What We're Up To...

I'm not sure what order the pictures are going to be in, so I guess I'll just write all my journaling below. Here's what we are all up to the last couple of weeks... Katelund.....has started 4th grade this year. At her school, she is now officially the oldest on campus because in 5th grade you go to an Intermediate School. She has a male teacher this year and she is loving him. She told me yesterday after school that she wants to be a nerd and do really good in school. I am SO ON BOARD with that idea!!! She has also been doing well in piano. She started lessons this summer and she is constantly amazing me how quickly she seems to be picking it up and enjoying it. I hope it continues because I'd LOVE to have at least one person in our family that is a good pianist (Cory and I can play a couple of hymns but neither of us can just pick up a piece and play it). She also just started playing soccer a couple of weeks ago. She is loving that as well. She is staying really busy and overall seems to be pretty happy with life...except for when it is time to do homework. :) Cloey....is now in 2nd grade. She loves her teacher and she is excited about finally being in school again. Cloey is so wonderful about getting all of her homework done but absolutely hates practicing piano. It is a fight just about every day. So much fun. But, I am a stronger fighter than her so hopefully someday she'll just learn to love it (I know my mom is just rolling on the ground in laughter right now because I was the WORST piano student ever!!) But, as long as a I remind her than she can play with her BFF Julia, practice soccer, or go ride her bike when she is done practicing then she will eventually just give in. She loves soccer. Not only does she go to her practices twice a week, she also goes to Katelund's practices twice a week because she wants to the best player on her team. Katelund has a lot of raw talent in just about everything she does, but man, Cloey has the discipline, determination, and competitive edge in her that really drives her in sports. It's so funny because where Katelund is weak, Cloey is strong and vice versus. I don't think they could be any more opposite. Hailey....is missing her older sisters but learning how to pass her time at home by giving me a heart attack about every ten minutes. She is still a climber and she climbs up all of our bookshelves, dressers, and closet/pantry shelves on a daily basis. I really need to get her into gymnastics or maybe even mountain climbing. She is quite a little monkey. She is still taking speech therapy every week and we both ABSOLUTELY LOVE her speech therapist. I have learned so much from her and I think in a couple of weeks I'm going to give her a Book of Mormon. She is such a sweet girl and I look forward to her coming each week. Over the last month or so, Hailey's language has just exploded. She is talking more and more each week and it is SO fun to hear her communicating so well. Makayla....has such a fun personality. She is already starting to say some words (thanks to all the awesome things I'm learning from speech therapy) and she has so much fun playing with Hailey. Of course, she is really into baby dolls and she also loves balls. She gets so excited whenever she sees one. She is quite feisty (must be those Mann genes) :) and definitely knows what she wants but she is also so good about being loaded into her car seat ALL THE tIME. I guess it's just part of being the youngest of four. Cory...is Katelund's soccer coach. He has never played soccer in his life but he thought it would be a fun thing for the two of them and he really wanted to get involved in this whole soccer thing. He read the book "Soccer Coaching for Dummies" and he also has asked a lot of questions and done a lot of studying. I'm sure that by the end of the season he will have the best soccer team in Wylie. He's just a great coach. He's staying really busy with all of his responsibilities at work and church, but in his spare time he does a lot of road and mountain biking. He's working hard to get ready for the guy's trip he's planned in October to go biking in Moab. ME...I'm pretty much the maid and taxi driver of all the above mentioned. :) But in my spare time (that I have to make in the early morning hours before the babies are awake), I run. I am preparing for the half marathon I am doing in October. I haven't been biking as much because of all the training but I am looking forward to picking it back up in November. I REALLY want to do a triathlon in the spring. I am also enjoying my calling in YWs again. I am serving as the laurel advisor right now. I really miss teaching Sunday School but at least I still get to teach the girls. They are an AMAZING group of girls, and I'm not just saying that. They REALLY are. I have never seen a group of laurels that have things figured out so well. They are a lot of fun to be around and I am learning so much from them. I feel like I just wrote a Christmas letter. If the spacing in this post doesn't work I am going to be SO IRRITATED!!! Why can't I space out my paragraphs anymore!!!!! Someone help me fix this (if anyone even reads my blog anymore). I have SO MANY POSTS to catch up on. Someday I'll get it all written down. I have to because someday I'll want to remember these busy exhausting days of diaper changing, endless laundry, permanent finger prints on the glass, and the many small moments that make it all worth it.