School's out for Summer!

We have officially made it through the school year!  Hyrum had a pretty relaxing week and apparently on the last day of school had five...yep that's FIVE popsicles.  He said his teacher had a lot of leftovers and they got to eat them until they were gone.  The last day of school was an early release and so he got home a couple hours earlier with a big smile on his face.  It's been a year of growth for all of us and I know that Hyrum is glad to have the summer.

 

We lived for Friday (the last day of school) at our house.  The kids did plenty of outside play and some creative play.  I love these brain flakes.  Lila made a very complicated design, her first.  Hyrum made a train.  It's a little hard to see, but it's accurate.

Hyrum has enjoyed his first couple of vacation days.  I'm sure it will be short lived, but he has been calmer, happier and less emotional.  He has been reading up a storm again.  He finished up swim lessons this week.  He didn't level up, but he was killing it with his turbo kicks during his last lesson.  I think he finally figured out how to kick his legs.  He has made so much progress in a few short months.  He went from literally sinking to the bottom of the pool and needing a floaty at all times to no floaty and able to swim short distances.  The other big news  for him, is that he will be homeschooled next year.  It was something that Tim and I had talked about, but in the last few weeks it just became something that we felt needed to happen for him next year.  There are lots of reasons and we anticipate this being something we address each year as we move forward.  I will say that our biggest goal is to work on emotional development.  We told him today that he would be homeschooled and his response was, "Yes, it's what I wanted!"  Hopefully, he keeps that attitude, but I'm a realist.

Lila has been exerting her independence more and more.  She likes to say no or do the exact opposite of what we ask.  I do think her meltdowns are easier to manage than Hyrum's, or maybe I'm just used to it how and nothing phases me.  We have been working on her speech for a long time and we are starting to see some improvements with some of the more difficult sounds.  She was able to correctly say the word "with."  She struggles with both the 'w' and 'th' sounds.  She was so proud of herself and we were too.  It's hard to understand or be understood with you have a speech delay.  She also finished swim lessons.  She has made a lot of improvements as well and we are so happy that she enjoys swimming.

Liam is chattering up a storm.  He has started to string two words together, like mama help.  He reminds we a lot of Hyrum at this age.  Hyrum spoke much clearer, but loved to talk just like Liam.  He loves jumping, kicking, and throwing.  He's got a pretty good arm!  He is getting into slides and is more independent even with the big ones.  Honestly, he just loves being outside.  He beelines it to the door if we say the word out or if he hears the door open.  All of my kids love being outside and it's a little exhausting because I usually need to be outside with them.  I look forward to the day that we have a fence or live in a location that doesn't have crazy drivers.  He still does well in nursery, which I am grateful for.  I'm pretty sure he is getting ready for another growth spurt, because he is packing on the food.  I think the other two are as well.  When they start asking for two breakfasts and seconds or thirds at dinner it's a pretty good indicator that I'm about to have to go through all the clothes and shoes again.

Friday after naps I took the kids over to play at a playground near our house.  We had a lovely surprise of bunnies!  Hyrum found two almost immediately and we found two more as we were playing.  We had to have a discussion about leaving wild animals alone and how to be soft.  

Saturday was a packed with fun!  One of the last major parks that we wanted to check out was Pullen Park.  It's was one of the first public parks to be created over 100 years ago.  They have nice playgrounds, a train, pedal boats, and a carousel.  The kids had a blast.

They got some early practice in playing with sand.  We have one week until we head to the beach.  

We did the train and carousel and the kids were all smiles.  I had to pry Liam's hands off the carousel.  He wasn't happy about getting off.

We came home did naps and then watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  We recently read the book and decided it would be fun to watch it.  I don't think they liked the movie as much as they book.  Tim took them to another playground afterwards.  There was plenty of sun and fun on Saturday.

Sunday was calmer than the last.  We didn't have any issues with teachers and I feel like the other presidency members are getting the hang of things.  There are lots of little things that they will have to learn as they go, but I am feeling less pressure from the primary machine.  Tim finishes up residency this coming week.  He finished up his last night on Tuesday morning and had an easier clinic week.  He said good bye to his patients at his continuity clinic on Friday.  It feels surreal that we are almost done.  We have been on this journey for our entire marriage and there is so much that will happen in the next year as we transition to post residency/fellowship life.  Tim is definitely ready to move on to fellowship.

Until next week!