Bus

My almost 5 year old rides a city bus to school.

But it's okay because her 6 year old brother gets her to school and then to her classroom everyday.

All jokes aside, I was really nervous about this but there are so many parent's who have stepped in and offered to help. Because I am on my own from about 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Lucy sleeps until 8:00 a.m. I can't take the kids to school. The city bus only takes elementary kids and there are only two stops between our stop and the school. I help them cross the street and then send them on their way. Other parents at the stop make sure they get on the bus and then parents walk Dallin home after school. Parent's in Jocey's class and a few of my dear friends have so generously offered to take turns bringing her home.

I am impressed with Dallin and Jocey's independence and obedience - I pray that they will make it to school and home safely everyday. Dallin makes sure Jocey is at her door when the bell rings and then he runs to his classroom (some of the mom's told me, that is how I know he followed our instructions).

Our family sees first hand, everyday, the kindness in everyone around us and we are so so lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful people!

Overheard

Me: Jocey, how was school today?

Jocey: I don't know.

Me: Did you learn anything?

Jocey: Yes, we learned numbers and letters.

Me: Was it easy or hard?

Jocey: Easy peas-y lemon squeazy!!

I also got a text from my friend, yesterday morning. It said something like, "I just dropped off _____ and I saw Jocey playing on the kindergarten playground and she was chasing Charlie, haha, the crush never died!" Thankfully, Charlie isn't in Jocey's class but he does play on the same playground. It wouldn't be such a big deal if she just smiled at him once in a while but she chases him around constantly and hangs on his arm. (we have since discussed some boundaries)

Dallin came home from school yesterday with a different pair of pants. My heart started beating fast and I was scared to find out what happened. I was talking to a mom and he walked past me and casually said, "Hey, Mom". I finished talking to the mom and then followed Dallin into the house. I asked him what happened to his pants, he said that he spilled some gel at school and it got all over his pants. *Sigh of relief.

Gone Fishing

Lucy is completely fascinated by this game.

She dropped the fishing pole first thing.

she totally cheats - and she wears belly shirts:).

We are 100% okay with it.

Uncle Jay and Aunt Laura

had a few days off between semesters, so they came to visit us for a few days. How nice of them! Lucy loved Jay's hair on his legs, she kept rubbing them.

*Laura didn't find her wedding ring that she lost at our place in February, maybe next time?

**Lucy received Grover in the mail from her McKinney cousins (pictured above) and she loves it!

***Also, Jaci Barrows! I tried to text you but I found the Abby Cadabby helicopter toy, it was sitting on top of another building's mailbox-in it's package, of course! Thank you so much! I think she held it for two days straight before she would play with anything else:)

First Day

Lucy was so sad all day, I think it was because her brother and sister were gone most of the day. They both loved school, even though their backpacks and most of their new school clothes haven't been delivered to our home...but their lunch boxes came just in time! Jocey told me she was shy today but she won't be on the 3rd day of school and she packed her own snack for tomorrow, I could really get used to that. Dallin told me that his teacher really is strict and when I picked him up he was disappointed because he wanted to ride the bus- he even brought his token to get on the bus.

We love the schools here, they are phenomenal and the teachers are even better.

P.S. Summer decided to make its way to Northern Cal. Go away! This 80 degrees is way too hot and Lucy doesn't do as well when it is hot! We want our temperate weather back!

Up High

When Lucy feels tough she lifts her hand in the air like this until we all cheer for her.

You can tell by her expression how proud she is of this

and she is the cutest girl ever.

So sad...

Angela, my sister, has been here since the end of April. Her help has been huge for all of us. My stress levels and work load had a vacation but we are so so so sad that she is going back to school, I tried to talk her into going to Stanford:)

If I think about her being gone, I may cry, mostly because she one of Lucy's top 3 favorite people in this world.

Come back soon, "Ashg".

Bath

We took Lucy to one of our favorite beaches. We like it because it is very accessible and it has this little cliff where she can sit on the bench and watch the ocean and Dallin and Jocey running around on the beach.

She really wanted to go by the water, watching just wasn't enough.

We wrapped her up like a burrito and Chad took her down by the water. That isn't really what she wanted, she wanted to go "fassss" so he ran her up and down the beach.
She loved it.

She calls the ocean "bath".

This girl needs to get out a little more:)

Climbing up the mountain top...

X marks the spot...

Lucy giggles so hard when we do things to her back.

*It is so weird for me to see her sitting up.

She also likes any type of movement.

This is called "Flying" or in Lucy language "FY".

She doesn't even mind her cheeks being squished by her daddy's shrek hands.

Chad and I went to breafast this morning and the store that carried the last few things I needed to get for Dallin's school supplies was across the street. They had lots of Sesame Street characters. We were so excited to bring Abby home. She was excited too, just not in this picture:(

As promised...

Some of Lucy's words and a lot of her personality.

If you endured that 5+ minute video, here is a treat from #2.



Here is the link for this one. It is bugging me too, that the videos are blurry.

Some things make Lucy really happy

like making her princesses dance...

(she twists her wrists, but I have to hold her arms up because they are just too heavy for her -sometimes she lifts her arms and she will hold it while we cheer her on, she is very proud of her abilities)

and then she likes to make their heads "bonk".

Somethings make Lucy really mad...

like suctioning with the olive tip...
suctioning with the catheter...

and her cough assist.

She is so patient and cooperates most of the time but sometimes she gives us crusty looks and refuses to open her mouth.

Last night she was VERY happy at 10:00 p.m. (way past her bedtime) when we got home from a movie.

Aunt Melanie doesn't like Lucy to cry so she plays with her until she goes to sleep.

They were watching Barney and Sesame videos and she was wearing a size 0-3 tie-dye onsie.

She was very very happy. I think she was happy when I sang to her and laid her down for the night, too.

Will Someone

Please Tell Our Friends To Stop Moving?

We Really Don't Like Them To Leave.

Pretty sure I left several out...

Candice and Bryant are just moving across the Bay but they were our closest neighbors and we will miss seeing them at the park, their fun drop-ins, treats and their smiling faces. They were always there for us, watching our kids, staying with Lucy in the morning so I could go help Dallin's art class, Candice (a pediatrician) would come and check Lucy when I wasn't sure if I should take her in, the list goes on and on.

We were lucky to go out to LuLu's on the Alameda with them before they left- pictured above.

Lucy loves...

Holding "hans" on our way home from the park - per her very own request.

Sleeping with Elmo - who likes a binky, just like her!

Sometimes she doesn't want to sleep by ANY friends.

Her hair dryed. I got this idea from Gwendolyn. Lucy totally loves it (and it tames her hair a little).

And she loves watching Dallin and Jocey dress-up and pretend, she is mesmerized by Dallin's mask.

Summer

is almost over, I can't believe it. I was worried about the summer but now I am worrying about the school year and how I am going to get my kids to and from school. I mostly wanted D and J to spend time with Lucy, which they did, but they can't spend all of their time inside so I signed them up for a couple of camps. I didn't get any pictures except for Jocey's Dance Camp (Chad reminded me to take the camera)

I think her favorite part was looking at herself in the giant mirrors.

She really liked the gymnastics portion and she practices the things she learned all day. Everyday.

Overheard

Lucy: Mom...Moommmm...Mom.

Me: What Lucy?

Lucy: Cookie

Me: You want a cookie?

Lucy: Yesthths

The poor girl wants to eat anything and everything and everytime I give in it ends up a scary choking episode.

Video of Lucy coming soon.

My friend, Liz, took some family pictures. She did such a good job, especially with what she had to work with!

This picture makes me laugh because the sky was so bright, it hurt so bad to open our eyes, Jocey's expression is just how I felt. Ha!

Thanks, Liz.

A need for speed

Tonight was Lucy's first time riding bikes.

She loves to go "fasss" (not just on bikes but in the car and her wagon, too).

(Do you like how I volunteered Chad to ride a very small bike? Ha!)

She loved this 150% (even though she looks like she is daydreaming in this picture), I am trying to figure out how to take her on a run, she likes that too, but I can only go so fast and so far, pulling her red wagon and I don't think she can tolerate sitting up in my jogger.

She didn't want to stop and she gave Chad a crusty look when he took her out so we did what any good parent would do and put her back in and I pedalled her home while Chad followed close behind, just in case we needed her machines.

Not a fence sitter.

Lucy either really likes something or she hates it.

She loves reading.

She will say "book" over and over and over until you read to her.

Before you finish the book, she will start asking for another.