Oh Adam

 He's taller than me, his voice cracks at the funniest times, his moustache is constantly monitored by his sisters and he informed me on the third day of school that he's pretty sure a girl in his class has a crush on him. 

When I pressed for details he ran away. 

But eventually he told us about the girl who wrote Adam - Scarlet on a paper they were working on, then changed it to Adam + Scarlet which thoroughly and completely mortified (and I'd guess somewhat pleased him based on the reaction he was having about it). 

But girls, moustaches and stinky body odor or not, he's not about to give up his first true love!

Puppy in a Box

 When the babies were little, I loved to see how small they really were by putting them in boxes.  

Now I like to do it to Laney. 

She's just so cute and tiny!!

And boy does she put up with a lot. 

-Isms

D- Have a good day at school and remember what it means to be a Morales. 

N, frantically- What? I don't know!  What does it mean??!

*****

A- I think we should be doing some kind of work to warm our brains up for school. 

N, exhausted- I just did a lot of hard thinking the other day!  In my theory book!

*****

We were having a completely benign family conversation about bedtime and sleeping and Adam chimed in with some important new- I know what you guys do after we go to bed, because sometimes I come into your room and I've seen you... having screen time. 

Ha!  That's okay with me!

*****

Over the summer Jason and I went to visit a dying person in our ward and left the kids home to take care of each other.  When we got back they were happily playing a card game in the living room and it was sweet and special to see four friends enjoying some non-screen time together. 

Not many days later they had the most fun playing hide and seek with each other and Laney.   When they couldn't find Adam, Noah called out, 'Adam, give us a sound!'

Whoooo's There!?

We've had a spooooky visitor in our yard recently- let's zoom in a little. 

Yikes! 

Hawk hunting hour has officially been renamed to Great Horned Owl hour.  There was a HUGE one sitting in our trees a few months back, and another one, or maybe the same one, has been hanging around for the past few weeks.  They are incredible to watch, but make us all a little nervous since they are predators and Laney is a very cute little prey!

Back to School, 2022 Edition

The first day of school finally came! As predicted, nerves and excitement got everyone up much earlier than was necessary. But they were ready! 

Leah is in 9th grade this year!  A freshman!  But not fully in high school because 9th graders get their very own school here.  So everyone is new!

On the second day of school she started seminary- the before-school youth study group that she- and all of our kids- will participate in for their four years of high school.  I think she was more excited about starting seminary than starting school!

Adam is in 6th grade! It makes me happy that this big brother is still in elementary school- he can keep a protective eye on his little brother and sister. 

Emma is in 4th grade- when so much fun starts!  She has the option to participate in orchestra this year, she was chosen for the Lighthouse leadership committee, and she starts running club next week.  Lots to look forward to every day in 4th grade!

And Noah is in 2nd grade!  Which just seems crazy to me, but he is ready for some challenges in school.  He was so disappointed that they "didn't even do multiplication" in 1st grade.  Noah told me that he was sure if he wore his Dog Man shirt on the first day of school he would make more friends!

There has been lots of excitement and nerves about starting school this year- about one new thing in particular- riding the bus!  Leah rode the bus for the first 2/3 of her kindergarten year, and remembers it as noisy. But it also holds the potential for something that hasn't come very easily to us over the last year (thanks, Covid)- making neighbor friends!  Because we live so far away from the schools, bus times pick up crazy early and drop off crazy late.  The compromise was that the kids will ride the bus in the morning and I will pick them up in the afternoons.  On Wednesdays everyone rides the bus home.  

They were so excited to hop on!

And Laney was so, so SO confused.  

Why did that big yellow monster swallow her kids up?  She was frozen in place with confusion and that was the exact moment that the tears came.  Alone for the first time since March 2020 and I still wasn't ready for it!

But the first school day zipped by quickly.  While I was brunching with friends, I got delightful updates via text from Leah, as well as pictures from Noah's teacher- 

and Emma's teacher.  So fun to get to put faces with names on the first day!

Laney, overall, was not impressed with the silence in the house. 

But they came back in no time!  First up, Leah. 

She was especially grateful for the traditional first day of school chocolate chip cookies. 

And not too far behind came ultra sweaty Noah, Emma, and Adam.  

Apparently the AC wasn't working on the bus and they didn't have any windows open!

How miserable!

They were all ready for a shower before a cookie. 

Hence the pajamas at 4:00 in the afternoon.  It was so very hot outside we didn't bother taking our traditional back to school dinner to the lake.  But it was still delicious!

And I got to hear all sorts of stories about classmates, bus rides, teachers, specials, recess and more.  There are a whole lot of adventures waiting for everyone this year!

Turning Toward School

Well, we've put this off as long as our hearts and brains could handle.  Having evaded in-person school since March 2020, enjoying not just one but two awesome summers as well as an entire successful year of online learning, nearly a full 18 months after Emma wished to me that she could just be homeschooled (and has since learned to be careful what you wish for!), we have finally turned back to school.  After a year of wondering what our new schools are like on the inside, the time has finally come to find out. 

Leah is loving the look of the 9th-grade-only Southwoods School. 

Adam is excited about being the top dog 6th grader at Jordan Creek Elementary. 

Emma is loving the purple lockers and the friends she already knows in her 4th grade class. 

And Noah, bless his heart for only having 7 months of in-person school under his belt so far, is ready to take on the world in 2nd grade!

The kids will ride the bus to school in the morning, so I took a picture of them at their new school at Meet the Teacher night. 

It was hot!  And they were excited to be in the school!

 But before the big day came, we had to get ready for our return to school! That meant new backpacks and lunchboxes- this new one on the right looks like a high schoolers lunchbox!

Back to school packages- 

and lots of back to school shopping- no sweatpants and bare feet this year!

Haircuts for these shaggy brothers, 

and plenty of playing! Tea parties for the girls, 

and Suitorfest!  The best game ever, in which the girls pretend to select the most eligible prince in all the land. 

Lots of slow mornings with feet tucked under bums on stools, 

and lots of reading, always. 

Also, the mess making creative play.  Yikes!  In some ways everyone is definitely ready to go back to the structure and challenge of school!

Saying Goodbye to Summer

I deliberately took the last month off so that we could spend all the time enjoying summer, so now there is a lot to catch up on, including one last glance at our happy, lazy, and wonderful days of summer.

We had a stake BBQ!  There were so many people there, and it was so fun to see everyone again.  With plenty of room to space out and plenty of shade to visit in, this first stake activity that we've had in over a year was a success.  

Adam was excited to try out the dunk tank. 

And Emma wanted to give it a try too!

Leah has happy to throw the ball. 

What a nice way to cool off!

Noah's favorite part was the fire truck!

And Emma loved the live music.  Overall we have one amazing stake!

We also hosted a neighborhood ice cream party!  It was so nice to connect with new friends before school started. We have some really great neighbors, it's just taking a really long time to get to know them. 

We went on a date to the temple- we're so glad it's open again!

And we enjoyed lots of lazily-creative days at home- sometimes playing right over Daddy's office,  

sometimes playing with Oobleck, 

sometimes dressing up, 

and sometimes playing right on top of the pile of outgrown clothes. 

We finally got our sunroom furniture!  

We've already had a party or two out here, and we're looking forward to enjoying it even more when this chewy, thick humidity finally breaks. 

One afternoon we found ourselves in Ankeny, and made a stop at our favorite free lunch place.  This used to be our standard summer life. 

We went to the pool as many times as we could! 

We did all we could to soak up the fun and the sun all summer long.  And with this final descent down the stairs, through the woods and across the bridge, we officially left summer behind and turned our minds toward school. 

I probably say this every summer, but boy this was a really, really good one!