The Crafts

Oh my gosh, you guys! School has started back up. Summer 2017 is in the books and somehow we have a 5th grader, a 2nd grader, and a preschooler. Maddie will still be at home with me 24/7 but the rest are school bound. Yikes! Kate's last year of elementary school! She is 5'4 1/2", wears a size 10 women's shoe, loves sports, and is super wonderful! CJ is starting 2nd grade in her pencil pants and decided to pose rather strangely but whatever... CJ loves reading, playing, she is learning to roller blade, and is one fabulous girl! The gang 2017. 10, almost 8, 4, and 2 Natalie starts 4 year old preschool in two weeks. Isn't she a beauty! And a super smart beauty at that! The girls and I watched the solar eclipse while Maddie napped. Bliss! I cannot stop laughing at CJ in this picture! Life with sisters is hard, guys. Maddie is spending her last full year at home. Next year she will start 3 year old preschool. Now that'

Summer has flown by this year. Maybe it's keeping up with Maddie, or all of the sport camps, or maybe the fantastic trip to Clear Lake and Okoboji. I obviously have a lot of blogging to catch up on. Somehow though it is August and school starts in less than three weeks. We have our first potentially rainy day in a long time so I imagine this will be a day filled with board games and television...and hopefully no fighting. Maddie has stopped napping this summer. I've attempted to hang two baby gates, one on top of the other, so she cannot leave her room. Unfortunately for me she has learned to climb over both of them. If I tie or hold her door shut for an hour or so she will eventually give in and sleep. Overall though Maddie not napping has been mostly a good thing because it opens up our schedule, allowing us to visit the pool when we want. I imagine this will just be a long, challenging phase of transitioning into a no nap life for here on out. Hard to imagine we've ent