A little of This and a lot of That

Yes, I know my posting has been pretty sparse and not much about daily life around here so here’s a long random catch-up.

Back in August I took the kids (and several neighborhood kids) to the ground breaking ceremony for the big new park that will be built in our neighborhood.  When we moved here we were told it would be finished in early 2012, but due to the land being sold, changing the fields from grass to turf, etc…here we are just breaking ground.  It was definitely more of an adult-geared activity, but I thought it was fun for the kids to see.  After the big-wigs got their pictures taken they invited any kids to come up and “break ground” as well.  Here’s some of our crew posing with the Mayor.

I've always intended on taking beginning of the school year stats on my kids to compare to the end of the school year to see how much they've grown. This year I actually got around to it.  I recently had a conversation with a friend about our kids growing up and she asked how tall Abigail has gotten, I think my response was somewhere around 5' 3".  When I measured Abigail I was surprised to find that she's nearly 5' 5"!  At this rate it won't be long before she passes me up. I suppose she's gotta catch up to those size 11 feet!

We got off really easy with our back to school shopping this year.  The kids didn’t really need any clothes, we’d bought a couple pairs of jeans and a new shirt or two on sale at Old Navy early in the summer, we already had decent enough backpacks, and I was surprised how many extra school supplies from years past that the kids found as they scavengered the house for anything we could reuse.  After school started though, and sandals and flip flops needed to be put away, we realized the girls were in desperate need of new shoes.  We took advantage of the current BOGO sale at Payless, stacked it with an additional coupon and free shipping, and ordered a bazillion pairs of shoes for the kids to pick from.  Last Friday UPS delivered a HUGE box and the girls had fun trying them on to dwindle it down to a few favorites.  Sure beats lugging a bunch of kids to a store only to find they don’t have the right sizes in the styles we like.

Abigail’s stack was the tallest, then Carly, and Jason a lone pair of church shoes (we kept half)

Soccer season is upon us and once again we have three kiddos playing. This year they all have practice/games at 6pm on Mondays and Wednesdays at three different locations (the girls games are on Saturdays).  Not fun for the chauffer, but we enjoy having our Tuesdays and Thursdays soccer free. 

Katie hanging out at soccer

Last Wednesday, two weeks after school started, Katie, Drew and I ran our first errands together.   My homebodiness wasn't necessarily intentional and I only noticed cause it felt weird putting Drew alone in the middle row and Katie alone in the back. But it just goes to show that I'm not one to run around unnecessarily.

Jason’s most favorite thing (besides recess) about Kindergarten was working on his number scroll.  Often that would be the thing he would share at night as we each shared something about our day that made us happy, his was “working on my number scroll”.  His teacher told me anytime they had free time Jason chose to work on his scroll – the kid was determined not to let anyone else get as far as he was.  And nobody even came close.  Since it’s not something I’ll probably save I decided to take a picture of him with it yesterday.  

By the end of the year Jason had written his numbers from 1-3100.  Way to go Buddy!

Carly and I decided to grow out her bangs.  From experience I know this can be a long and often frustrating experience but I'm excited to see more of her beautiful face.

Abigail has been asked to accompany the primary kids for one of the songs during the primary program.  Her last primary program ever!

Last Thursday my newsfeed on Facebook had several posts regarding Pirate Day and a few friends posting pictures of their kids getting free donuts at Krispy Kreme by dressing up as pirates.  I showed Abigail when she got home from school and she was insistent that we could pull together four pirate costumes and score ourselves four dozen free glazed donuts.  She was right.  Yum, Yum.

I joined Pinterest last week and my life will forever be changed.   I haven't done any browsing of other people's boards, I’m sure that will open up a whole new use and time waster for me when I do, but simply used to bookmark my own life and ideas is perfect for the organizational part of me.   Recipes I want to try,  "Pin It", possible accessory for the house "Pin It"... awesome!  I’m a little bothered by the notices I get that strangers are “liking” or “pinning” my pins.

Justin took last Friday off and told me that he would paint the kids bathroom if I had a color picked out and the paint tinted beforehand.   You better believe I wouldn't let an offer of labor go to waste.  That brings our grand total of painted rooms to four!  (Only 10 rooms left to go)

I haven't lost a single pregnancy pound since Drew was just a few weeks old.   Obviously I don't expect to be back to pre-pregnancy weight, but I'm looking forward to fitting into a greater selection of clothing.  I'm hoping that if I give my body long enough I won't have to put in any effort to lose these 20 pounds.   Perhaps making cookies this afternoon and Sunday, eating through four dozen donuts last week, a dozen gourmet cupcakes and more donuts the weekend before, etc… aren’t helping me much.

I put this sign in my house last week that says Fall is Fabulous! 

I actually don't feel like fall is very fabulous.  Fall is nuts.  The days we have soccer is absolutely crazy. Getting three kids to 3 different places is insane and I feel so badly anytime I have to ask a friend to help get my kids where they need to be.  I have a first grader that still struggles to wake up in the morning and who moves so slowly that I have to help him make his lunch, remind him to make sure his homework folder is in his backpack, and even go so far as to help him take out appropriate clothing to wear.  Jason hasn't been most cooperative when he gets home either – getting used to being away from home 8.5 hours a day will take some time for that kid.   The kids come home from school STARVING. They’d much rather soak up the last light of day outside with friends rather than practice piano, do homework, or help around the house.  I feel we do a good job keeping the kids lives from being over scheduled, but we went from basically no schedule during the summer so needless to say we're all still adjusting to the business that fall brings.  I’m grateful though that I get to spend my days with these two cuties!