#byebyesumma

 

I haven't had that feeling of sadness when it's "back to school" time. Summer is fun, but summer is rough. Trying to entertain these kids without much of a break is exhausting. My feelings may change when they go to school full time or leave for college, but for now I get a huge sense of relief when fall rolls around... except for my nausea I still get from being pregnant the last 3 of 5 falls. So random, I know. Joey is in pre-k and goes 4 mornings a week, Ray is in the old 3's and goes 3 mornings a week, and they all go to PDO (parent's day out) till 2 on Thursday. This was the first week Louisa didn't scream her head off the entire time at PDO! Instead of being the "weepy" girl, she was the "happy" and "active" girl. Their report cards crack me up!! Wahoo!!

 

I think I hit about 25/30 things on my summer bucket list. Once again, I never made it down to Mallow Winery, we didn't go strawberry pickin' and didn't catch a concert at Craig Park. Next year we will.

We wrapped the summer up by going to the in-law's condo on Lake Michigan. It was gorgeous and perfect, and the kids love every second up there. We did (extended) Matis family pics for the first time and the weather cooperated, which was amazing for a hot summer beach day.

 

 

 

 

Below is Joey's first day of school pic.

 I know, Louisa is sooooo cute... I hear it all day long... DO NOT LET HER FOOL YOU!!!!

She is so much crazier than the boys combined. She is at the rotten, terrible age where she can turn the house upside down in minutes, she wants her Daddy and nobody else all day, and as far as she's concerned I'm just "the help."

 

She has been a lot of fun to see how different girls are than boys at such a young age. She is very interested in lipstick, blush, painting her nails, babies, holding a purse, wearing sparkles, and brushing her hair, which is so interesting because the boys never got into those things. Lou Lou is a tough one though. She wants to be in the mix with the boys and won't even flinch after a big fall (unlike LJ who we are currently working on toughening up).

Ray is lllloooooooving school! He has been using his PBK's lunch box all summer as his briefcase, so once we got through to him that we needed to use it for food and take all of his junk out, he's been much better. The little guy will be on hoarders one day. As soon as he finds anything he wants (even if it's a strange piece of trash mail), he runs up to his room and stuffs it in his drawers. So instead of enjoying my time when the kids are at school, I rummage through his stuff trying to trash all of his junk, and if I'm lucky I may get a shower too.

Joey still tends to get sick a little more than the others. I remember when I used to get sick as a kid I would bring a sleeping bag to my dad's office and sleep under his desk all day. Last week when Joey was sick and I had to work, he dressed up and went to Dad's office all day, which he looooved!

Joey's Godmother, Tiffy, came in from LA and made a visit. We don't get to see her that often, but we light up when we do!

Last weekend we were able to go to my Uncle Joe's lake house on Sweetwater Lake. This is the same uncle I work for one day/week. He just bought a new place, and it was wonderful! The boys loved the lake, and especially loved hangin' with the cousins. I didn't realize they had never seen anyone tube before, so when Joey stepped on the backporch, he flipped out yelling "MOOOOOM, look at that boat pulling those people. They must have fallen off!"

Joey also set the record for youngest kid to jump off the high dive. He wouldn't tube, but loved the high dive. So strange.

 

This pic slipped into the mix. Our friends, the Kriner family, host the best summer pool party. I think there were 20 adults and 60 kids. I'm not kidding.

Below is some of the Meek cousins.... Garrett, Bryson and Ella (missing Kaden).

There's good'ol Uncle Joe with Lou. We were able to go to the IU vs. Navy football game last night with them also. The boys did fantastic for a 6pm game, and Joey slept with his IU football.
Melts my heart when they are inspired so easily.

 Things are a'changin' around here. We joined a new church and we love it! Big Joey and I are able to go to the gym for our Bodypump class every week and we love it! Ray's been going to food therapy and he loves it!

 

Looking forward to crazy October!! 2 out of state weddings, 1 in state wedding, 4 family birthdays and a trip down south!