The Journey of Parenthood…

August Monthly Summary: Kye, Britt and Tess

Rather than do individual monthly posts for August, I’m doing all three big kids in one post. I’m a stickler for chronological order which I know isn’t “fair” to always do everything oldest to youngest but it’s just how my mind works best and can keep order the easiest! So Kye is up first 🙂

For back to school Kye had to bring in 4 objects to describe himself. I love that he’s old enough to handle these sort of tasks completely on his own and enjoyed seeing what he brought in 😉

It also makes my #Disneymama heart proud to see my kids do Disney crafts when they have free art time. Kye did the World Showcase from Epcot, complete with fireworks!

Kye reads SO fast and reads SO many books! I LOVE his love for reading but whew it also wears us out trying to find him books to keep him going. I appreciate all the suggestions for content that is age appropriate (9) yet also challenging for his reading level (8th grade). His day is SO full at school that he rarely has time to go to the library and I just need to figure out a routine for our family to go to our new local library on a regular basis so I can stop buying all these dang books haha!

Kye has very high goals for his future and has always said he wants to be President someday. This school year officially marks the start of his political career as he ran for class student council representative…and WON!!! His speech was great and he’s SO excited about making positive changes to his school.

Kye often says that he wishes our country wasn’t a democracy so that when he does become President he’d be able to make everyone believe in Jesus. Haha. He’s so passionate about his love for the Lord and it shines through in all he does and who he is. He was asked to speak again at church this month along with the other young men in our congregation. I love that this is a regular occurring thing!

It is a tough school year for Kye. Fourth grade means switching classes which he doesn’t love. He also has math at the end of the day which is exhausting. And the bus route changed where the kids now get home almost an hour later than they did last year. That’s a LONG time on the bus.

So Kye comes home pretty warn out and just not in the best mental space. I’ve talked to him about options for helping him decompress when he gets home and he really kept pushing for video game time on the weekdays. He said the kids in his class are allowed to play on their tablets and with their video games until well into the night.

I decided rather than going back and forth on it or seeming like I’m some “mean mom” saying “No” that I’d let him understand for himself WHY I’m saying “no.”

So I printed off this article about how screen time is as addictive as a drug and how bad it Is for you and how important it is to limit that time. I let him read it over on his own and we discussed it and he understood.

We are still sticking with our 3 hours total of screen time a week for him but he’s allowed to use that time whenever/however he wants. Right now he does that time on Saturdays during naps but I let him know if he wanted to divide it differently and do some of it during the week he could.

I know it’s something he’ll continue to bring up from time to time.  I know before we know it we will be discussing why he can’t have a phone. Why he can’t have social media etc etc. I’m thankful there are so many resources available to help explain the WHY behind the “no.”

As a parent I am always referring to the Bible with my kids as my reasoning but sometimes it’s helpful to have other resources to turn to especially in these specific scenarios!

Current favorite outdoor activity: hitting golfballs into the pool

Stumbled across this pic of sweet baby Kye and Sadie! Precious memories!!!

Videos of Kye from This Month:

We are always so, so proud of Kye. I am thankful he’s doing so well in school but also wish he was able to ENJOY it more!

And now for Britt’s recap from August:

Britt comes home with super cute school work still and I laughed so much at her family portrait for two reasons. One: she legit calls me “Ma’ Ma’!” Not Mama but Ma’Ma’w with an accent. Two: she totally forgot to include Spear haha!

She made up for it on her next family portrait and remembered him 🙂

I love quality time with all of my kids but Britt seems to crave that time the most. I always joke that she’s EVERY love language! Her husband better get ready 😉 She really is very emotionally driven and spending quality time together is very beneficial for her and our bond. Even something as simple as going shopping on a Saturday morning together. She loves it! And I love having her with me and just soaking her all in!

Pink Unicorn slushee? HAD to try it!

An advantage of running errands with Mommy is sometimes you get a little something for yourself too 😉 She has been BEGGING for a “floppy” shirt and we saw this and scooped it up and yall it’s been THE most worthwhile purchase. She wears it once a week. Seriously! She LOVES it!

She loves a good theme like her mama…this is her “chore outfit”

We are all loving Britt’s hair on the shorter side but it’s at that weird in-between length and I really wanted it cut before Cali. Then we plan to let it grow as long as it can before her BBB reservation over her Disney birthday!

Before…

After! LOVE IT!

Always a coffee stop with this sweet girl!

Sidenote: but whenever I post “coffee” pics of Britt I always get asked about what she orders and lectures about coffee being bad for children. Guys. I guess it’s silly of me to assume everyone who follows me knows me. She’s never had legit coffee one time at Starbucks yall. It’s always a non-coffee option and basically slightly warm chocolate milk that she’s drinking!

Britt is doing amazing in 1st grade and making us so proud every day! She’s my sunshine girl and I’m so thankful for her! (here’s a video of her flippy shirt!)

And now the Tess section to finish it out for August!

Tess started back to school later than the other two kids and she enjoyed her solo time with Mommy and Spear. I soaked it up because this year will be the first school year that she goes every day of the week. No more lazy Mondays and Fridays with Mommy and Tess! We spent a ton of time SWIMMING 🙂

And playing with Mommy’s old toys!

I know I keep mentioning these puzzles but yall they are legit awesome. Tess LOVES them. Plays with them constantly and they’ve truly helped her master her letters and numbers! Both recognition as well as sounds!

I think Tess will be a little reader just like her brother. She always loves carrying around books and looking through them. I have this great set of alphabet books that she loves because she can carry them all in their box and I love because each book focuses on a different letter. They are very short and include photos and words of items that start with that given letter. Perfect for reinforcing what she’s learning with the puzzles!

Once Tess started school she did have some homework and she really wasn’t happy about it. Lucky for her she has a lot of family always offering to help 😉

First ever homework!

So many helpers!

I love her people drawings!

I just thought this was such a cute craft idea! They put Humpty Dumpty together again!

Back to school means back to germs too! Tess spiked a fever one afternoon after nap but was fine the next morning…I didn’t mind the excuse to keep her home and have her snuggles for a day 😉

If you’ve never had stickers allll over you are you even a mom? 😉

Tess is still very much into animals and loves her stuffed elephant we got on our special Disney day together. She loves to read to her and teach her all about the other animals in the wild 🙂 She loves naming all of her friends and toys and they are all named either Karla, Sila, or Mica.

Speaking of Tess’s bed…I looked behind it and made this HUGE discovery. Girl has been ripping up the little pocket Bibles we have and putting the paper behind the bed. Needless to say we had a HUGE talk about that and a loss of privileges regarding having books in her bed for awhile!!!

Four is a bit of a right of passage age in our family because it means beginning to help out more around the house and have tasks and assigned responsibilities. It seriously makes me get emotional seeing LITTLE TESS setting the table!!!

She LOVES having these tasks and takes them all super seriously…and I don’t think Levi (our dog) minds her taking over the feeding job either haha!

This girl loves her some STICKY FOOT!

She may be growing up but she still loves playing with all the baby toys of Spear’s…even enjoying his new walker 😉

Videos of Tess from This Month:

This cutie brings joy to everyday! I am so thankful she’s my little girl!

Be sure to read about all of our family fun from August here! Up next will be Spear’s summary from the month!

Emily Parker
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