Starting New Routines and Schedules

I'm going to start this post with Sunday, not my usual Monday. Sunday was a big day for our family. Our records got read in here in the ward and right following, Matthew was called and sustained as the second counselor in the Elder's Quorum. When we got the message Monday after we returned to America that a member of the Stake Presidency wanted to meet with us, we were nervous! The stake didn't even have our records back, but we were on the watchlist. I am excited for Matthew to serve and I think he is looking forward to serving as well! Matthew was set apart after Sacrament meeting, and the boys did really good at being reverent during it. Jay even gave Uncle a hug afterwards, he walked through all the men in the circle and went to Uncle, it was very sweet. Matthew had a quick presidency meeting and we joined up with Sam (aka Auntie) and Max (Uncle and Auntie's son) in Uncle's truck. We were able to visit and catch up and pass the time while we waited for Matthew to finish meetings. We were so excited to have Grandpa and Grandma came for dinner on Sunday afternoon. Since Hugh wasn't feeling well, he wasn't as excited to see them as usual, but Jay was beyond thrilled. He couldn't wait to show them the basement and play! Grandpa went down the slide which Jay thought was very cool! We had fajitas, a delicacy we missed greatly while we were in Germany. I also baked brownies, another thing we haven't had in a few months. It was so great to visit with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoy their company for a little longer. Matthew is being promoted this fall to Manager at KPMG and he finally got to tell his parents. We are excited and feel very blessed to get this promotion! It's earlier than we were expecting, but we were hopeful Matthew would get it. Being Manager has been the big goal since coming to KPMG and we're excited and nervous to see what the additional responsibilities bring, along with a pay increase. 

The biggest change of the week was Jay going to school. Matthew gave him a Father's Blessing on Monday evening in preparation for starting on Tuesday. The blessing was sweet, and I was reminded that Heavenly Father has a great love and attention for Jay, as He does with all His children. Jay will learn a lot this year, and has a lot to learn. We went early to school on Tuesday so he could see the classroom, the potty, and get a little more oriented. Mrs. Tiffee, Mrs. Ashley, and Mrs. Alaina were all there to welcome him back to school! Having the same teachers and support staff made the transition easier on all of us! Jay was a little confused when his classmates came in and he didn't know any of them, but he took it all in stride. Jay cried on Wednesday, not excited to return to school, but independently walked up to the door. He cried as he walked, talking about me leaving, but still made it to the door where Mrs. Ashley was. They told me he pulled it together pretty quickly, which was a blessing. Overall, I'd say Jay had a great first week back! He did some patting other kids on the backs and touching a couple noses, which wasn't awesome. He is peeing on the potty at school on his own, which is a HUGE improvement from last year. He has tried to sit on the carpet to listen, and I am going to try to be towards the front of the pick up line so he doesn't have to wait as long for me to come get him. He gets a little handsy with the other kids when he has to wait in line. There is a little boy in our ward who is in his class, which makes it fun! 

He looks so mature in these pictures, a complete 4 year old! 

I love Jay's happiness!

Jay and Hugh, Hugh loved his Mama time. 

The boys were playing so well together, it made my Mama heart happy! 

They also love swinging and we go swing almost every afternoon and play in water. 

I've love being back to pickleball. We stayed at the park for most of the morning on Monday, enjoying the sunshine and playing with the kids. I have realized I need movement for my sanity, so we've been biking or walking as much as possible to try to get movement in. Jay has been doing awesome on his bike outside on our back porch. He hasn't quite learned about braking yet, so we're limiting the exposure of the bike to the backyard until we learn that skill a little better. 

Aunt Katey and Hope came to visit on Wednesday! They came while Jay was at school and stayed until mid-afternoon. It was so refreshing to have Katey here! Hugh and Hope were so chill, enjoying toys and not bothering each other much. It made it easy for Katey and me. Katey gave me the peer support to hang my magnet board up and helped me make sure it was at a good height. I love the way it looks and can't wait to get more pictures up! Jay was excited to see Katey and Hope when I picked him up from school! He pushed the stroller all the way home, which was an impressive feat. He's getting stronger and bigger every day! Katey and I didn't really do any certain thing while she was here. Just visited and enjoyed being together! Having her close by is a huge blessing and one I have been missing! 

Aunt Katey reading the before nap book! 

My magnetic board, hung up and beautiful! 

Tuesday morning I was all ready to go do the emissions testing, and I was about to load up and realized Matthew had the Subaru at work. He usually takes it to work, I just hadn't realized I needed it to do the testing until he was long gone. Luckily, we weren't riding against a hard deadline so I took it in on Thursday. Hugh was my partner in crime and he did amazing. He sat and watched the guys work, no fuss. We also stopped by the Post Office and while I was packing up something to ship, he entertained himself with pushing open all the little tiny swinging doors you can find on post office boxes. Besides his good behavior, he's nice to have along because everyone looks at him with such kindness and they are in turn kinder to me. 

After a week full of errands, I decided we should just go to the park during preschool and let Hugh run around. I met Renee there with her kids and her daycare boy. Hugh did really well climbing, but wasn't too excited about the slides and was very tentative. The rubber ground kept tripping him up, which he didn't like either. I wonder if he was more nervous because Jay wasn't there, or if he was worried I was going to walk off and be too far away. We were hoping they could play in the splashpad, but it was down for maintenance. 

Hugh did awesome through this tunnel! 

More fun in the water in the back yard! 

Busy season is in full swing! I count my blessings we only have to do two weeks of it! I don't know if I would have survived a full season this fall. Matthew is working nights, including Fridays and Saturdays. It gives me a lot of time to do things, so I've been somewhat productive and somewhat unproductive. I usually have motivation for a while and then as the deadline approaches it wanes because I am tired and I just want to have Matthew back. I have been listening to an audio book which provides a good distraction and I've been working on my sewing skills by hemming some of the boys shorts, making a bib and a hooded towel for friends who are having babies, and sorting through all of the boys clothes. We're a little tired of our limited clothes supply in Germany and they got fairly worn out, so I needed to sort through. 

Saturday we got to watch Brady play football up here in Brighton! It was great to see Mike and Jenna and have a chance to watch Brady's team win big. He did great during his playing time, and Mike and Jenna took turns running around with Jay. Hugh won't let me travel far, so I was grateful for their extra hands with Jay. I really love supporting my family in their sports, but sometimes it is really hard because of my kids. Mike and Jenna made it possible to enjoy the game and I was very grateful! I also made freezer strawberry jam. We are currently using the last bit of precious raspberry we have from Grandpa Great, so we needed to stock up. Jay was more than excited to help and I allowed him to help me stir and measure, so hopefully it all sets up okay. 

Hugh happily entertaining himself at Brady's game.

Happy helper Jay with our double batch of jam.

I also tried my hand at chocolate ice cream. It's a little more bitter than I anticipated, so I may change the recipe up a bit next time. It's very creamy and super delicious anyways! Hugh was looking so cute in this chair, I just couldn't help but share it. 

Hugh! 

Ice cream beginning to freeze, yum!