Day-Lee Life: Catching Up

Where Has the Time Gone...
I can hardly believe how much time has passed since my last blog entry. Life got a little crazy in the Lee household with the kids starting school at the end of August and preparing for Amanda's arrival. I had every intention of staying current and posting photos of how we spent our last weekends of Summer vacation, documenting Kendall starting Kindergarten, preparation of house for the addition of our 4th child, kids' sporting events, etc, etc.

I'm going to try something new though...instead of beating myself up over all the areas I've fallen short and dwelling on what hasn't gone the way I wanted or planned the last few months, I'm going to put one foot in front of the other and keep walking and plugging along the best I can as I adjust to life as a mom of four and journey through this particular time in our life. In other words, I'm going to be still, rest in God, pray fervently, and accept the grace and mercy that's already been provided. Here is what has been going on the last couple of months. I will make a seperate post for the biggest change in our life...Amanda's arrival.

Final Days of Summer

We had to squeeze in a couple more trips to the beach. The last weekend before school started we went with Aaron & Tracee and their kids. We love spending time with my brother & sis-in-law and seeing the cousins play together.

Aunt Tracee found a gently used wetsuit and bought it as a gift for Rebecca seeing how much she loved being in the ocean body surfing. I hope to get one next summer so I can join her!

Kendall buried in sand...that was fun to clean all of that sand out of her body :)

I think she had them bury her 3 times this day.

Ethan's turn to get buried in sand.

Not a pic from the beach but another day this Summer with cousins. We had them line up by age for the photo as we walked to a neighborhood park together. (L-R: Emily, Noah, Rebecca, Ethan, Luke & Kendall)

Fort City
The kids love to make forts. It's not unusual for me to come home and find the living room or one of their bedrooms transformed into a huge fort. Many days this summer, this is what I would see when I first got home from work. A part of me cringes at the mess but the larger part of me fondly remembers doing the same as a kid with my brothers and Mom letting us. It really does keep them occupied for hours and isn't too bad to clean up.

The outside of their fort.

The inside of their fort.

First Day of School
I am so glad I took a vacation day so I could take the kids on their first day of school. Typically I just go into work late on the first day but since Kendall was starting Kindergarten, I really wanted to be there during drop off and pick up. She was assigned an afternoon Kindergarten class so it didn't make much sense to go back and forth across town to my office in downtown Fresno. It was a special day for me to see their sweet faces all excited that morning and at the end of the day when school was out.

We were not thrilled to find out on first day of school that Kendall's class was a combo K/1st grade but after hearing how the day is scheduled, how small the class was, and that she would primarily spend her day over in the Kindergarten room with the same teacher Rebecca had we were fine with it.

Kendall with Ms. Jackson, 1 of 3 teachers she has each day. She loves each one of them and being a big Kindergartener!

My three cutie pies with their new backpacks they each picked out.

Soccer, Volleyball and Cross Country...Oh My!
Rebecca & Ethan couldn't wait to sign up and begin Fall sports. I was suprised Ethan wanted to run Cross Country. I didn't realize he liked to run that much but when I asked him if he knew that was long distance running and not the same as Track and Field that Rebecca did last year, he said he knew and really wanted to participate. I tell you, I don't think I'll ever have this boy figured out :)

Rebecca loved soccer last year but wanted a team a little more competitive. She tried out for Century Soccer and was placed on the U12 team. She LOVES it and it has been fun to see her quickly gain new skills and play better each week during the games. She typically plays the midfield position and while it is a lot of running she likes all the action she gets. Being in 5th grade she was eligible to play Volleyball this year. Her biggest hurdle was confidence and learning to get her serve over the net. Uncle Matt coached girls volleyball at his school for 7 years so one Saturday he gave her some really good tips and immediately she was seeing results in practice and in games.

Between practices & meets/games, the kids have kept us busy the first few months of the school year. I'm just thrilled I've been on maternity leave the last month and been able to see every one of their games and even volunteer to help during Ethan's home meets. I have cherished this time knowing it will quickly pass.

Ethan on the last part of the race. So proud he ran the entire time in every race and never got discouraged not placing in the top. He just seemed to enjoy being on the team and running and that's enough for me!