10 days later . . .

Yes, it has been 10 days since I have updated this blog. So sorry. Here ya go:

Sept 17 - Taught a scrapbooking group. Had a blast!
Sept 18 - Grant had school, so Cole and I met Mitch at the lawyer's office to finalize our living trust. While in the meeting, Cole pooped, so we had to leave to change his diaper. Then, he thought he was buckled into his stroller, so he decided to flip out and landed on his nose. Bloody nose boy. Over all, though, it was a good meeting. I feel much better knowing we have things in place . . . just in case!
Sept 19 - I can't remember.
Sept 20 - The first Ladies Bible Study of the year. We met as a large group, then broke up into 3 classes. My choices were: the book of Job, Becoming a woman of . . . something, and Joy. Mitch is glad I chose Joy! I figured I had better focus on something that will bring me . . . joy.
Ahh - I also got my bangs trimmed. My hair grows SO fast, and it is especially noticeable in my bangs. Five weeks into my haircut, I was pretty desperate. I made an appointment and towed 3 children into the salon. I was in and out in 3 minutes. Whew! I can't wait for the big haircut tonight!!
Sept 21 - We attended a State Farm dinner at Mitch's corporate boss guy's house. It was so much fun! It was catered and the food was amazing. Conversation was fun and the weather was beautiful. Funny how they call these things picnics. I've never been to a nicer picnic! Bonus: The boys spent the night at their grandparent's house!
Sept 22 - Mitch and his buddies purchased a house that we are fixing up and going to rent out. It is a great house with a ton of potential. We have spent every spare moment over there (which is why I haven't blogged). We scraped wall paper, pulled up flooring, painted, shopped for new lights . . . Actually, we are doing a lot of work. The 3 bedroom 1 bath home will be a 4 bedroom (with a really nice master) 1 3/4 bath home when we are finished. We already have renters. So, that is what we did on Saturday. We worked on the house.
Sept 23 - After church, we participated in "The Amazing Race". Oh, it was so much fun!! They had sign ups a long time ago, but I wasn't around to sign us up, so they just put us on a team. We were put with these two young couples (early 20's) and drove in our little Jeep. Well, to make a long story short, because of an error in judgment (on my part), our team got stuck at the DQ and struggled to catch up the rest of the game. Mitch took us on a nice drive through the country (thinking it might be faster), while we watched the "DTE" gage hit "0". We stopped for gas. Good thing, because the pregnant lady in the back seat, who also gets car sick, was moaning a little bit. Although we came in last place, we had a great time and will definitely do it again!
Sept 24 - Can't remember.
Sept 25 - MOPS!! Alysun brought her baby, Kelly announced she is pregnant, I ate a lot of egg dishes.
Sept 26 - I played Bunco - Stampin'Up style at my friend Marsha's house. It was fun!
Sept 27 - Today! Ahh, all caught up. We had Ladies Bible Study again. It was great. Shawn announced she is pregnant. I cried. It was a really big announcement. Not just because of the obvious, but because it was SO unexpected and such an absolute miracle. If you are reading this and you are a MOPS gal, act surprised when she announces it at MOPS. Hopefully I won't cry again.

TONIGHT, I get a haircut. Probably the same thing I had last time, but ya never know!

Do you ALWAYS scrapbook?

Well, no, I don't. However, I did go to Ladies Hobby Night at my church on Friday night and completed a couple of layouts. I'll post those soon. In the meantime, here is a layout I did yesterday while Mitch and Grant were in church. I had to stay home with our super-snot-nosed-boy, Cole. It was good for both of us. I got to do a little scrapbooking and he took a nice morning nap. By the time Mitch and Grant got home, Cole was feeling MUCH better, and my attitude about having to miss church was vastly improved.





Click to enlarge:

"I love you and you love me!"

I am typing this and listening to Katie sing at the top of her voice: "I love you and you love me! You love me and I love you! I love Cole and Grant ..." So cute!

Well, today Cole went to his 15 month Dr. appt. He is now ALMOST in the fiftieth percentile for weight and is in the ninety-fifth for height. Hee, hee! What a doll! He had two shots, so we HAD to go visit Daddy after the appointment. Daddy made everything better. The sticky, green sucker that Daddy gave him helped. (Mitch, don't ever do that to me again!!)

This Dr. visit was so much different than past visits. In the past, Grant came with us. Argh. It was never very easy to get him to sit still while we waited forever for the Dr. to come into the room. TODAY, it was just me and Cole!! I love preschool! :o)

Mother's Day page

This is the page my scrapbooking groups are doing this month. I wasn't sure about the paper at first, but I can't believe how well it went with my Mother's Day pictures! Click to enlarge!

Grant's first day of school!

Yesterday was Grant's first day of preschool! I don't know who was more excited, Grant or me!

Grant turned 4 in July, but we put him in 3's this year. That was a tough, complicated decision for us (me, really). See, Mitch was a late bloomer physically, and sort of a pip-squeak socially as well (strange stories about his Jr. High and HS years!). He says that he wishes his parents had held him back so that he could have been a bigger, better athlete and not so embarrassed in the locker room. However, Mitch was (and is) a genius. Seriously. He taught his HS Calculus class . . . and Math isn't his best subject. So, in his parent's defense, Mitch would have been bored to tears if they had held him back.

Well, I wonder if Grant is going to be bored to tears in his 3-year-old class. See, this time last year, he wasn't ready. Not only was he not potty-trained (a requirement), but I compared him to my friend's little boy who was HUGE (genetics work in his favor). Her son was "there" socially while Grant was just barely present. Don't get me wrong. Grant is, and always has been, a wonderful boy whom others love to be around. He isn't one of those kids that you want to avoid (oh, come on . . . you know what I'm talking about!). His problem was attention span related and goofiness induced. So, I do feel good about not enrolling him last year.

The part I struggle with is, should I have put him in 4's this year? My son is going to be taking after his father. He is a bit of a genius. Yes, I know that I am his mother, but SERIOUSLY!! In his class, they are spending time on the color red and the square shape. Grant knew his colors and shapes when he was 2. I don't think that is very unusual, right? So, then, why is he "learning" such basic stuff?

Grant knows the sounds that letters make. He told me (while flapping his wings for emphasis) that he sat on the letter "fffff" on the carpet during share time. He can see the letter and know the sound. He just doesn't know the name of the letter. THAT is what I want him to learn. My friend told me last night that they learn more about letters in the 4's. I think Grant will know how to read by the time he hits the 4's. (Okay, that was TOTALLY my pride rearing its ugly head. Um . . . maybe this whole post is . . .)

Okay, so my child could end up being the smartest, biggest, oldest boy in his class. That is perfectly fine with me. I just hope he doesn't get bored!!

The shoes . . . this one's for Tootsie!

The brown ones were $10.92. The black ones were $9.00.

Sort of embarrassing

So, today I went to a local store and found two adorable new pairs of shoes that were on massive clearance. I would post pics, but they really need to be seen on the feet to get the full effect, and I am embarrassed to say that I have not painted my toenails since just before Cole was born. Even then, I am not the one who painted my toenails. Chauntel did.

Okay, so I had to roll up my jeans on one leg to get a good look at the shoes. After confirming that, yes, they are adorable, I put the shoes in my cart and continued on with my shopping trip. I walked around the store, I saw friends, friends saw me . . .

Skip ahead 2.5 hours (ten minutes ago). I just realized that my right pant leg was still rolled up. So basically, I was going around this huge, local store with one pant leg fully extended and one rolled up in an 8 inch wide cuff.

Hmm . . .

Welcome back Katie!

Today was Katie's first day of Kindergarten, and her first day back with us. I am so glad we get her again!!

Instead of naps, the two older kids have been playing. Katie decided that she needed to rest a little, so they took a blanket outside and read books. I love this! Life is so much easier when Katie is around!

More Whidbey Island layouts!

On a roll . . .

I've been scrapbooking lately! Most people think I must scrapbook all the time, but I seriously only get to it about one night a month. I have been working hard lately, though, to get caught up . . . if that is even possible. Anyway, I have skipped ahead to pictures and events that inspire me. Right now, that means pictures from Whidbey Island. I did these two layouts (4 pages!!) yesterday, plus I put pictures on two more layouts (for a total of 8 pages!!) that I had already put together for groups, etc. I'll post those later. They still need journaling.

Click to enlarge!


You'll notice that they are the same layout, only flipped.