Life As We Know It

And just like that, Back to school, 2015-2016 starts today! We have been blessed with finally being settled in Tallahassee, and that includes returning to the same schools as last year. We are so excited to see what this year holds, and also have our routines back in place. It was a good Summer, that went by very quickly, and now I think we are all ready to get back into the swing of things. Izzy was a tad bit nervous this year, mostly about not "knowing any friends" from last year, but she recognized at least 2 faces in her class, so that will help. Also, her teacher this year is Ms.Greene, who was a substitute teacher for her some last year. She seemed to take a lot from Izzy's K teacher, including her homework book and behavior charts -2 things I really loved about K last year. Also, she is single! (2 of Izzy's 5 teachers last year had babies...so hopefully we won't have any maternity leave issues this year!) I was most relieved by that! We wer...

This year, my Mom's side of the family, the Lock's were able to enjoy the first week of August together. Not everyone was able to make it, but we still were so happy to see many of our family that live way up North! My family drove overnight, 20 hours from Tallahassee, to my Aunt Bem's house in Welland On, Canada. They have 4 kids, 2 pets and were gracious enough to let us stay with them throughout the week. My kids love all of the Wirkky kids and that allowed for us to enjoy plenty of resting, visiting and several outings together too. My Mom & aunt Becky & uncle Malvin from TN came up on Saturday as well and they stayed just down the road with Nana. We of course started our daily Tim Hortons' runs and let the kids play at the park that first day. We were able to enjoy worship at Tintern, followed by a brisk cool swim in the Welland Canal on Sunday. On Monday, we went over to the Niagra, NY and enjoyed sightseeing at the Americ...

Downtown Tallahassee has a wonderful little fountain hidden away for the kids, called Cascades Park. We headed downtown one nice Summer evening and the kids enjoyed cooling off in the fountains and just chasing each other. We got to sit back and hang out a bit, which tends to be a rare thing for us. Florida trees are usually covered in moss. I like it. This is the Fl.State Capital building... It's pretty hot these July Summer days, but spending time in water is definitely the smart way to spend the Florida Summer! Cascades Park, Downtown Tally Thirsty Levi Run, Forest, Run! I just prayed they wouldn't fall or bust their rears while running on wet concrete...we got lukcy this time. It really is a wonderful thing to have a sibling friend! Our sweet, happy campers.  A family date night is always enjoyed by all!

Most kids, including our Levi, don't just make words up if they do not know the name of something. Most kids say something like, "what's-that-called" mid-sentence. Izzy, however, being ever-confident will just improvise words and say whatever sounds like it/or whatever comes to mind. I thought she would have grown out of this quirky habit, but we continue to laugh daily about her funny vocabulary. Lately, I die every time I hear her sing the books of the B-I-B-L-E! Her version of the he books of the Bible/Old Testament is the FUNNIEST thing ever! Since she was 2, she has been saying: Izzy's version: Can I watch a commer-CHIN-NAL? She means: Can I watch a commercial? When She was 3, she said Izzy's version: Mom, I need my GOBBLES for swimming. She means: Mom, I need my goggles for swimming. Izzy's version: You are making me NERVOUS She means: You are getting on  my nerves Izzy's version: FIRE-SUBWAY is the best. She means:...

Levi and Izzy have always been blessed with good health. Izzy breastfed a year and Levi, for 20 months. I was so happy that we rarely had to go to the Pediatrician in Nashville, except for well-child visits and the occasional cold. So it was quite a shocker to have to go to the Dr so many times for being "seriously sick" this last year, and in a new town with a new Dr, no less! Thankfully, I found a wonderful family doctor, who we all see, and it has been a huge blessing. I could call her office and she would see us all in 1 visit if needed, or call in antibiotics if it was late...She knew when I called it meant the real deal and took us seriously. After a year of living in Florida, Levi, at the age of 3, had surgery earlier in June to take out his tonsils and adenoids.  Sadly, we have had the worst luck with getting recurring strep infections since moving to Tallahassee. I personally, am convinced that when our little thumb-sucker, Izzy started Kindergarten (ye...

The first 2 weeks of Summer included swim lessons for our kiddos, which made the transition from school to summer absolutely FLY by. I'm really thankful we did them though.   Izzy,(who is now 47" tall) had never had official lessons but tells everyone she can swim. Our girl does not lack for self-confidence in ANY way! I was leary of her saying that on the first day, but then so proud when she was pretty much doing what the girls who had lessons for 2 or 3 years could do. By the end of the two weeks, she knew how to do backstroke and butterfly strokes. Now that we are done with lessons, she seems to prefer swimming underwater, without strokes & just kicking, so I keep reminding her to do strokes. She gets annoyed with me. (I feel like a mom of a teen already sometimes)... She is very comfortable jumping off the diving board and swimming across the deep end! Makes me happy that I don't have to worry as much about her in the water now. Le...

We have had the busiest 2 months ever lately, and I ended up planning Izzy's party a bit last minute, but that didn't stop us from throwing another fun birthday party for our sweet little girl! We celebrated Izzy turning 6, Frozen style this year! And she had the best time! The kids had swim lessons in the morning, then everyone showed up for some burgers, hot dogs, (which Daddy cooked up-Yum!), and a ton of some yummy food/snacks that were inspired by Frozen. After that, the girls got to decorate their own cupcakes. They were able to make some fancy, extremely well iced cupcakes to their delight. The cake was fun to make, and I also made cupcakes for the girls to decorate. We did the cupcakes first and after eating lots of icing the girls weren't too interested in eating my fancy purple & blue cake. They little boys, however liked it quite a bit. They were digging their hands into it while the girls moved onto opening up gifts...and no one really st...