What a wonderful start to our summer! The weather has been amazing and both kids are loving their break from activities and school. Honestly, I'm enjoying all this extra time with both my babies. It's been great slowing down and relaxing in the mornings and staying up a little longer in the evenings. I've missed having Cameron home during the days! I just need to figure out my grocery shopping without kids!
Natalie finished her last year in Ms Melissa's class (3-4 year old class) and had such a tremendous year of growing and maturing! She is looking forward to moving up to the PreKindergarten class in the fall - last year before kindergarten. In the fall she will be in the afternoon class 4 days a week, which is a huge jump from this year! Ryan and I thought it would be a good idea to help her transition to kindergarten faster. Cameron was overwhelmed by the amount of days a week kindergarten was - haha.
Natalie also finished up her ballet for the season and enjoyed EVERY SECOND OF IT!! She had her recital on the last day of school (Cameron's last day) and it was a success! It is so fun to see her blossom and turn into exactly who she is meant to be. She is the girliest little girl I have ever met! She will start ballet again in the fall when school is back in session.
Natalie is LOVING having Cameron home during the week days. I knew she missed him when we dropped him off at school, but seeing her joy while playing with him makes me so happy. I hope they always have this cute relationship - Natalie kissing and hugging on Cameron while he stiffens up and rolls his eyes! He even blushes a little.
Well people, we officially have a 1st grader in this house! Cameron finished Kindergarten with flying colors! He had such an amazing time and loved almost all of it. Not one time did he say that he didn't want to go to school. Not one time did he complain about homework. He enjoyed every subject that he was introduced to - art, STEM, PE, music, reading, writing and especially math. He scored above average in math and stated in his "writing workshop" journal that he can't wait for math to get harder! Definitely got that from his dad!
Not only did he succeed in his subjects, he also made great, organic relationships with teachers, staff and friends. This was the first time in his life that he was alone and had to make his own friends and formulate his own opinions on the people around him. He ran into challenging situations and people that are different than him, but instead of shying away from them, he asked us a lot of questions and made great decisions. This year he also worked on his patience level. Prior to Kindergarten, this kid had ZERO patience for anything or anyone. Because he had to work together with team mates and classmates this year, he now knows he needs to think like a team member, not selfishly. Sure, he got irritated when others didn't follow directions or they didn't succeed at a reward - but it forced him to either help or educate his classmates to work together.
Cameron was so lucky to have the best Kindergarten teacher at his school!! Not only was she structured, compassionate and highly educated, she helped us parents adjust to not being without our babies all day. I feel so blessed and honored to share Cameron with her this year. I really hope Natalie gets her when she is in Kindergarten! Actually, Natalie is demanding it! WE LOVE YOU MS MOSTI!!
The last couple weeks of school were jammed packed with activities! It was a little overwhelming but I'm so glad with did it all. Cameron's school had their annual carnival at the school with bouncy houses, games, live music and the reptile man!! All the kids had a blast and we will definitely be doing it next year! A couple days later, Cameron had his final Kindergarten field trip to Point Defiance Zoo. Both Ryan and I went on the field trip - which was a wet one - everyone LOVED it!! Ms Mosti paired Cameron up with one of his buddies, so it made the day so much fun. Both boys were easy to watch and always stayed close to us. We ended up grouping up with the rest of Cameron's friends (The parents were our friends too! Score!)
Ryan and I were able to sneak away one night and meet up with some of our cousins at the Mariners Game! We had such a great time - hoping to do this every year too. Not all of our cousins could make it out and I hope to plan a little better for next year!! That same week, Ryan and I attended a wedding of one of his childhood friends. We had so much fun and the wedding was absolutely beautiful! It felt weird having two nights in one week to ourselves - THANK YOU MOM!
I had my 6 week follow up for my hip this month too!! Everything checked out well and my x-rays came out clear. I was cleared to start my lower body rehab workouts this month. I'm 2 weeks into the rehabing (independently) and I'm struggling. I feel extremely week (I'm only lifting 22 pounds at this point). I need to give myself grace and remember that I started with only 5 pounds two weeks ago! It's going to be a long process but I'm confident that he knows what to do. I'm trying my best not to overdo it and take it easy when I came. I still push myself to the limit, which isn't the best. I go back for my 4 month follow up in October - Dr Bruckner said I would be able to do more cardio by then. I'm ok waiting for cardio - not my favorite!
Finally - We painted our house!!! It was a huge change - before painting, it was an awful tan color with chipped, white trim. Now it is a light grey body with dark grey shakes and plum brown door. I'm obsessed with it! Of course we asked my brother Ryan to come out and grace us with his talent. Cascade West Coatings did an amazing job and we can't stop staring at our "new" house! I'm so proud of the hard work Ryan did and does everyday. He is extremely talented and has a great personality to match. If anyone wants/needs their house painted, HIT HIM UP!!
I hope everyone has a great July and be safe! HUGS!
