Great Times
I just can’t believe it’s already time for “newly-sharpened pencils” – off to school for the kiddos! Westin is starting the 8th grade! He is playing quarterback for the football team. I am going to be taping the games; I might get courageous enough to try to upload some play footage! He’s fun to watch! Miss Keeley is beginning the second grade. She is quite a little squirt, and she just looks so cute walking up to that school door every morning with that spring in her step. She loves school – I hope it lasts forever, and something tells me it will! She will begin dance next week, and we can’t wait to get started again! Lily Kate is just about to be three! It seems unreal that my baby has been in my life for three years now. She’s quite a pistol! It takes us all to keep Lily Kate in line! She’s such a sweetheart, and keeps us all entertained with her cute little personality. Westin and Keeley are both old enough to “appreciate” her cuteness, if you know what I mean. One of us seems to come to her rescue if another should get onto her!
I have actually started back to school myself! I took my first full-time position since Lily Kate has been around, and I must say, it is a real change! I am working in the Middle School where Westin attends, and I work in the Life Skills Classroom with special needs children. I am learning a lot, and am enjoying these new teenagers that I work with. Believe it or not, Westin doesn’t even mind that I get to see him at school (or so he portrays:) and I LOVE being able to spy on him)! Mom-mom burns up the road between here and there (a two-and-a-half hour drive) each week to babysit Lily Kate on Thursdays and Fridays. It’s great to have her help, and by Thursday, Lily is ready for some good ol’ at-home time with Mom-mom. Monday through Thursday, Lily Kate goes to a wonderful babysitter and plays with her new little friend, Greenly (or Green-wy in Lily-Talk).
Life just never seems to slow down, but that’s a good thing, too, I guess. I hope you all enjoy the pictures that I have included, and I would love updates on your families!!
I apparently am rusty at publishing this blog, and I can’t actually see the pictures as I try to caption them, so I’ll do the best I can! These pics span the past year for us, and go in chronological order. We start out with Keeley’s cute little basketball team, which I had the opportunity to coach! She is the littlest one (fourth from left) on the back row. I am the adult….hard to spot, I know. Hee hee. There is a 7th birthday picture of Keeley. Apparently, my other two children did not celebrate birthdays in the past year. (I could not find the pictures…) We have before and after pictures of Westin with braces – super handsome with and without. We have before and after pictures of Keeley with glasses – super cute with and without. We have pictures of Lily Kate with clothes and without. I’ll go ahead and say it – super cute with and without! I have a LOT of trouble keeping her dressed – I would have included more clothed pictures if I would have had the opportunity to take more clothed pictures. One picture shows Lily with the remnants of a black eye (where Keeley is reading her a book). This was just one of our many injuries for the year. We lived through a head-first shopping cart fall to the forehead, a back of the head fall in the street that resulted in a staple, a chipped front tooth (twice), just to name a few (and I’m not exaggerating – there are plenty more). If any of you feel inclined to help pay for ER visits, just say the word! I don’t know what this says for my parenting skills, to tell you the truth. Another picture shows Westin pitching in a baseball game. Pretty impressive huh? Oh, I know at least one picture show Corey’s kids as well (no, I did not have another baby!) One picture is at Carter’s first birthday. Oh, and Keeley’s Dance Recital!! Isn’t she beautiful? And…Lily wants to be just like her sister…can you tell? There’s one from Christmas morning, when Santa left Keeley a horse that actually trots (that’s what she asked for – give me one mark for good parenting there for finding it). There’s one picture of Keeley on crutches. What did she do???, you ask… Nothing. I think that might be the best birthday present she has ever received. We’ve spent countless hours with an Ace Bandage and walking on crutches, in our make-believe world. (Does this earn me another mark in the bad parenting department, OR good parenting for coming up with such a creative gift worth hours and hours of fun? I don’t know – keep your opinions to yourself please).
The last pictures are from this first week of school. One shows the first day – what a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed group!! Another shows Westin with his teammates about to be introduced to the town (and literally, the whole town showed up for “Mr. Football Night” – where all teams, 7th, 8th, Freshman, JV, and Varsity are introduced to the fans.) These people take their football seriously! And last but not least shows Lily Kate in her dinosaur pajamas. Don’t tell her they’re for boys – she’s into dinosaurs! I’m just glad she’ll keep them on….
If you click on the picture, they blow up a little! Hope you enjoy looking, and I hope you all are as blessed as I am!!!
