Our own soccer team

It was as simple as this: my kids wanted to play soccer and this season of soccer was cancelled. So I un-cancelled it for our little crew! I asked a few neighborhood families if they wanted to do a little (free) soccer clinic at the school behind our house and wa-la...my kids had a soccer team and I was the coach! Last week was their first practice and it was wonderful. They ran until they were red in the face and couldn't stop talking about how fun it was. It's particularly important for me that Quinny has time to run and play and be physical because it brings her so much joy. Making lemonade out of lemons over here. 

Please note Quinny's cute, red face and Cora's soccer outfit (she changed out of her daytime dress to put this on for practice). Love these four!

A few stragglers came later, but this soccer team is the best I've ever seen. Love them all!

Homeschool

I have never been a person who was interested in homeschooling her children. Like, never never. But then 2020 happened and the option was endless (and often pointless) zooms or homeschooling--so I chose the latter because the spring semester was a disaster and I didn't want a repeat. I love public education and teachers and classrooms and we miss them, but three weeks into home school and I'll be honest, my kids are thriving. Talmage has access to an incredible online curriculum that pushes him along at a zippy and challenging pace, Everett is getting a lot of needed one-on-one attention as he learns difficult 4th grade concepts and little Quinny is one lucky duck and gets to have Aunt Ash as her kindergarten teacher. Kai-Kai comes to school at my house and he's been a dreamy 5th grade student, and Cora gets to go to MePa preschool every Tuesday. It's been such a wonderful experience helping these little kids feel loved and secure and teaching them new skills. Don't get me wrong, it's been a lot of work and it's equivalent to a full-time job and I'm exhausted...but it's also been fulfilling and I'm just so grateful we don't have to get on zooms! Here's to new experiences in 2020 and crossing off bucket list items that I had never added!

First day of school!

This is Quinny's kindergarten class--a learning pod at Aunt Ash's house. Such a cute crew.

My classroom! I love when this room is full of little boys and big ideas.

Homeschool perks--double the recipe and work on both math and snack!

Cora lives for Tuesday when she gets to go to MePa preschool, but the other days I work hard to make her mornings magical as I help the boys with their lessons.

Weighted cars and wind resistance--such a fun lesson!

Quinny's always coming home with the cutest things from Aunt Ash's house.

Mema and Pepa are the cutest preschool teachers and these little cousin twins are lucky to have them!

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally--if you know, you know.

I've tried to make things fun and interesting for the boys so they do their individual coursework, but if one of them is doing a fun assignment or experiment we all do it together. They are so lucky to be in this cousin gang and I really feel lucky that this is the crew I get to teach. 

Aunt Ash is the most wonderful kindergarten teacher and we appreciate her more than she'll ever know. I've been so sad that Quinny wasn't going to get the kinder experience that my boys have loved, but she's getting that plus some. We are blessed!

Roses and a letter from my favorite 5th grader. Love this boy!!!

Painting class while listening to Hamilton. So good and they were so into it!

Another perk of homeschool: middle of the day dates with Mema and Pepa for frozen yogurt. Yum!!!

The Middle McKee's in Sac

I love living in Sacramento because it's like a family vacation all the dang time. I never tire of my siblings and my parents, and I'm OBSESSED with my nephews and nieces. But the middle McKee's are the missing puzzle piece and their absence is felt every single time we're all together. We had to cancel a few family get togethers because of Covid, and oh my gosh I was missing my brother and his family. At the end of July they drove down for a week of fun and it was soooooo great to see them. We did a whole lot of chilling--swimming and picnicking and swimming some more--everything in Sacramento is still completely locked down, but it didn't matter what we were doing because it was just so much fun that we were together. Oh, and we got take-out Shake Shack which is definitely a notable event from the week! Love this family of mine so much.  

I look at the picture and think, Dang I'm lucky! I'm the oldest and they're all the wisest...I love learning from them and growing old(er) by their side.

 ^^^Jordan was making fun of the way I pose behind him and was trying to mimic me to prove that I make myself look smaller on purpose. I couldn't have laughed harder! And it's true...look how teeny tiny he looks!

Family baseball in the school behind our new house, Braverman style. Literally all my dreams came true when we were all playing together and I'm definitely going to push for this to be a tradition.

 Our first outdoor family BBQ at our new home.

 Lake Day with these hotties. I want a boat. Or a jet ski. Maybe both...

 We can never resist a triplet pic!

Baby Rosie was getting lots of in-utero love from her aunties and Mema. I can't wait to meet that sweet little nugget. 

 More triplet cuteness...how are they almost six?

Crazy to think that with Rosie's birth this last week this photo is already outdated. We now have a dozen cousins on the McKee side.