Fun Lunch

Cora's new favorite tradition is Fun Lunch! I'm taking advantage of her half-day kindergarten by treating us to a special lunch once a week--fun, right?! She loves having dates with Mama and really eats up the whole experience. The first week of school we tried a new (to us) Mexican place with Mema, and this week we picked up Lincoln on his minimum day and had him join us at Leatherby's with Mema and Grandma Winnie. Being an aunt is one of my favorite titles and I loved getting some time to love on this sweetie.  

first few days

It's been two weeks since the start of school and I am so proud of my Wiglets. There have been so many changes since they last were in the classroom and they have handled all the uncertainty, the newness, the fears and anxieties and for that matter, uncontainable excitement, with beauty and grace. I love them so much and my favorite time of the day is when they walk back through my door with all the baggage and stories and feelings and energy from their school day and allow me to be the person with whom they share it all. Those minutes spent around our long dining room table eating snacks and motor-mouthing memories are loud and delicious and holy. It's an honor to be the mother of these amazing children.

Middle School has nothing on Mr. T. He thrives in a classroom where his brain can be stimulated by people and new concepts, theories and text. To be honest, he struggled the most in homeschool/Zoom school...that learning vehicle was not for him. But in-person 7th grade? Oh, he's got that! He's loving riding his electric scooter to school with a friend, he's loving changing classes and getting to know so many unique and interesting teachers, and he's loving the friends that he's making.

These three cuties were all ready for their first elementary school spirit day!!! Having the three of them together, just over the fence from our home, is such a special thing for me. Quinny hates wearing masks for 7 hours and it wears on her deeper than the other two, but overall these three cuties are making friends and learning things and loving being back on campus!

I know this cutie is getting two pictures, but COME ON!!! Cora and her twin doll were just the cutest people on earth last week before kindergarten. She is a true extrovert and comes home twirling and dancing and full of energy from the friends she's made and the things she's learned. Her one beef: not enough math and they haven't already taught her how to read, but I think her teacher will get there soon!

Back to School!

After 18 months away from a classroom and a move to a new city/new schools, these four little Wigs went back to school last week! They are such wonderful children full of hope and goodness and creativity and I'm so excited for them. They are especially excited to make some new friends and feel like they're a part of the community. It's hard to feel disconnected in life, and they've been troopers through it all. It's only been a week, but they are all glowing and totally confident they have the best teachers around. One thing I know for sure--those teachers have the best kids that ever existed in their class. I love these four with all of my heart. 

T--7th grade

Ev--5th grade

Quinny--1st grade

Coco--Kinder

I'm not sure how my baby is old enough to be a Kindergartner. She is the sweetest little ball of sunshine and I love her, love her, LOVE HER!!!

My strong and amazing first grader--I'm so proud of her!

While the kids are away, the moms will play! Breakfast at Bacon and Butter was amazing for our first day of school brunch. My nerves were high so carbs were much appreciated. 

Back to School nails

Back to school nail date with the girls was a blast, even if the women doing Ash and my nails thought we were cray-cray for choosing so many colors. It was fun!

 

No pups for Juni-girl

Juni got fixed! I really wanted to experience one round of puppies but the more I thought about it (especially puppy periods) the more I decided it probably wasn't for us! The procedure went well and even though she's a spaz and even on full sedatives broke two cones completely in half it all went well and we are free from pregnancy fears. We love our Juniper Love with all our human hearts and we are excited to play with her again soon. 

To be honest, she's totally stoned in this picture! Like, couldn't even walk to her bed she was so out of it. I had to pick up her 60 pound body and carry her to this living room pillow because she couldn't get here on her own. Poor sleepy surgery girl!

Anyone who ever doubts my love for our family can consult the picture above, haha! Juniper threw up her pain medicine and we couldn't give her more yet so she was up crying and moaning through the first night home. I spent a little over an hour in her kennel with her because she couldn't sleep unless my hand was on her. Finally we brought her into bed with me and she slept for the rest of the night as long as she was directly on top of me! I was her comfort blanket and I truly felt honored to help her, but also it was a pretty horrible night sleep!

That shaved tummy!

This was her first cone that she destroyed in a record five days!

Well, we thought it was a record until she turned her replacement cone into this mess just a few days later!

She felt bad about it...at least she pretended to haha!

Cora is growing up!!!

This summer has been one of transformation for my baby girl Coco. 

First she learned how to swim--not just floating on her back like last year but jumping off the diving board, frog-kicking underwater and coming up for air type of swimming. My last baby is out of floaties and that is a milestone that absolutely makes me elated! 

Then, she lost her first tooth. I know it's weird but I'm a tooth person and when kids start losing their teeth I'm just over the moon about it. Missing teeth smiles are just the cutest and their excitement for the tooth fairy is the frosting on the cake. But this came at me too fast! How is my newborn old enough to loose teeth? And why are you looking at me weird when I call her my newborn?! One day she told me her front tooth was wiggly and the next day it was sitting in my palm. She was thrilled, I hid my tears! I guess it's just that I remember like yesterday the day that Talmage lost his first tooth. We lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in a tiny apartment and we danced and belly laughed for hours (and called everyone we knew) because T LOST A TOOTH!!! I promise you that just happened. And now my T has lost all his teeth and is in braces and my baby has started loosing teeth. Sheesh. 

As if that wasn't enough, determined little Cora decided she wanted to tie her own shoes. James sat with her for an hour teaching her the technique and then Cora sat for an additional THREE hours until all of a sudden, she was tying her own shoes!!! There was a lot of self-talk and encouragement and if anyone ever needed a poster child for Growth Mindset thinking, I mean--here's Cora!!! She is not afraid of working hard and not afraid to fail along the way which is such a beautiful example for me. 

Anyway, she's in kindergarten now which is another grown-up post for another day (BECAUSE HOW IS MY NEWBORN IN KINDERGARTEN?) but this is just a little one to say my baby's getting bigger whether I like it or not. And even though I'll always pine for her to be my little pocket pal forever, I do like it! Because Cora is amazing and watching her grow and learn is such a joy. 

First pic sans tooth

One losing teeth, the other straightening them

Daddy teaching his baby to tie her shoes

Can you even handle this? I for sure can't!

Scootering around town

French fries and ice cream, my favorite combination

The happiest arm filled with self-made bracelets! Love this baby girl!

Wonder Wigs

Reporting for duty! 

(Quarantine had us busy making dozens of perler bead creations and close to 50 beaded bracelets!)

Covid

We think T may have been the first, but his vaccinated version was really nothing more than a 24-hour sniffle and it never even occurred to me that it could have been Covid. But Ev caught it next, and was the first to be confirmed, and I'm not going to lie--it was bad. Fever, sore throat, tummy trouble, body aches, headache and exhaustion the likes of which I've never seen (we were carrying him to and from the bathroom because he didn't have energy to walk there himself, and he didn't have the energy to feed himself--yikes). Quinn fell sick just a few days later and her case was short, only 48 hours, but ridiculously intense. And then I got sick, fully-dang-vaccinated me, and I'd hate to think about not having some antibodies because boy was it horrible. James was vaccinated and never got any symptoms, and Cora also never got symptoms but she tested positive the same day I did. BLAHHHH! In the end, our whole family fully quarantined for 15 days so that there was no chance of us spreading any bugs to anyone else. Unfortunately, it was too late for our closest family members--the Tat's, the McKee's and even my parents all caught it. We had to cancel visitors at our place, and a McKee family reunion, and we also lost the last two weeks of summer. While I'm grateful it didn't happen during school, the timing was such a bummer. We have been so diligent during this 18-month pandemic and I thought we were going to come out on the other side without it ever having passed through our home. I was wrong. I hate Covid means just a little bit more these days...especially since 21 days out I still can't smell or taste and I'm having to take daily naps to keep up on life! 

Some summer randoms

4th of July with the McKee/O'Neals. I can't stand that these babies are going to kindergarten. 

Muscle Mania right here!

Pre-trek hike with some fellow ma's and pa's and mooooooostly in-n-out

I dared Carol to do THE CRAZIEST dance in front of everyone at girls camp and offered her an ice cream cone in return. "An ice cream?" she asked. "No, I want a new pair of church shoes!" I quickly agreed because, guys, you should have seen this crazy dance I asked her to do. Welp, she did it and the week after girls camp it was time for us to pay up. She found the perfect shoes and Coco and I had so much fun shopping with her. 

Weekday lunch with Mom and Ash. 

Date night on the river--on nights like this I just love where we live. 

First day of dance camp. 

Bring your family to work day at Deseret Book, haha. 

The boys went to LA and had the best time on the beach for a week. We had FOMO...but we couldn't go because I was leaving for trek.

While the boys are away, the girls will play. Sushi, baby!!!

Juniper is starting real puppy training. It's only kind of going well tbh, she's such a teenager!

Our trek son's All Star!

This is the fun part about having a garden! Bowls of veg like this every single night.

Tahoe was smoky but still so dang beautiful.

Papa's retirement reception with his patients. 

This dog is naughty but she is beyond loved (and tortured) by her human siblings. 

These moments, sheesh I love 'em.

Ben's post-trek fireside was SO GOOD! I'm so incredibly grateful for the work he does and have been a religious listener of his podcast for soooooo long. 

I'm pretty sure we will be proud of our trek kids for all time. Love this one and so excited for his college adventure to come!