My great day

There was frost on the rooftops this morning. It was great. The only time of year that I look forward to more than fall is Christmas. You can't really beat Christmas, can you? Anyway, fall ranks up pretty high for me. I love wearing sweatshirts, feeling crisp cool air, and everything about fall. Today was perfect fulfillment of fall--with the exception of visiting an apple orchard. The day started with two cups of perfectly brewed Starbucks coffee. Joe made a big roaster full of chili for our small group tomorrow night so that aroma filled the house. Then a little later we went outside and cleaned out the fire pit in our backyard. I planted tulips for next spring--so excited about that! Then Joe built a fire and the kids played in the yard. Nathan was chasing the squirrels. We live near our high school and there was pee wee football going on this morning, so I even somewhat got to experience a football game while we roasted our hot dogs and marshmallows for lunch. It was great. It was all topped off by an afternoon nap appropriately in front of the TV with a college football game on. Did I mention that it was great? I need to come up with a better descriptive word, but it is closing in on my bedtime so I think great will have to suffice for now.

Floaties

We went swimming this afternoon at our community center. The boys wanted to wear their "swimmies" for their arms. We could only find one set, so we ran to the store before we headed over to the pool. As Joe was looking for another set in the store, I was blowing up the set we had in the car with the kids.
Sara commented :"So those are for the arms?"
Me: "Yes, Sara"
Sara: "So your arms will float."
Me: "Yes Sara."
Sara: "Too bad they don't make those for your head."

True, so true--it would be nice if they made floaties for your head.

I'll make you an offer you can't refuse...

Joe took John with him today when he (Joe) got a haircut. John was a little nervous. The last time he had got a haircut I accidently nipped his neck with the scissors. It didn't bleed or even leave a mark--at least a physical one. It has very definitely left an emotional scar. I guess on the way to get Joe's haircut they had the following conversation which Joe relayed to me:

Joe: You can sit and watch while I get my haircut.
John: I want to stand and watch.
Joe: Why, John?
John: I don't want her to cut my neck
Joe: Well, John, she isn't going to cut your hair. She is just going to cut mine.
John: What will happen if she cuts my neck?
Joe: Well, mommy wouldn't be very happy.
John: So when we go home and tell mommy she will come back and get rid of her?

I guess I've developed a reputation with my son...

My new slippers.

I have been looking for slippers like these for a long time--since last year. I was at a sleepover with Sara last year and a little girl had fluffy flip flop slippers that I thought were really cool. So I started looking for them and never found them--until today! Now, normally I am a fairly practical person. This is not true when it comes to shoes. I've never been practical when it comes to shoes--what they look like is much more important than how they feel or whether they are serving their appropriate purpose. These slippers are a great example of this--exactly how warm to do you think my feet will stay wearing flip flops on tile floor when it is 20 below in January? I know, not practical, but won't they look cute?! (The picture does not do them justice.) BTW, my girls put their very strong stamp of approval on them--I think the jeweled heart sold them.

Our firsts...

Here's what we've been up to lately...

• Nathan--his first time to hit a ball with a bat
• John--his first swimming lesson
• Ashley--first time for her to eat ALL of her lunch at school
• Sara--her first spelling test (which she got perfect, BTW! Way to go Sara!)
• Joe--his first workout at our community center
• Me--first download to an iPod

Some other things that have been going on: Sara decided that she either wants to be a teacher or a librarian when she grows up. John has a new favorite cartoon is Super Reader. It is conveniently on at the same time I like to be on my eliptical machine in the morning. Joe and I have both begun a vigorous workout routine to get us ready for our beach trip next summer. It helps that the community center where we are working out seems to be the social hub of the town. Ashley has become the social coordinator for her kindergarten class. She keeps me updated each day with the status of all the friendships. I seem to have gotten the morning routine down--now we are working on our evening/nighttime routine. Speaking of which, it is now time to implement...

Lowered expectations

I've come to realize how my mornings go really depends on my expectations. For me, the lower the expectations the better the morning. You may remember that yesterday morning did not go well--I think my expectations were too high. This morning I lowered them significantly. My goal was to have everyone eat breakfast and dressed by the time we left for school--no morning devotions, no baths (even if we got yogurt in the hair--it would have to stay there), no fancy hair--ponytails would work fine--just dressed and in the car by 8:15. My morning was great. I even realized at 8:10 that I had forgotten to pack their lunches, but since my expectations were low everything else was done by 8:10 so I had time to pack their lunches. We were all dressed and in the car at 8:15. Goal met--mission accomplished!

The Bullhorn (get it??!)

Check out my new favorite blog: The Bullhorn (www.jmhorn.blogspot.com). My husband has finally joined the blogging world. This has been eagerly anticipated by me. So I hope you enjoy his blog as much as I know I will.

My morning peace

I got up at 5:15 this morning. This is fairly typical for me. I think it is to enjoy some peace before the rest of the family emerges to create chaos. It was great this morning because I joined Joe outside around 6am when he was leaving and enjoyed the peace of a fall morning--cool and crisp. That proved to be probably the last peaceful moment of the morning. Nathan was up at 6:05 needing a diaper change. While I was changing him, he was appropriately saying "Cock-a-doodle-doo" over and over again. At 6:30 I got a shower and was counting myself lucky that I only had to leave the bathroom 4 times to put John and Nathan back in their rooms. We began breakfast at 7. It actually went well until about 7:15 at which time Nathan got bored and decided to put his plate on his head. Did I mention that he had poured his yogurt out onto his plate before he poured it on his head? So I added Nathan's bath to the list of things to do. This was another turning point of the morning. It took one of my girls 45 minutes to eat breakfast and it took the other one 45 minutes to get dressed. It took John about 30 minutes to get dressed. He was fine with the undressing part and did that immediately. But for some reason he had a hard time not getting distracted while he was suppose to be getting dressed.--this included putting the underwear back on. Not really sure why it had to come off to begin with... Finally at 8:10 (we leave at 8:15) I tracked him down, still naked, in the hallway and put his clothes on him. (BTW, most of the time he had been in his room just in case you think I'm running a nudist colony.) All the while we were trying to find some socks. I knew the day would come when we wouldn't be able to find any and it was this morning. I would like to say this all the girls' fault, but I know it reality that I am partly to blame. (I could've sworn that I turned the dryer on last night when I loaded it with wet laundry). Fortunately, we made it to school just in time. Although, on my way to Kroger from the school I had a moment of panic--did I remember to put Nathan in the van??? I looked in the rearview mirror and yes, I had remembered to bring him along--he was shoeless, but at least he was buckled in. And so I am thankful for my peace of the morning that the Lord gave me briefly and that I remembered to bring along Nathan's shoes so they didn't kick us out of Kroger.

Our trip around the neighborhood...

We decided it was time to meet our neighbors. We've been here for about 3 weeks--maybe 4--I've lost track of time. Although Ashley is telling me that she has been in school for 18 days. Anyway, I baked some cookies and yesterday evening we set out to introduce ourselves. I must admit I was a little nervous because the kids were a little bit too excited. As we were walking down the sidewalk, I commented that just because we were excited didn't mean that it had to be a circus. It was at this moment that the girls began humming circus music and pretended that they were juggling balls. (Where do they learn these things???!!!) Fortunately, everything went well and no one completely embarassed us out of the neighborhood. No one broke anything at any of the houses either. The best thing about the trip was that we found out that the couple that lives across the street from us had 6 boys that included a set of triplets. They are all grown now, but it is very comforting knowing that there probably isn't anything that they haven't seen done.

Just in case you need a laugh...

My sister-in-law sent me this link to an ebay listing by a mom trying to sell some pokemon cards. It was so funny. I had to include the story here. Anyone who has multiple children can relate. And even if you don't have multiple children I think you may find if funny.

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