Water Polo is Back

Elinor had her first water polo game of the fall season yesterday.  SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH! 

The cheering squad for the game-- which they won! 
Elinor swims high school swim team for Riverton, but during the rest of the year she is on a Herriman Aquatics swim team and water polo team.  So, she is looking forward to high school swim with Riverton, but right now, she's feeling pretty attached to her Herriman swim friends-- who will swim for Herriman High School.  She's not sure where her loyalties lie.  But then I remind her that she is a homeschooler and thus has no real allegiance to any school!  Ahh, freedom.

I was recently tutored by master yard sale shoppers.  I've never been a yard sale shopper and I admit, it never really appealed to me-- time wise or content wise.  But let me tell you.  THIS WAS FUN! We did find lots of good stuff,  and that made it worthwhile.  But that was nothing compared to the fun times with these gals learning "the art" of garage sale shopping.  Who knew there were such tricks of the trade! 

Abe and I sneaked away for a quick date hike.  Now that school and schedules are back in full swing, our hiking time is seriously curtailed.  I'm very happy to be back on schedule, but I will miss the hiking time. 

Abe's work had a fun party last weekend.  The kids couldn't get over the all-you-could-eat free shave ice.  They're pretty easy to impress!

And bouncy slides to their hearts content.

Faith celebrating her victory over Cannon in the inflatable race course.  Such a gracious winner!

The Joys of Life

It is stating the obvious to say that life isn't always happiness and sunshine.  There are dark days and weeks and months.  There are disappointments and frustrations.  Those times are necessary and we are humbled by them and learn from them.  I get that.  But I don't enjoy those times.  I do my best to struggle through them.  Sometimes I just wait them out, knowing that "the sun will come out tomorrow."
I say that because I am riding the high that comes with getting back into the routine of life and school and fall is coming upon us and I am enjoying this sunnier, happier time.  There have been times when I have hesitated to acknowledge the good times, in fear that rougher waters are just around the bend.  That's how it seems to go.  But if I don't celebrate and enjoy the good times, then I would feel unsettled  all of the time.  Instead I want to be happy when I am happy. 
That's a rather long explanation for what I'm about to do on this post.  I am going to shamelessly revel in the joy of family life and friendship that has been mine the last couple of weeks. 
You've been warned.

The joy of a beloved toy--Peter and his "Lizzy"-- who, for the record is a boy.  Yeah, we were all mistaken until he clarified.

The joy of a good joke--Finding this leaf bug on the ground on my morning walk and sending the picture to Elinor because she hates leaf bugs.  Too funny.

The joy of family dance parties at lunchtime...

...when everyone joins in.  I like how George is clobbering Peter with a sword. 

The joy of family love--big sister and little sister hugs. 

A middle schooler who is still as sweet as the day she was born-- just a whole long stronger with just touch more sass.

Space for creativity in school work-- Cannon made this lightening bolt after reading Greek myths about Zeus.

The joy of connections with friends--- helping Bethany answer Connor's homecoming query.  Aunt Candice (Connor's aunt) had to come along as well.  I can't say enough good things about my girls having Candice as a friend, mentor and confidant. 

The joy of working hard and seeing improvement-- Elinor has worked hard on her flexibility.

Singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to my sunshine.

The joy of craziness when we're all together and enjoying each other's company and just getting silly. 

The joy of unexpected, funny, strange happenings... when the two boys who are friends with  Bethany and Elinor had a wrestling match in the front yard.  Faith ran inside to get her mats.  It was sort of surreal and painful to watch, but so funny and destined to go down in Fox family lore. Both such good sports and for the record, the match was Ethan's idea, but Connor was victorious. 

I love that our little ones have so many big ones in their lives to play with them.  I love how much our big kids adore and enjoy their little siblings. 

The joy of friendships so rich, filled with so much history, it's hard to remember that you aren't actually related.  As if that matters.

The ones who have chosen to be a part of your life just because they love you and you love them.  More adults to love your kids.  More friends to support you through the ups and downs of life.  This group began as a "book club", but has become so much more. 

The joy of being loved just as you are.

The joy of experiencing life over and over again-- first for yourself and then through each of your children's eyes.
I read in a book this week -- "One of the great pleasures of being a parent is getting to grow up a second time, in another era, led by a small person with a sensibility that is quite different from yours."
The house is a mess.  The schedule makes my head spin.  The decibel level is off the charts.  But the love and the connections are real and this is joy.

Back to School 2018-2019

We started school on Monday and it is glorious!  I get that our "back to school" pictures don't really look like most families'.  But make no mistake, I am at least as happy as any other mom at back-to-school time.  Just like a public school family, we crave the schedule, the routine, the productivity, the purpose and the active use of brain power.  Everyone has been so happy and contented this week.

Tuesday morning Elinor and I left at 4:45 for water polo practice.  She was giddy with excitement to be starting polo back up for a shorter fall season.  We thought she was only going to be able to do 5 AM workouts on Tuesdays and Thursdays for water polo.  After further inquiry this week, we just found out she can do 5 AM swim workouts on MWF as well.  She was jumping for joy and squealing with delight when she got that news.  I am not being sarcastic-- she really was super happy.

What a weirdo!  I always knew homeschoolers were weird.

Weird, and super adorable and hardworking-- forgive the bragging, but it's my blog and I'll brag if I want to.  In addition to all her school work-- which is not small load, she works at Papa Murphy's and maintains her social life and we're just pretty darn proud of her.

 And she's just a lot of fun.  Yesterday she decided to take up the art of knife throwing in the backyard.  Why not? 

Cannon hit it hard back at ballet this week.  To quote him after his second day of class this week, "I JUST LOVE TO DANCE!"  He's in his happy place.  We are so grateful he is on a full tuition scholarship at Ballet West this year!  We really cannot complain about the driving when he have an opportunity like that. He has Nutcracker auditions coming up this Saturday, and then the driving gets serious.  Then I may have to complain a little😉

 And the boy does love to dance.  We had quite a downpour the other day,  and for Cannon, the rain was practically begging to be danced in. 

And in much the same vein as Elinor's knife throwing attempts, Cannon spent some time creating a Zendaya/Zac Efron (Greatest Showman) aerobatics pipe cleaner sculpture.  To quote a favorite family quote by Jim Gaffigan, "...because we like to use our time wisely."

Faith requested this hilarious "back-to-school" picture wearing these fox socks-- a little back to school gift from her best chum.

Mostly Faith is happy to be back to school because now her friend won't be traveling and camping as much and they will hopefully get to see each other more often.
Faith's fall activities will be her usual tumbling and a short cross country season.  She is happy to slowly be adding more of her two handed gymnastics tricks back into her workout now that she has her splint off.

I was impressed with her DNA double helix construct.

She's now a 7th grader-- not exactly middle school, since she is at home, but definitely not a little kid anymore.  Sigh.

George is 2nd grade.  The big thing coming up for George is his baptism-- September 1st!  We're all pretty excited for him.  Also, he will be starting his dance classes at Wasatch Arts Center next week.  He is going to join Cannon in Nutcracker auditions this Saturday.  He will be at the youngest age limit to audition, but we figured, if we're going to drive downtown that much, we may as well take two boys!  And, not surprisingly, they do need boys to audition!

Bethany is a senior. When the little ones are little and people tell you to enjoy them because it goes by so fast--- THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT!  Wow.  I am super happy about her, but not so much about the growing up so fast.  Here come college applications and plans for the next stage of life.  Deep breath.  We can do this.

Earlier this week she was asked to homecoming in the most out-of-this-world adorable way-- a clever, super thoughtful scavenger hunt, by someone who knows her very well.

Connor did well.  Really well.

Bethany and Elinor head over to the high school for the last period of each day.  On A days Elinor has the swim team class and Bethany does peer tutoring.  Then on B day they go for seminary.  

And who the heck is this kid??  He has been doing so well for the past couple of months.  He is communicating without screaming and giving loves to us all.  He's not just improved... it's like a whole new child.  I'm not sure what's made the difference, but I appreciate the calmer, more peaceful way of life like you wouldn't believe. 

He spends a lot of his time in the Lego pile.

It's hard to believe she is real.  She plays with toys all day.  She snuggles everyone.  All the girls like to be the one to get to do her hair each day. 

She likes to color and play with her puzzles and her button art.  Can I get five more just like her!!

In every way, it was a VERY GOOD start to the school year.  Good to be back!

The Elements Combined

As much as I've enjoyed hiking in the great outdoors this summer, I am still not a fan of camping.  I am not afraid of the discomfort for myself, but the idea of chasing a toddler and a wandering preschooler and keeping them safe, is just more than I can stomach.  So I encouraged Abe to take Team Middle Kids and Peter on a not too adventurous campout this past Friday evening.

It started out so well.  Treats and sodas.  They got the tent all set up.  Smiles all around.

A crackling fire that Faith started all by herself.

A visit to the nasty, scummy Jordan river.

It started to get dark...

...and then the elements-- earth, wind, fire, and water-- combined to doom the overnight camping trip.  Here Cannon is attempting to hold the tent from blowing away.  Abe's jacket and a camp chair got blown into the fire and went up in smoke.  Oh my.
SEE!!! This is why I don't want to go camping!
Abe and the kids came home and they watched another Harry Potter movie.  

Peter's Fourth Birthday

Peter turned FOUR last week.  I would say, "What?  He can't already be four?  My goodness that went fast!".  But I will not say any such things.  Rather, I say, "What?  He's only four?  Surely he's been here longer than that! "  

As has already been discussed many times, Peter is a force to be reckoned with and has had such an impact on our family.  The old saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" is more true than every with Pete. The boy said he wanted a "Snake Birthday".    So I made THIS.

Hours and hours.  It's made from Rice Krispies and covered in Reeses Pieces.  Which, for your information, have many more oranges and yellows than browns in each bag.  Just so you know.

I am ridiculously proud of it, I'll tell you that!

By the time we ate the day after we made it, the rice krispies were stale and it wasn't actually that tasty.  No matter.  It was a thing of beauty.  Faith was my main assistant in the kitchen.  She was a very patient girl.

What does one do at a "Snake Birthday?"  All of my creative energy went towards the snake cake.  So I was left with throwing plastic snakes into pots.  

I know... not my most impressive party game.

Abe used green table cloths to create a giant green snake that snaked around the family room for a "pin the tongue on the snake" game. 

Making snakes out of play dough-- always a winner.

As you may be able to tell from these pictures, these three little guys are all... shall we say... full of personality!  They are absolute adorable but also a good reminder of why I don't do four year old birthday parties.

But then we're back to the squeaky wheel factor and I am reminded that with Peter, I will probably end up doing a lot of things that are necessarily my first choice.  These powerful souls are very persuasive.

And we are so glad he is here, just as he is.  He's what we call a "power player".  There are challenges with such a strong will, but the rewards of such a personality are even more plentiful.

Happiest birthday to you, Peter.  We love you so much!  This is going to be fun!