School begins and more

Casey went back to work on the 19th of August. He's now a 7th grade teacher surrounded by a bunch of females (both things he has to get used to this school year ; ). He also started football practice on the 22nd. His team is a lot smaller than in previous years. He wasn't complaining at first; less kids means less kids to have to make sure get equal play time. Lately though he's wishing for a few more since some kids are sporting injuries and other issues making his roster a bit smaller. Tomorrow is his first game at Declo. He had fun doing a river rafting trip on the 25th with his fellow middle school teachers.
Kendal had back to school night on the 25th. We got to take her load of school supplies and meet her two teachers Mrs. Erickson and Mrs. Hufsetler. She is not in David's class, but they've seen each other and played during some recess time since.
Casey gave both kids blessings on the Sunday before school. It was sweet and Kendal was glad to have a boost to calm her nerves.
Peter will be doing Preschool with Mommy again plus ABC Mouse learning Academy online. He'll go to preschool story time at the library and hopefully we'll have Becca over for some preschool playtime. I'd love to give him more options, but we haven't come up with any great solutions yet.
Kendal and Casey had their first day at school on the 29th. Kendal woke up ready, excited, and a bit nervous. Peter and I walked her to the bus and her nerves seemed to melt away as her neighbor buddies gathered before the bus pulled up.

 (Some of us were a bit more chipper and excited than the others bright and early on day one.)

She has really enjoyed first grade so far. She likes both her teachers and is getting good marks for her work and her behavior. She told me her teacher let her pick a Junnie B. Jones book to keep in her desk when she finishes work early. (She's really into the Junnie B. chapter books lately and has had fun reading them this summer.) She has a few kids from her class last year and has gathered a few more as school is rolling on.

This past week Vanessa and Brett moved to Kimberly! I helped a bit and Peter happily had cousin time for a few days. There was no school on Friday so I had eight of the grand kids (including my duo) over while the other adults helped with the move. I made do with the kids and felt I had the (slightly) easier job of watching the kids vs moving a house load of belongings.

We set off that Friday night and made our way to Logan. Casey was awesome enough to offer his help to David for the rest of the long weekend to put up the siding on his house. It's fun to see the progress on the house and the kids adore visiting and exploring the construction site. David and Anica have a ways to go, but they're progressing and my Dad is putting a lot of work in too. I'm excited to see it's progression and completion in the months to come!
The kids had a blast in the "powder" dirt surrounding the house. We ate our meals Saturday and part of Monday up at the house to help the boys out.

"Let's get to work!"

 

 "Let's get dirty!"

 

"Let's explore!"

Sunday we celebrated my Dad's birthday (even though it was Monday, Happy Birthday Papa Pill!! We love you Dad!) We had steak and some awesome dutch oven. My mom made her classic oatmeal cake (YUM!) and we enjoyed family time.
Monday the boys were back at work so we had a chill morning at my parents. After lunch at David's new house the kids along with my Mom and Katherine went to the Willow Park Zoo. They enjoyed themselves and liked the animals. Kendal was enamored with a King snake that a zoo employee brought out, and chatted with her / pet the snake for five minutes while I maintained my distance. (I seriously don't know who's kid this is sometimes.)

 

We made our way home after dinner Monday night to start a new school week on Tuesday. I had a dental appointment yesterday and will have my second ever cavity filled next month. (The kids and I have the good teeth genes; Casey not so much.) We're making our way towards fall and all that it brings; football games, cooler weather, school activities, pumpkins, Cody and Mia's wedding!, halloween, etc.