Hill Family: September 2012

Oh my goodness! September has flown by! I can't believe how crazy life is with school being back in session. I think I will appreciate my summers a lot more after this school year!

I knew before school started that it was gonna be crazy...but wow! We are just in and out all day long! I think our garage door is going to need a new motor before the year is up! Anyway, it is all worth it because Alora and Caleb are both doing great!

Alora is absolutely loving kindergarten. I take her in the mornings and she rides the bus home in the afternoons (which works out great because it's only kindergartners and it gives me more time). She is so smart and is learning how to write her numbers better and is learning the sounds and even how to read a little bit! She is making new friends and really is the model student (just like her mommy)! We are so proud of her and love seeing her come home so excited every day. She also played her first soccer games this month. She does pretty well at it, but I think we are going to explore some other things (like gymnastics and music) just to see what she really loves.

Caleb is doing so well in school this year! He has the same teachers and is in the same classroom, which I think has really helped him get back into his routine again. I can't believe how far his language has come! It's almost like now he knows that he can talk and communicate that way...so he is! For example, Caleb asked at dinner a few nights ago "Can I have more bread please, mommy?" It was great! And then today as I was picking him up at school he was trying to blow up a balloon and he said "I can't do it, Mommy." We are so proud of him! He is such a funny boy and as much as he tests our patience sometimes, he makes us laugh and brings us so much more joy! He is also doing great with his potty training! We are looking forward to all the milestones that he will reach this year, especially with as well as he is doing already!

Emily is two going on twelve (at least that is what she thinks)! Emily's schedule is so crazy with us running around all the time that naps are now few and far between. Half the time she ends up sleeping in the van after we take Caleb to school. She is starting to talk in two and three word phrases and is definitely trying to find her independence! She is pretty stubborn and is really beginning to know the timeout spot well. She absolutely loves Minnie Mouse and gets so excited whenever anything minnie (or mickey) is around. She is getting to the point where she is starting to pretend and will act like a dog sometimes (just like Alora). We love seeing her grow and are really excited for her to learn more words and communicate better.

Anyway, at the beginning of the month we spent the Labor Day holiday in Idaho Falls. It was so great to see Matt's folks and to just relax a little bit! We went to the Fair and the kids absolutely loved it! They got to ride the ponies and see all the animals and of course the food was great! We also spoke in church last weekend and from all the compliments we got I guess we did okay! In between all of that we have been busy working, taking care of kids, and just trying to keep up with everything. And if that isn't enough Matt decided to go back to school and get his BS in Applied Management. So, he will begin that three year journey in October. Whew! We are exhausted but making it work somehow.

A couple of other things that happened are that first of all we are renting our basement to Matt's coworker (Greg). He is currently going through a divorce and was living in his camp trailer (Matt knows what that is like) and needed a place to live short term while he figures out what he wants to do (stay in Utah, go back to Minnesota, go to Washington). So Matt offered our basement and he is now living down there. It helps us out so much and is such a great blessing! I hope he can stand our chaos upstairs because we really don't mind him down there.

The other thing is that we got a kitten. Well, we actually got two kittens. The first one (George) we adopted from the Humane Society. However, after having him for a couple days we found out that he was sick and they ended up having to put him down. Caleb loved that cat, so it really was sad for us. So we found a cat advertised on KSL in South Weber and he is great! The kids love him and he has such a wonderful personality. He gets along great with Lucky and really is fun to have. Alora names him Pickles and it really fits him somehow! We now feel like our family is complete!

Here are pictures from this month!