First of School

School has started! This year was a big deal for both kids because this is a new school for KaeLynn and this year Daniel started Kindergarten. KaeLynn has done great with the new changes. The school day is longer then her old school, but she is taking it like a champ. Daniel on the other hand is not liking it. He has really hated school. He has tried running away from Cavan when they get there a few times, and hiding under his bed. This is a really long day for him. He went from a 3 1/2 hr day at preschool to a 7 hour day. Yes even the kindergartners go from 8:10-3:20 pm. He has had a couple good days. It will take time, but I know he will adjust. He is such a good boy. The school is close to us, so Cavan rides bikes with the kids to school and then I pick them up. This is such a smaller school then last years. KaeLynn went from having around 750 kids in her school last year to about 350 kids this year. We live in a much smaller community now and I love it!

 

Summer Time Fun

Even though summer never really ends in Florida, school has started and our lazy days are over. Here are some pictures from our first summer with baby Linden and in our new house. We went to Alexander Springs a lot this summer. This is our favorite place to snorkel. It is very kid friendly. Daniel is not a huge fan of the springs because the water is so cold, so we bought a raft for him to float on, and since then he has had a lot more fun. KaeLynn is my little mermaid. She absolutely loves snorkeling!! The water is 72 degrees year round which feels colder then it sounds, but she does not mind at all. She is pretty much in the water the whole time. 

Cavan and I went on a "tractor date" which was just driving down the road to put the garbage out with no kids. The kids could not believe we were "abandoning" them. 

I love KaeLynn's creativity. She wanted to make a water fountain. In my mind I thought I needed to look up plans online and follow instructions. But KaeLynn sees in her mind what she wants to do and does it. I love that she can simplify things especially when I over complicate them :) 

Linden at 4 months wearing KaeLynn's Barbie Sunglasses.

Daniel had his first visit to the Dentist this summer. He was really scared and anxious. I was worried that he wouldn't get in the chair, but KaeLynn went first which I think made him feel better. Once he sat down he was really cooperative and he did fine. Even better is that none of us have cavities! Hurray!!

4th of July

We had 4th of July again in Lake Helen. Our friend David throws a 

huge party. He lives right on Lake Helen where the city shoots off the fireworks, so we have front row seats! It was a lot better this year then last year. We started our day at the parade, then went home to rest up before the party. It was hot (of course) but there was a huge inflatable slip n slide that the kids loved. Cavan and I even played on it with the kids! Linden was a happy boy. He pretty much missed all the fun because he was sleeping in the house, especially when the fireworks started. It was so loud! It actually cooled down nicely at night, and we really enjoyed our holiday!

Linden's Baby Blessing

We recently did Linden's baby blessing at church. Cavan has a friend that takes pictures for a hobby, and he was willing to drive from Sarasota to take our photos. His name is Jack and Cavan met him when he was on his mission in New Jersey. Cavan gave a great blessing. After church we had my mom and step dad, and some friends over for a BBQ. It was a great Sunday!

Catching up

 One of the great things about having land, is there are more opportunities for my kids to learn how to work. Cavan gave the kids the assignment to unload the travel full of yard debri into the burn pile. I went out to help them and they both felt so discouraged thinking this task was impossible. But once I got them talking and worked with them, they couldn't believe how fast it actually went. Then to cool off we got a little inflatable pool. It's nothing to special but it did the trick, and we had a lot of fun playing in it afterwards!

Daniel lost his front teeth!

At first KaeLynn lost one of her baby molars, and then right after Daniel lost his front tooth. Then KaeLynn lost another baby molar, so we jokingly asked Daniel if his other front tooth was loose and it was! Then shortly after he lost the other one! He is so adorable. I love the way he talks now. 

Linden will be 3 months old in just a couple of days.At 2 months he weighed 17 lbs. He slept for the first time (8 hrs) through the night when he was 10 weeks old. He sleeps anywhere from 7-8 hrs straight since then. It is such a relief! He eats about every 2.5-3 hrs. I am completely done with pumping and he is exclusively on goats milk formula now. It is so much less stressful on me. He is smiling and laughing now. His whole face lights up when you come into his view and talk to him. He sometimes will take the binkie, but overall he is not very interested in it.

Life has been so busy! Cavan stays really busy always with some job to do outside after he gets off work. The other day kaeLynn saw Cavan mowing the grass on the tractor so she ran out there to ride with him. It is very sweet. And Daniel helped Cavan pressure wash around the property. Sometimes the kids really don't like to work, but other times they really enjoy it. Church has been so busy. I am the Young Women President and Cavan just got called into the bishopric. It is a good thing we were blessed with such an easy going baby! It makes doing service so much more enjoyable. 

I am really enjoying our summer schedule. I can't believe Daniel will be in Kindergarten next year and KaeLynn will be in 3rd grade!

Mothers Day Trees

This year I asked for a tree to plant for Mothers Day. I wanted to have something that we can look back on years from now and know that we planted it when we first moved in. Of course I wanted a Linden tree. I ended up getting 2 linden trees and 2 pine oak trees. We laughed when we saw them. They are just twigs! You can barely see them in the pictures we took. We really hope they grow! 

Another day at the beach

We have a good friend from Oregon visiting us and we took him to the beach. He really enjoyed the warm water! It was supposed to rain, but it turned out to be a really beautiful day. Linden was such a good boy! He was laying in his pea pod when a big gust of wind blew some sand on him. I was trying to wipe it away from his face and as I did he just kept giving me the biggest smiles. He is so sweet! KaeLynn and Daniel were fun to watch has they played together trying to boogie board. Then they were catching little tiny clams together. I just love these moments with my family ❤