Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful for the amazing group of teachers Kael has this year. I went to his Back to School night on Monday and was so impressed with all of them.  I think it's going to be a great year for him!

I'm thankful we survived this week! Between having kids in three different schools and also having my own preschool Meet the Teacher and Back to School nights- it was a busy week! Thankfully, Kent could hold down the fort at home while I made it to all (but one) of the meetings.  We are really looking forward to Kael's football game tonight, the Jag/Hawk football game tomorrow night and a long weekend!

Happy Thursday, all!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Summer may be over but we are still having tons of outdoor fun around here!

Thursday morning we met my mom and dad and the cousins at the park.  So fun.

Later, Kase's friends had plans to meet up at Big Creek so Kylee came along and brought a friend too.

It was the perfect way to spend the last day of summer!

Later that evening Kael had his football team introductions and scrimmage.

So, so proud of this kid! We had a lot of fun watching him.

Love that he's part of the team and that he got in to play even though he's had to miss a few practices because of recently getting ingrown toenails cut out- ouch!

Friday was the first day of school! Kase later told me the best part of his day was wearing his new tennis shoes.  He also filled out an "All About Me" paper and the question said, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Kase answered, "Me."  I love that.

Kael, looking SO grown up! Freshman year!

Kylee ready to start a new chapter at middle school!

The neighborhood gang.

Kylee is riding her bike to school with her friends this year so we gathered for a quick group picture before the girls took off.

I had CPR training that morning at preschool but got home in enough time to catch Kase at recess! He happily waved.  More friends gathered to "spy" on their kids during the day.  I always love the first day of school.

That night Kael had a sleepover at his buddy's house.  Loving this group of friends for him.

Saturday morning we did the Ankeny School Foundation 5K!

I couldn't believe Kase ran the entire thing!! He just took one very quick break to use the bathroom along the way but he finished in 27 minutes! I was struggling to keep up!

Kylee was way ahead of us and finished in 24 minutes- first in her age group! Kase was third in his group.

Love our running friends!

A great turnout from Prairie Ridge school!

Kent volunteered the event and I'm so glad he encouraged us all to register.  Kael was still at his friends house or he would have done it with us too!

Later that day Kase played with a friend allll day.

And the rest of us went golfing! Then we had family pizza and movie night- just what we needed!

Sunday we checked out the Central Iowa Air Show! It was really neat. We spent the rest of the day hanging around home and the kids played with friends.  It's going to be a long week- a full week of school, but we are ready!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for my zoo of a house.  We spent the summer with this place full of kids, inside and out.  I love that kids enjoy being here and I love being the "yes" mom.  Yes, you can have a Gatorade.  Yes you can come inside and play.  Yes, I will load you all up and take you to the pool. This summer, more than any other, my kids all just went outside and played.  And friends gathered.  And there were impromptu fire pit nights.  And it was wonderful.

I'm also thankful that one of the parents watching from the park commented, "That's so cool of Kael to play with the little kids and he's also actually throwing it to them- he doesn't only throw to the big kids who he knows could score a touchdown.  What a great kid." I know Kael's a great kid and it means a lot to me when others notice too.

I'm thankful for this cousin crew and for my parents helping out watching all the kids on Monday!

I'm so thankful for these hilariously awesome photos.  They all look like they are having so much fun together.

I'm thankful Kase didn't hurt himself while flexing this hard.  I hear he did give himself a bit of a headache.  Ha!

I'm so thankful Kael got his ingrown toenails taken care of and so thankful he is recovering well! What a trooper.  He never complains.

I'm thankful for this sweet group of girls and thankful for a fun beach day!

I'm thankful for blindfolded makeovers and late night cookie baking.  This is the good stuff, friends. These really are the days.

I'm thankful that Kylee stumbled upon a bunch of old pictures and cards she had made when sorting through her keepsake tub the other night.  She had wanted to find all her race bibs to hang up and also found a big container of things she had made when she was little.  We had the best time looking through everything and enjoying the memories!

I'm thankful that Back To School is tomorrow.  We've had a great summer and now I'm ready to get everyone back on a schedule!