Here is our update:
Well, we are starting our third week of school. Everyone seems to be moving along nicely. I don’t know what is different, but this year, our school rhythm has been really nice. Not quite so frantic in the mornings. Part of that could be because I am finally sending the three oldest out the door at the same time! Emma is a senior and is enjoying a lighter schedule this year. She has three really hard classes and that is pretty much it. She is taking “Piano” as an online class, and all she has to do is practice thirty minutes a day. She loves to play, and so far it has been great. Julia is enjoying high school and her favorite class is painting. She is getting so good at it! Both girls look super cute every single day! They both made the varsity volleyball team and practice every day after school. As of now (things change rapidly with this coach), they are both going to be the middle blockers for the varsity. Go Jacobsen sisters!
Miles is doing such a great job at middle school. He is seriously LOVING Spanish class. You don’t have to take it in eighth grade, and both of my girls didn’t, but I had a sneaking suspicion Miles might like it a lot. And he does. He spends his free time on DuoLingo (a language learning website). He is also still doing his trumpet in the band, and he likes that too. He was a little nervous about P.E. this year, but so far he has had a lot of fun. They have been playing basketball, and he found out that when you are almost six feet tall in eighth grade, there are some distinct advantages. We also signed him up for rec Volleyball. He is really excited. I am going to be the coach. Miles and I have been practicing in the back yard, and he’s doing really well. The girls are so excited for him, and jealous that he is so tall with such long arms. They’ve been helping him too.
Austin is loving fifth grade. Everyone cheers when they see Austin. Everyone wants to invite him over, and his friends are constantly knocking on our door! We let them all come in, and I make them go swimming (which usually means borrowing Owen’s swimsuits! Ha ha!) He is so obsessed with computers, coding games, playing video games, and scheming up all sorts of things. Every single day, Austin gets in the car and has a plan for something. The other day, he wouldn’t stop talking about a SmashBros tournament. I let him talk about it for awhile, but then when I noticed him working hard making a flyer and all the brackets, I decided that I was proud of his initiative. So we invited fifteen boys over after school for the tournament. It was so wild! And nobody, including Austin, could beat Owen! Until the championship, when Owen finally lost to someone…the boys were screaming their heads off that someone had finally defeated Owen! Owen, of course, didn’t appreciate everyone cheering against him, and I found him later, crying. We had to have a talk about being a good sport, and how when you are really dominating everyone, sometimes everyone turns against you. That’s a hard thing to learn when you are ultra competitive, seven years old, and among fifteen ten-year-olds. Austin also got a lecture about sticking up for your brother. But USUALLY, Owen loves having all of Austin’s friends around. Owen just jumps right in the mix. And they are all his size anyway. Owen really likes his second-grade teacher. He pretty much passed off all of the second-grade stuff during his pre-tests, but oh well. He just keeps plugging along ahead of everyone. :) He is so excited to be on a soccer team with Greg as the coach. They had the first practice and he loved it. They got lucky and got the camoflauge uniforms. He couldn’t be happier!
Lance has started preschool again. He is as cute as ever. He finally got tired of watching video games and has now learned how to play them. Oh boy! But if I even get slightly mad at him if he throws a fit, he feels so sad. So now all I have to say is, “Lance, do you want me to be mad at you?” and he will quickly calm down and obey. He has been a super easy kid. Except for his eating! Still working on that one. But he happily goes to school and primary and even has a few friends that invite him over or they come here. It is so darn cute.
Everyone loves our Legos. Greg and the kids have so much fun working on them and dreaming up ideas for our city. It is a really fun hobby!
I am trying one last ditch effort with my back before I go back to a doctor. I’m trying to see if losing some weight and staying away from sugar will help. Blah! So far, it still hurts like heck. I am just learning to live my life with constant pain. And I am so thankful that I can still do so much! But, in the meantime, I’ve really kicked up the healthy dinners, morning walks, and MyFitnessPal. Greg and I are helping each other along. My back is a sad, sad trial in my life. But I have come to a better place about it, mentally. I’m no longer in the depths of despair. With some work, I can get functioning every day. So, that is good.
Other than that, I have been super happy lately! I love doing all of the mom stuff! I absolutely love taking care of these kiddos. It brings me so much joy. I love riding bikes with them to school, having cookies ready when they get home, swimming with them in the evening, sitting on the edge of the girls’ beds and talking through things, watching them play and practice, reading to them at night, teaching them piano, making our home comfortable, and welcoming them home every day. I am so blessed.
We are all SO excited for Brynn’s wedding. Our house and yard have been a beehive of activity getting things ready. It’s been awesome to check off some yard and house projects that Greg and I have been neglecting. This week we are going to string those cute lights across the yard and it will be magical! I’ve fallen in love with the power washer. Best thing ever! I want to power wash everything. Twice. We’ve got new pots, new plants, new rock, new trees, new lights, new pool lights, patio furniture that looks new (I polished every single piece! Whew!), new furniture in the house, and we’ve rewired a lot of our outdoor speakers that weren’t working right. Everything looks and sounds amazing outside! I am so excited for Saturday!!
Life is so good and so happy here at our house. We have our struggles, just like anybody else, but every morning, the sun rises, and we wake up pretty darn happy. :)
