August 2022

 One of the most exciting events during August was Lily’s baptism! We had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa Bundy, Uncle Rob, Grandma and Grandpa Rex, the Ferrells and Greg and Dana’s family. 

The girls loved getting stories read to them frequently! 

August 2021

 We booked it home from our reunion trip so that Kimball could start band camp on August 2nd. It was definitely not his favorite experience with many days of marching in the heat. 

We went swimming when we could, watched friends’ kids a few times, visited the library, had doctor’s appointments, had school orientations, and our new piano was delivered! 

September 2020

 The biggest change that September brought to our family was starting school with Epic Charter School. After waiting most of the summer for schools to announce how they were going to handle all of the challenges Corona Virus was throwing at them, we felt it was best to have our kids go to a school that already knew how to operate online. Our experience in the spring with "online learning" was more stressful than it needed to be. There were definitely some growing pains as we got used to the different curriculum and trying to get everything set up online but the best parts are not having to get the kids up early each morning for school and letting them have more freedom to move at their own pace. 

First Day of School

Summer came to an end and the three older kids headed back to school! I made them a pencil cake to celebrate when they got home (inspired by my cousin Morgan)...

First Day of School!

Summer came and went, and before I was quite ready, school started!

Lily has been dying to go to school for as long as she knew it was in her future. We've been telling her for ages that once she's 4, it's almost time for school. Here, they do full day pre-K. We've transferred her into another district because we live closer to that school, so she started before the boys...on August 9th. We were so nervous about how she would do, but she LOVES school! Dale takes her to school in the mornings and from the first day, she did a little too well at drop off, forgetting to hug her daddy goodbye. Each Saturday she's cried because she misses school so much.

Kimball has been ready for school to start since about half way through summer. He's in 6th grade, which anywhere else would be middle school, but junior high is 7-9th grades here. He has chosen to play trumpet in band, and is trying out for the school basketball team. He has grand aspirations for track in the spring, and plans to do as many activities as possible.

Cameron started 4th grade. His teachers seem fantastic. We're hoping he gets into robotics club at the school. He is on a new bus route this year, so he actually gets home before 4:00 (last year he wouldn't get home until 4:20ish)!

Becca does not enjoy waking up to all the morning activity...she was sleeping until 8 or 9 during the summer. Most mornings she needs a morning nap now and will still (hopefully) take her afternoon nap. Errands are immensely easier with one kid, and one car seat to deal with.

It's still my favorite time of day when the kids get home and I get to hear about their adventures...as long as they're not super cranky when they get home. We're all a little sleep deprived and still trying to figure out the new normal schedule, but so far this school year is going well!

August 2017

We spent the first part of August on our trip to Colorado. When we got back, we did tons of laundry and unpacking, then it was time to have our favorite Ferrells come visit!

While they were here, we played the traditional games (Sorry, Uno Spin Attack, Haunted House...), went to the splash pad, ate at Pigskins, went to the Children's Museum, and watched the chaos of having 7 kids in one house unfold.

August 2016

August saw the end of summer for our family and the beginning of another school year. Before school started, we tried to pack in a few more fun things...

One of the perks of summer was sleeping in. The boys would often wake up first and get Lily up before I even heard her. One morning I walked into the living room to find this:

August

I love this time of year! I love how the weather is cooling down and things start to calm down briefly before all the holiday chaos happens. After our trip to Colorado, we had a week before school started. Cameron was so excited for school to start, but Kimball just wanted to keep swimming every day. School came before we knew it!

Kimball is in 3rd grade. At his school, they have homeroom teachers, math teachers and English teachers. Each day Kimball comes off the bus reading a different book, and he loves the "I Survived" series. Cameron's in 1st grade and his school is doing a super hero theme...a little boy's biggest dreams come true!

First day of school- 1st and 3rd grade!

August 2014

At the beginning of August, Lily finally got to take a real bath!

The Ferrells came to visit. 
We all had lots of Lily cuddles!

The boys started school (2nd grade and kindergarten)...

Cam's class is doing show & tell on Fridays and the first week was letter L, so he insisted on taking Lily. He told me she could fit in his backpack just fine, but I said I would take her myself. He was so excited, and very nervous to sit in front of his class and tell them about Lily but it's so sweet to see the love he has for her.

I got to play around with my new camera a lot...

 And my parents and brother were able to come visit for Lily's baby blessing at the end of August. While they were here we went to the county fair where the boys got to ride ponies and Kimball even participated in "mutton bustin'" where he rode a sheep that was trying to buck him off. Watching nearly scared me to death but he stayed on the whole time, even when the sheep rammed him into the fence.

It was a beautiful blessing, and it was fun to have Lily meet her grandpa and uncle for the first time (and of course, see grandma again).

First day of school 2013

We've gone from the first day of Pre-K for Kimball (which seems like only yesterday) to celebrating the first day of first grade today! First grade sounds SO MUCH OLDER to me than pre-K or kindergarten. He came home with a bag of treasures from his teacher including fun sunglasses and a visor.

For some reason this picture screams "I'm the son of Dale Rex!" 

Still sporting his gap toothed grin in first grade

Cameron celebrated his first day of Pre-K today! My little boy suddenly seems so much bigger and he has been so excited for this day for so long. When he got home he exclaimed "we didn't learn ANYTHING at school!" I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing?

Before school and SO READY TO GO!

After school sporting his monster hat he made

Pre-Ker

Kimball is officially a "pre-Ker" as he likes to call himself! Here, kids can go to Pre-K at public schools at age 4. It's everyday for 2.5 hours and Kimball is loving it. For whatever reason he refused to let me take a picture on his first day of school so this is his second day of school:

Kimball loves his teacher and is starting to make friends in class. We really felt like it was time for him to go to school so he could have more interaction with kids his age. Cameron and I stay at home until it's time to pick Kimball up, and we often look at each other wondering what to do with just the 2 of us :).

Dale also just started his LAST year of law school...it feels so close yet so far! I'm terrified of how fast our boys are growing up and trying my best to enjoy this stage in life, but I can hardly wait for Dale to be done with school.