Overheard

As we continue to enjoy Fall Break, the kids are getting rather used to waking up, eating breakfast, and then promptly turning on the Wii, at leisure.   Today, The Little Man, was getting a little cranky at the fact that his sister was spanking him at bowling.  The Hubs had a small talk with him about sportsmanship, encouragement, and perseverance.  He suggested that The Little Man be a better sport when losing, and that sometimes encouraging the other person can bring back the fun into what is supposed to be "Just a game".  Especially since The Girl has pretty much decided that she hates playing games with her brother.

This was overheard not but fifteen minutes later:

P: That was a really good job, sister...really good... not the best...'cause I'm the best...but still good.

I just can't understand why she doesn't like to play Wii with her brother. Also, we may need a lesson in humility.

Did You Know?

Did you know, since the last time I wrote:

• I've been abnormally and insanely busy.  Seriously, there are days that I clock in at about 5:00 am and don't clock out again until 10:00.  I have been busy volunteering at the kids' school for the most part.  That and taking pictures of other people's families.  People like to have that fall picture for their Christmas cards!  I do love seeing people and catching up with their families after a year since their last session.

• The Girl landed the role of The White Queen in the school's production of Through the Looking Glass.  It is the part that she wanted and she was over the moon with excitement when she found out.  She has done a really great job at learning all of her lines, and I've enjoyed running through her script with her on occasion.  Also, I might have been destined to be an acting coach.  I feel like I really rock at interpreting the mood and feelings of the White Queen, and then helping The Girl make adjustments where necessary.  So, I'm either going to be an acting coach or a professional bike rider when I grow up.  It's hard to say.

• The Little Man had four teeth pulled, two cavities filled, and three sealants all in one dental visit.  He did really well and recovered pretty quickly.  It was perfect that we had all of this done so close to Halloween because he truly looks like a walking Jack-o-lantern.  We recently had some family pictures taken, and The Little Man and I  had a small coaching session before hand, using a mirror, so we could make sure our smiles were right.  He did great.

• Our dog had a bladder infection. I don't want to discuss how the vet suggested we get a urine sample.

• On a recent field trip with The Little Man to Miller Farms, I collected so many potatoes, carrots, onions, and corn cobs that they couldn't fit in my fridge.  My master plan was that I would be making all of these veggies into a wonderful soup.  After making three soups and only using a third of the veggies, I gave up.  Well, technically, the veggies are still on my back deck.  It's been cold enough that I figured it would be just like they were in my fridge, right? I'm sure the potatoes are still good.  Eventually, I'll make potato chowder. 

• My nesting phase officially came to a screeching halt about 2.2 seconds after my last post.  Therefore, while we may be on Fall Break this week, there will be no painting of The Little Man's room.   He hasn't asked yet, so I think I'm in the clear.  The only problem is that I have hung the new curtains up (because the old ones literally fell off the wall), and they match the way the new room will look, not the current room.  Oh well.  No one goes upstairs anyway, right?

• The Little Man reached his goal of running 40 miles this season at run club.  True to The Little Man's competitive personality, as soon as he reached it, he wanted to know if I thought it was possible for him to reach 50 miles by the end of the week...I'm proud of him for reaching his goal.

• The Girl may be growing out of Halloween. We still haven't found a costume for her this year, and she isn't too concerned.  When we've gone out looking, she's totally uninterested in the options.  For right now, she is saying she'll just be whatever she was last year.  While I'd like to buy this, because it will save me serious cash, I just don't.  I go between feeling sad that she thinks she is too old for Halloween, and feeling like I'm being tricked.  I feel like when Halloween actually gets here, she's going to freak out about how she, "Can't be the same thing as I was last year, MOM!"  We shall see...

That's what has been going on in our tiny corner of the world!

Well, Hello.

Seriously?

I'm surprised I still remembered my password to log-in.

I guess you could say, since school has started, I've been busy.

Some days, I am busy with actual tasks.  Others, I am busy with a whole lot of nothing.

I'm still not sure what God would have me do with all the time He's given me with both kids in school full-time.  It's been fun, interesting, totally involved/difficult, and completely uninvolved/easy all at the same time.

Here's what you've been missing:

1) The Little Man has been sick twice since school as been back in session.  That's two times in four and a half weeks.  This is seriously the part of school I dread the most.  I feel like each day I am sending them into a cesspool of germs where they also learn long division, the proper usage of quotation marks, and how to play dodge ball.  I could hyperventilate if I consider what the actual truth is to the question, "Did you wash your hands before eating lunch today?"  Two questions: Why are kids so infested with germs? and would it be weird to send them to school in a full Hazmat suit?  These are just a couple of things I have been pondering with my "free time". 

2) I've gone into full on nesting mode.  No.  I'm not pregnant.  For some reason, the state of my kitchen (the ENTIRE kitchen) has been getting under my skin for a while.  However, the amount of time and effort that it would take to care for all that needed to be cared for, was enough to make me weak in the knees, become so overwhelmed that I would completely shut down, and instead of cleaning I would self-sooth by looking at totally organized kitchens on Pinterest. 

I am thrilled to announce, that with all of my "free time", I have totally reorganized and cleaned every part of my kitchen (Except that silly cabinet above the fridge.  I don't even know what is up there, and quite frankly, placing cute decor in front of the door makes me feel like I don't need to address that cabinet.). 

Pantry: Check.  Fridge and freezer: Check.  Drawers (including junk drawer, (oh, yes! I just included the junk drawer)): Check.  All cabinets: Check.

Next up: The laundry room followed closely by The Little Man's room (which I am hoping will land us at Fall Break since I may or may not have promised to pain his room).

3) Many homework battles.  Seriously.  Do I need to go much further here?  There are days, however, that I feel like we might be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Then there are the other days. 

4)  The realization that I don't have to grocery shop on the weekends anymore.  I can now go during the week sans kids. It's amazing.

5)  I think I may be on the brink of a new obsession: Homemade bread.  I never thought it possible to make amazing bread at home without some sort of culinary degree and a semester of study in France...or a bread maker...whichever.  However, with all my time on Pinterest lately, I have found that neither is necessary.  In fact, people are baking amazing bread in their own homes for pennies.  Pennies, I tell you!  We had a delicious jalapeno jack cheese bread tonight.  It's so good, I may be passing it out as gifts to the neighbors at Christmas.

6) Our cousins moved to Las Vegas.  We are sad.

7) The kids love Percy Jackson.  While the books are great, the movie had me so upset I couldn't talk about it for days.  Seriously?  How hard is it to make a movie that follows the actual events in the book? 

8) Both kids are fully involved in all extra-curricular activities.  The Girl is in drama two days a week, and in November we will see her in Through the Looking Glass (as what? we are unsure, but will find out on Thursday).  The Little Man is in run club, and is a boy who is obsessed.  The kid just loves to run.  His goal is 40 miles for the season.  He's over halfway there and has 4 more weeks.  We'll see!  Both kids just started Awana this year for the first time.  It seems like a great time, with kids their age, as well as time spent in the Word.  Triple bonus!  So far they like it, and The Hubs and I get to have a date every Wednesday night, so we like it too. 

9) I have been reading an insane number of books, for me, at least.  Favorites from my mixed bag are Seven, Anything, The Book Thief (still looking for someone to debrief this amazing book with me), and The Tangible Kingdom.  

As you might see from this crazy list, outside of The Book Thief, God has been working relentlessly on my heart again (and always, thankfully).  I'm in a spot.  I don't know what all I really want to share in writing about this, yet.   Mostly, it's because I don't know if I have the right words.

10)  We took care of my sister's dog for eight days.  Without a backyard.  Lots and lots of walks.  Thankfully, she is a really well behaved dog and she gets along with our Gracie just fine.

11) The Hubs and I took an art class together on "Date Day".  We will find out at the end of the week if we can consider ourselves "Glass Fusion Artists".   It was a very fun time, and I loved watching The Hubs get super serious about his creation.  We decided to turn the whole thing into a competition.  The winner of the competition will be decided by the number of appetizers eaten off of his or her platter.   I'll keep you posted.

12) Time at the fire pit.  With our backyard complete, and the weather still nice, we have enjoyed a few evenings eating dinner on the deck, sitting around the fire pit, and maybe eating a few s'mores. It's been delightful.  I'm so glad we didn't hold off on the backyard project any longer.  I love that we get to enjoy our space as opposed to fixing it so we could sell it.  I envision many a night out there as a family. 

I can't believe that I:  A) posted, and B) didn't post a single picture. 

Don't worry.  I'll catch you next time.

Forgotten

Basically, once school started, I abandoned my "Instagram-a-day" project that I took on for the summer.

Don't act surprised.  You knew that was coming.

Me too.

Alas, I am still snapping pics.  Now, I will throw all those pictures into one post and call it "Blogging".

Here are my sweeties on the first day of school:

I can't get over how old they look!  My Little Man is clearly going to pass up his sister in the height department soon.   Considering she's in the 4th grade, that's one big first grader!  They both had a great first day and first week.  It was the honeymoon phase, and I knew it.  I soaked up every second of them telling me about their teacher, how fun it was to reunite with friends, and even the school lunches were raved about.


The first week was only three days.

We are in the second week now, and the honeymoon is over.  Homework has been assigned,  they're already tired of their lunch choices, and they've realized that recess isn't hardly enough time to get in all the socializing they want to do.

Meanwhile, just when I think that The Little Man is all grown up and ready to pick out a major, I see this before school:

 What? You don't know what that is?  It's me trying to sneak in a picture of my boy playing Legos before carpool comes.  I suspect he is laying down because it's a little early for a kid who was used to waking up about an hour and a half later just a mere few days before.  Nevertheless, my heart was warmed to see him still being a little kid again.

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself with the whole "My youngest is now in school all day, and I have no more babies at home" thing.  Sure, I squeezed out a few tears.  Hey! It's the beginning of a new era...which means an old era has finished.  That's sad...and happy.  However, go back to about the April time frame of this year, and I was a bawling mess just thinking about it.  Like I said in my previous post, by the end of this summer, we were all ready to head back.  This helped me keep it together.

So, what did I do with some of my "free time" (haha, right), I went and got a hair cut! It was pretty nice to not have to arrange childcare or to be in a rush  because I had to pay said child care.  So, I just sat back and got a trim.  Then...I had them chop me up some bangs.  I haven't sported bangs since about the tenth grade, so it's taking some adjustments on my end, but I feel like they're workin' for me.

Self-portraits ALWAYS make you look your best, right?

 That weekend, we all went into party mode.  I went to a ladies retreat, The Hubs had a date with a golf course (and some clients), and the kids made an appearance at their cousin's third birthday.  I snuck away from the retreat to see how things were going in birthday party-ville.  They were holding up just fine in the foam pit:

On the way home from the retreat, I was given this beautiful gift:

 Honestly, it was so beautiful, I literally had tears in my eyes.  I was a little tired from our weekend, but also I was (am) so blown away at what a good God we have.  He doesn't have to make our world so beautiful to look at, but out of His great love for us, and because He is so good, we get these types of gifts.  Amazing.

Earlier, this week, I got to go for a hike with my very pampered dog niece.  Here she is sporting her hiking boots.  Yup, she's smiling.  Just like most women, she loves a good pair of shoes.

Finally, today was the beginning of our latest construction project.   The back yard.  We've been in this house for almost nine years now.  The backyard has been totally neglected since we've moved in.  I mean TOTALLY FORGOTTEN.  Remember how our deck fell off the house?  Ya.  After we replaced the deck this spring, it really made the rest of the yard look horrible, at best.  All summer we've talked and planned, and talked, and planned.  Finally, out of nowhere, we got brave and pulled the trigger.  The crew showed up  this morning (after making the decision only yesterday), and started getting to work.

And it got "Real".  Real fast. 

There's no turning back now.

I hope to have some "after" photos soon!  Stay tuned...

Soaking Up the Very Last Drops

I knew this day was coming.  It seemed to come so quickly, yet it took forever too.  The very last day of Summer Break.

This break has been a bit different than summer break's of years past.  Not sure if it was the need of The Girl to be with her friends more, thus, her family less, or maybe it was the ease at which boredom seemed to settle in.  While we enjoyed our break, the down time, and all the freedoms that summer brings with it, it's time.  It's time to head back to school, see friends, and find routine again.  It makes me sad, for sure.  However, I recognize that some summers are just like this.  Next summer will be different.  Also, it makes what tomorrow brings much more bearable.

As a last ditch effort to soak in as much summer as we could, we headed to the pool, of course!  Turns out, I'm not the only mom on the block that had this brilliant idea.  Lots of kids, lots of moms, and lots of trying to fit all the fun you can into one afternoon.


Today was one of the few days we didn't have friends with us at the pool.  That left a delicious amount of time to sit quietly (well, as quietly as you can with a pool full of children), and read (Have you read The Book Thief yet?  It's pretty amazing.).

Even The Little Man took some time to himself instead of choosing to swim.

When you choose to read instead of swim, it's a sign. Summer break must be over.

First and Fourth grade, here we come!

Portrait of a Self Portrait

Her first self-portrait was of her new hair cut.  She got rid of about three inches of straw hair.

The Girl has inherited my old iPhone as a way for her to "practice responsibility" before we let her spend the money she saved for a new iPod touch.  All summer she has been saving for an iPod touch because, according to her, every last one of her friends and kids in her class have one except her.  I found out, recently, that about two kids she knows have one.  However, she saved and worked for the money all summer long, and that is what she wanted.  She has even denied herself buying gum and candy when we go to the store since it would mean that she would be a dollar farther away from her goal.

So, it begins.  A child that can download apps, play games, and take as many self portraits as she likes.

As long as we stay away from the texting and phone calls, I think I'm OK with it.

I think.

"I'm So Tired of This Pool Thing..."

...Said no one, ever.

We enjoyed the pool with some friends for, what might be, our last time this summer. 

I'm not so sure I'm ready for school to start again next week.

Or ever.