... you know it's that time of year again: Back to School!!!
Ally is in 9th grade, Nicholas in 8th, Natalie in 5th, and Adam in 3rd.
Today was a crazy day for our family. Nick especially had a long day. He was gone from 7:30 this morning until 8:00 tonight. He had school, cross country, and soccer practice. Nick is such an easy-going kid. He never complains and seems genuinely happy to be active. He's growing like crazy. When I dropped him off this morning I heard a girl, who was walking behind him, say "Wow, Nick grew this summer!" As you can see in the picture above, he is now taller than his "big" sister. Nick will be busy this year with school, sports, scouts, and serving as 1st counselor in his Deacon's Quorum. I know he's going to have a great year!
Ally loves high school so far and felt comfortable with her classes. The only one she wanted to change was drama (she wants to take photography instead!) She's most excited about her Spanish class. I think she'll excel at learning a second language. A few years ago, I taught the children some basic sign language. We had a book we studied and I put up charts around the house. Ally loved it and continued to learn more words and phrases on her own. This summer, there was a hearing-impaired girl at Girl's Camp and Ally was able to use some of the sign language she learned. I think she'll take to Spanish like she did to sign language. Also keeping Ally busy this year will be seminary. It starts on Monday. Ally's amazing teachers stopped by a couple nights ago. They have such sweet spirits! I know they're going to be a blessing to Ally each morning. Ally is doing competitive club cheerleading and looking forward to trying out for the high school squad in the spring.
Natalie is most excited this year to be at the "top of the school" as a 5th grader. She loved going back to school and seeing all her friends today. Natalie is definitely the most social out of all of my children and very liked at school by her peers. She was welcomed back today with tons of hugs and kids calling out to her. She's excited to serve on the ASB again this year; mainly, because she loves doing the announcements over the PA system in the morning. We've been pondering a lot lately about what a good extra-curricular activity would be for her that won't aggravate her asthma. We discussed options and prayed about it and decided she should sign up for a dance class. She wants to do jazz. I think this will be a good match for her.
Adam (also known as "coco" or "the baby of the family") also had a fabulous day. He has probably the BEST teacher at his school, Mrs. Skeman. Adam loved her instantly. I know he's going to have a great year. He starts soccer this week and will be busy with that and cub scouts.
The night before school started our wonderful home teacher came by and gave each of the children a blessing. The spirit was so strong that night. I was especially touched how each blessing was tailored to each child. I have no doubt that our Heavenly Father loves us and knows us individually.
The lazy days of summer are over, but there are no 4 people I rather be "busy" with than Ally, Nick, Natalie, and Adam. "I believe that the ultimate treasures on earth and in heaven are our children." Elder Dallin H.Oaks.
