LITTLE HELPERS

 With the older two kids in school, Maggie and McKenzie follow me around a lot and want to help with whatever I'm doing.  They can be great helpers sometimes.  Other times they can be great un-helpers and make the work harder.  I try to let them help as much as possible because I remember how much I loved helping when I was little.  The other reason is that soon they will complain about having to help and I want to take advantage of when they are willing to help.

REAL FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

 After a few days of the teacher strike, the administration and union were able to agree.  The kids were able to start "real" school in person.  Alex is in 4th grade with Sr. Daza and Shane is in 2nd grade with Sra. Nieves.

PLAYING WITH MCKENZIE

 McKenzie is learning to play with others.  Maggie was chasing Kenzie around the room.  It was so cute I just had to get a video.  There is nothing like the giggles of a little child.

TEACHER STRIKE

 The teacher's union and the school district administration have been negotiating for the past several months over salary, benefits, and working conditions.  They weren't able to come to any agreements, so the teachers voted to go on strike.  The first few days of school were virtual from home.  Fortunately, the strike sent a message and negotiations were successful.  Even though school was virtual I still made cookies to celebrate the first day of school.

CEDAR POINT

 For the second year in a row we made a trip to Cedar Point.  We time it to go right before school starts for our kids.  Our school district starts later than most of the other school districts.  Plus we go on a weekday.  This trick means that the lines are shorter so we can get on more rides and it's easier for Mike and me to take turns riding the roller coasters with the kids.  This is quickly becoming one of our favorite annual traditions.

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

 There was a lot of rain in Kentucky and there were several houses that were flooded.  The stake presidency asked for volunteers to go to Kentucky and help with the clean up.  Mike and another brother from the branch went down.  They stayed for a couple of days and helped clear out damaged parts of houses and put them on the curb for easier clean up.  After two days of hard work and hot nights in a tent, he was finally home and able to rest.  Unfortunately, he was only home for a couple of hours when I went down into the basement and found it flooded.  Our sump pump had come unplugged and there was water everywhere.  It was only an inch or so.  We started hauling things upstairs and outside.  We used towels to try and soak up the water and then wring it out in buckets.  Our branch president and his son came over to help for an hour or so.  I put 2x4s under the carpet and pad to try and get some air under the carpet and dry it.  The next day we went to Cedar Point and left the mess at home.  The following day the carpet and pads were still wet so I took them outside and hung them on the fence to dry.  It was a hot and sunny day and they dried quickly.  Fortunately we didn't have any damage and were able to put everything back.  We have since secured the plug better so that it won't come unplugged.  Poor Mike went down to Kentucky to spend 2 days doing flood clean up only to come home and do it in our basement.  We are blessed that it was minimal and nothing to the extent of what Kentucky had.

SILLY CEREAL

 The kids are always doing silly things and sometimes you just have to laugh and snap a picture.  This time they enjoyed playing with the cereal boxes.

MCKENZIE WALKING MORE

 Since McKenzie walking is still such a novelty I had to get another video of her.  The older kids get a kick out of her new talent and love encouraging her to walk to them.

ZOO AGAIN

 We wanted to make one more trip to the zoo before school started.  The zoo is definitely one of our favorite places to visit.  Despite going several times a year as long as the kids can remember, we still enjoy it.

NEW FAMILY ROOM, NEW COUCHES

 After the drywall was done, I washed the walls and ceiling several times.  I then primed and painted the walls and ceiling.  We installed the cabinet and tv.  The exterior doors needed to be replaced.  We bought new exterior doors for the garage and yard, and I painted them.  With the help of Mike's dad via video calls we were able to install the new doors.  We bought new couches in July and they were delivered this week.  Now we just have to install some trim around the fireplace and put up some decor.  We love how light the room is now.  The fireplace really pops now whereas before it blended in with the dark wood paneling.  I find myself wanting to just sit in the family room.

BUBBLE RUN

 I had seen advertisements for awhile for 5k bubble runs.  I found one in Columbus and decided to sign us up.  We went for several walks over the summer to get ready.  We all had so much fun...except McKenzie.  She was terrified of the bubbles.  Not knowing that the bubbles were very dense, we walked through the first bubble station with McKenzie in the stroller.  She was covered with bubbles, and we had to literally dig her out of the bubbles.  After that she wanted nothing to do with the bubbles but was fine as long as the bubbles didn't touch her.  After the bubble run the kids said they wanted to do it every year.

SUPER FORT

 The kids used almost every blanket in the house to create a super fort in the basement.  The fort had a couple rooms and a tunnel connecting two areas.

POOL TIME

 What would summer be without playing outside in the water?  

DRYWALL

 Drywall is finally hung!  It took a week to hang and mud the drywall in the family room.  I am so glad we contracted it out because a bad drywall job is very noticeable.