There was a playgroup of people in our ward meeting at the Murphy splash park, so we decided to go.  Eliza and Travis were some of the oldest kids there, but they seemed to enjoy it anyway.  I got to visit with some of the moms in the ward while they played and it wasn't too bad.  I really will miss summer when school gets back in session next week.  I can't believe there is only a week of summer left!

Swimming Again

We have to take advantage of every bit of summer we have left and go swimming as often as possible!  We love swimming and I'm so glad we live in a neighborhood with a pool.  Most often, there is nobody there either, so we get it all to ourselves.  Like having our own private pool!

It's Already August!

I can't believe that it's August already. This summer has totally flown by and I've enjoyed every minute of it.  I took all of July off from teaching piano and most of June and August as well.  While our bank account suffered, it was a much needed break for me.  Preschool is also not in session over the summer, so I truly had the time I wanted for myself.  Now I need to buckle down and get to work planning my preschool year, but I'm so glad that I had this summer to really enjoy my family.

Every once in a blue moon I catch Westley and Travis being nice to each other.  This was one of those rare moments.

Poor Nathan fell and hit his head again.  He gets the most goose-eggs of any of the kids.  I hope there isn't any permanent damage from all these head injuries.  He seems to be okay and I think the size of the goose egg makes it look worse than it actually is.