First Day of School 2012

August 27, 2012 
New year, new school! 

Our kids were so lucky to get into Somerset Academy this year.  We applied last year and didn't get in, so we tried again this year. Natalya was accepted in July and Branson was accepted just the Friday before school started!  What a blessing! 

Our public school district is underfunded and suffers in many areas. So when Somerset Academy began opening campuses in Nevada we were really excited to have a choice when it came to our children's education.  

Somerset is truly a cut above the rest.  I'm very pleased with the quality of education my children are experiencing and look forward to their new campus being built closer to our home.  The Sky Pointe campus will be ready August 2013.  Irelynn has already been accepted and will be joining her brother and sister when she starts Kindergarten in the fall!

Branson, 1st grade and Natalya, 3rd grade

Branson and Natalya love their uniforms!  (Aren't they adorable!?)  I spend less money on uniforms than I would have if I bought "back-to-school clothes", and having uniforms makes it a lot easier to get dressed in the morning.  I didn't realize that I would be such a uniform-advocate, but I am!

We carpool with an awesome family, the Yoakum's. (You can see the back of Jackson's head, Austin, and Walker in this picture.)  Our kids all get a long and it's really nice to carpool with someone when the drive is 25 minutes long!

Branson's teacher is Mrs. Reed.  She's amazing!  And absolutely perfect for Branson.  Mrs. Reed is kind, sensitive to her student's feelings, encouraging, happy, and super organized.  He's lucky to have her. After a few nervous tears, Branson settled into his classroom and ended up having an awesome day!  He was grinning from ear to ear when I picked him up.  His only complaint was that  7 hours was a long time.  Branson doesn't usually like to try new things and is sometimes afraid he won't know how to do it or what to do.  So I was so impressed with how well he adapted to his new school.  I'm sure Mrs. Reed had a lot to do with his success!

As expected, Natalya jumped right into her new class.  She loves her teacher, Mrs. Goetz, and made new friends right away.  Natalya is so happy with her new school and gratefully doesn't express a desire to return to her old school. As a mom, I couldn't be happier with the transition that we made from one school to the next.  What a blessing it was to have gotten accepted into Somerset Academy.  It was the right choice for my family.

After morning drop-off... 

We met Brittany and her kids at Einstein Bagel for "second breakfast" to celebrate the first day of school.  

September 4th, 2012

Irelynn's first day of pre-school

Irelynn has one more year of pre-school before she enters Kindergarten at Somerset.  She will be very prepared!  Her teacher, Melissa Brown, is excellent.  Irelynn was SO excited to start school with her friends.  She loves being a big kid. 

Irelynn, Karlee, Addy

Off she goes!

Irelynn has been at school now for about 5 months and is already reading.  Her writing has greatly improved and she loves to spell.    (One of her favorite in-the-car activities now is spelling whatever I ask her to spell.)  She asks to do her "homework" almost every day loves it when I do flash card words with her.  I can tell she's going to follow in her big brother and big sister's footsteps when it comes to schooling.  I'm glad they all love to learn.

Irelynn Turned 4!

Here's a look at our temporary house.  Again, we lived here only 2 and 1/2 months.  But we made it our home...

August 18th, 2012 - Irelynn's birthday 
Our little tom-boy princess turned 4 on August 18th! Irelynn is such a sweet, pretty little girl who loves to get dirty and play tough like the boys. She's brave, strong, and resilient.  But she's also kind, thoughtful, and PINK.  That's why when she requested a garden-themed party for her 4th birthday I wasn't at all surprised!  It suited her perfectly...

Irelynn's birthday morning 

Her favorite presents were her bike from mom and dad and her Dream Lites from Nana.

Garden Party

strawberries and raspberries

flower pot cupcakes with crushed chocolate Oreo dirt and lollipop flowers

butterfly and flower PBnJ sandwiches

butterfly nectar

colorful mini marshmallows

"Irelynn's Garden Party"

"Paint a Pot and Pot a Plant"

Back row: Mia, Natalya, Addie, Karlee, Irelynn
Front row: Aubrey, Eva, Ashlynn

They each decorated their own flower pots using acrylic paint pens.  After painting they set them out to dry.

Meanwhile, the girls got to "Dig for Critters" in two sandboxes.  One held ladybugs (pinto beans that I spray painted red and spotted black with a Sharpie).  The other held various rubber bugs such as caterpillars, butterflies, dragonflies, etc.  They used green ice cream scoopers and tweezers to find and capture their critters.  

Once their pots were dry, it was time to plant!  The girls really enjoyed scooping dirt and planting their flowers.  My little Irelynn LOVES to play in the sand and dirt and be creative.  She was in heaven!  

After watering their plants and leaving them in the sunshine, we gathered the girls together to sing and dance like bees!  They each held a popsicle stick with a bee attached to the end and ran around the room pretending to be bees to the music.  They loved all the silly songs and jumping and twirling like butterflies and bees and other winged insects.  :)

Irelynn loves her friends and totally enjoyed every aspect of her birthday party.  In her mind, it was a perfect day.  Happy 4th Birthday, darling!

Fast Forward...

When our house closed in July, we temporarily moved into a friend's vacant house around the corner.  We literally lived on the bare minimum, stuffing the garage full of boxes with the anticipation of moving again once we'd find something to accommodate my parents and my family.  We spent just 2 and 1/2 months there.  When we discovered that our friends received an offer on the house that we were occupying and expected it to close in just a few weeks, we began a hasty new search for yet another home.  

As if by miracle, a home for rent went on the market that week.  It was exactly what we were looking for: BIG, duel master bedrooms, a large yard, and the neighborhood in which we were hoping to live.  Moving into the rental right away would allow my parents to move in with us when they're ready.  And the 10 month contract that we have here will be long enough to allow us to decide if we want to buy a house or build one from the ground up.  

As my strong husband reminded me so many times, It will all work out.  And it did. 

One Chapter Closes as Another Begins

We've lived in the same house since Branson could barely walk.  It was our first house - and it was perfect.  I loved our little neighborhood, the corner lot that our home sat on, our tiny backyard, the stairway banister, and the fact that each of our kids thought it was the best place on earth.  But I realize that change is inevitable.  And I embrace each new chapter of our lives as an adventure awaiting us!

My parents are not in the best health and they're only getting older.  In a perfect world there would be no sickness and eternal youth.  But I know that with each passing day they continue to age and I am at peace with the process.  While my dad continues to work at 78 years of age, I felt impressed to do something to help alleviate his burden.  We chose to sell our home in hopes of finding something that would accommodate my parents as well as our family.  The home-selling process went much quicker than I imagined!  We closed in short order and found ourselves renting until we could find a home that would suit our unique circumstances.  With home inventory very low in the Las Vegas market, we were discouraged by how little there was to choose from in our area.  So we've recently decided that building a home to meet our needs might be a more viable answer.  

Here's a glance at the home we've left behind...

front gates

community picnic area

Our first home

This is where our kids used to ride their tricycles

We designed our little backyard, and picked all the plants and trees

My brother bought us this barbecue when we first moved in

Living Room

Toy closet - under the stairs

Dining Room/Kitchen

This is where my kids used to bounce rubber balls to see who could hit the 2 story ceiling

3 daughters, 1 large room

1 son, all Angry Birds

We called this The Froggy Bathroom because it had a frog bathmat

(I didn't photograph the extra bedroom/craft room because it wasn't too exciting.)

Master Bedroom

Loved the duel shower heads

This is a photo of me and the kids the day our house closed and we turned the keys over to the new occupants.  You can't tell from this picture, but it was a day of splotchy eyes.  :)  

The whole process was very bitter-sweet.  We loved our little home, but we knew that leaving was key to taking care of my parents.  With no downstairs bedroom or bathroom and my dad not able to walk up and down stairs easily, this was the logical step to take.  We knew that the Lord supported us in our decision making and would provide a way for us.  He has not forsaken us and continues to bless us daily.