Weeks in Review ~ 8/17-8/31

Where is time going?  It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post.  While we haven't been that busy, I can only divert energy in so many places before things get bad.  I don't always miss blogging, but I feel stressed when I'm not, because I will miss the memory preservation.  So, I'm back to give a very general account of what's been going on.

The past 2 weeks have been about getting into the school year routine.  Avery started full day camp at the Y August 19th.  It's essentially the same as school as far as teachers but a little more laid back in what they do.  She had some teary goodbyes for Ned the first 2 days but has been bounding in the door every since.  I was especially proud of her the first week since she stayed all day, the teacher was on vacation, and Camden was not there.  She did a lot of fun activities and even got to get snack from the ice cream truck each week.  She is not napping at school, which is no surprise since she rarely naps here, but she lays quietly and stays out of trouble.  This past Thursday Avery went home after lunch with Camden for her first play date without a parent.  Anna sent the cutest picture of the girls riding in the car together full of smiles.  Avery only got sad once, and I think that was due to the mention of the Miller's dog who makes Avery very nervous.

Sam has been back at Jennifer's full time and acting like he never left.  He has been fussy, especially at dinner time, and is chewing on his fingers and drooling a ton.  I'm praying it's his 2 year molars coming in early, and I'm praying that they hurry along.  He's not eating much for dinner at all except for his staples of fruit, yogurt, and cheese.  He cries if those items aren't readily available, and he cries when we clean him up.  Otherwise, Sam has just been his normal busy self, getting into lots of things and trying out more and more words.

I have been back to work full time for 2 weeks now, but our students have not started.  Our first week was inservices with our entire county.  This past week we worked in our school.  We had open house Thursday, and I met 14 of my 17 tiny students.  I have no idea how the year is going to go, and I know it will be busy and different, but it is wonderful to be starting off excited and feeling good.  I've been so tired at night, so I'm wondering who is going to get me to my car in the afternoons, drive me home and pick up the kids, and do all my evening duties.

Ned has been introduced to a new routine also, as he is the one responsible for getting Avery ready and to school in the mornings.  The last 2 weeks I've been home for part of the time, but now I may be leaving before Avery is up.  They've done just fine so far, and I've only gotten one panicked text about not being able to find an appropriate hair bow.

Last weekend we didn't do much other than a Chick-Fil-A and Sweet Frog date with the Millers.  We visited Lowe's before dinner where we bought an excessive amount of lumber for Ned to build a lean to off of his shed.

This weekend we haven't done much either.  I was off Friday, and we met Ned at The Palm Tree for lunch.  Camden, Anna, and Anna's mom were there so we all ate together.  The kids and I went to the grocery store after naps, and we ate dinner at home, unusual on a Friday night.  Today, the kids and I stayed home while Ned and some friends took a bulldozer to do some work at one of my dad's farms.  Avery got a hair cut this morning and that's about all we did.  Tonight Mimi and her friend Nan kept the kids and Ned and I went and ate sushi.

And now 2 week's worth of pictures...

Playing outside at Yaya and Poppa's after dinner.

Busy busy all day long.

Enjoying one of my last free lunches for awhile, and trying to finish Gone Girl.

I don't know if I'll love Kindergarten, but I'm loving my huge room with three windows.

We got a close out deal on a panini press at Lowe's, and it was just perfect for our cheeseburger wraps Friday night.

Rapunzeling...

Post-haircut smiles!

Week in Review ~ 8/17

Our last week of summer flew by faster than any other week had.

On Sunday we went to Sunday School and I taught Avery's class again.  We left after that because we were meeting my parents for lunch at Cracker Barrel.  We had a good time then came home for naps.

Monday was my only day that I could use Jennifer to keep the kids, so I planned for them to go.  I also wanted to get Avery's last shot at our health department.  After waiting an hour of my precious "day off" time, I was told that Avery couldn't get the shot because live vaccines must be given together or two months apart.  This is how Sam felt about the situation.

I hustled the kids to Jennifer's to salvage some of my day.  I called the pediatrician's office to see how things had gotten mixed up, and they said the vaccine Avery needed wasn't live.  They had a few in, so I picked Avery and Sam up early and we went to get her shot.  My last free day was kind of a bust.  Our new rug came, and I was the only one sad that we had to wait until Thursday for the pad to come.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent hanging out at home and enjoying the nice temperatures we were having.

Ned played golf Wednesday afternoon, so the kids and I enjoyed dinner outside.

Ned put the kids to bed, and Sam was crying when I left to run and crying when I came back.  I finally had to rock him a long time to get him to settle down, then he fussed off and on for a long time.  I decided then that I would take him to the doctor the next day because he had been fussy for awhile and pulling on his ear.

Avery went to work with Ned while I took Sam to the doctor.  He of course checked out just fine, which was good, so we hurried home to pick up Avery and have lunch.  After they napped we headed to the fair in the county I grew up in.  They had a lot of exotic animals including monkeys, a baboon, tiger, a kangaroo, and more.  The camels made me nervous.

Sam liked the birds that would not quit yelling.

Avery decided she only wanted to ride the carousel because it was the only thing I could ride with her.  Then, she wouldn't get on a horse.

By the second time though, she was ready.  And there was a 3rd time also.

The weather was perfect for the fair.  We had a good dinner, walked around some more, then snacked on mini donuts and fried Oreos.  After we got home and got the kids to bed, Ned and I tackled getting the rug and pad down.  It was a job but well worth it after more than a year with nothing.

The kids and I went to the grocery store Friday morning to get that task out of the way, then we enjoyed our last week day home.  That night, Mimi kept the kids so that Ned and I could go back to the fair to see Florida-Georgia Line.  We were very worried about the crowds at my small fair, but we ended up parking with no trouble.  We visited with our friends from Emporia and ate once we got there.  Fried mac and cheese was my choice for the night.  When the show finally started, we stood a good distance away with Michael and Kristen and mainly listened and talked.  I had no need to get in the crowd for the sake of seeing them better.  We took our fried Oreos to go so that we could get out before the crowd.

Saturday morning I worked getting ready for my Shrimp and Grits party, and Ned had 2 back to back fire calls.  The party went well that afternoon, and it was so fun having all those precious clothes in my house.  After everyone left we had dinner at the Mexican restaurant before getting the kids to bed.  Ned and I were both asleep early.

Week in Review ~ 8/10

We had another busy week, which makes summer fly by way too fast.

I taught Avery's Sunday School class Sunday, and Sam came for the first time since dropping his nap.  We stayed for church then hurried home so that I could get ready to host book club.  We read Bloom by Kelle Hampton, which had been my suggestion since I wanted to reread it.  It was interesting to see the difference in opinions among the different aged women.  Once they left I unlocked Ned and the kids from the playroom, and we had dinner.

Monday morning we had Avery's 4 year check up, so I dropped Sam off at Jennifer's.  Avery and I did a little work at school before heading to the doctor.  She got a good report, and although she isn't doing much growing, she's healthy with no concerns.  They were out of TDap vaccine, so she only got three shots.  Pizza Hut buffet dried those tears pretty well.  I took her back to Jennifer's then went to school to start moving.  Ned came to help and we got it done quickly.  I mainly had to put everything in the floor since the other teacher hadn't finished moving out.  I picked the kids up and we went to visit my mom for a little bit before going home.

Tuesday and Wednesday were just regular days at home with not much going on.

Ned took the kids to Jennifer's Thursday morning, and I ended up taking a long nap on the couch.  Avery had been up in the night, and I had had a hard time getting to sleep.  Ned and I had lunch at Applebee's before I went back to school to do some more work.  I got most everything put away and started putting some things up in the room.

Friday was a special day.  The kids and I went grocery shopping in the morning, and while that wasn't special, it was nice to get it done, and get food in the house.  Avery knew that Sam was having a babysitter that afternoon, but she didn't know what we were doing.  The sitter got here and we got away without any tears from Sam.  Our first surprise was picking up the Millers.  Luckily Anna mentioned tickets because I had left them at home.  Once we got on our way the men started teasing the girls about where to eat dinner.  Both girls were in favor of Chick-Fil-A, and that's what we had planned.  Once we got back in the car, we told them the real surprise.  We were going to Disney Live Pirates and Princesses show in Richmond.  Each family had purchased tickets separately, but we knew we were 4 seats down from each other.  When we got there, the people who were separating us were actually in our seats, so it worked out for us to sit together.  The girls loved the show.  Avery jumped, clapped, waved, and danced.  The show featured Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Sofia, but also had Doc McStuffins, Mickey and Minnie, Cinderella, and Peter Pan.  It was a good length, and Avery only got tired right at the end.  We got in the car a little before 9 and I thought the girls would go right to sleep, but there was still shrieking and amulet's lighting up.  Avery finally gave up and went to sleep.

Back at home, Sam was having our first babysitter experience.  I definitely had not planned for me to be all the way in Richmond the first time I used a sitter, but my in-laws decided to go out of town.  I felt good about Abigail but was worried that Sam would get sad.  She said he was kind of fussy and mainly wanted to sit with her.  And, all she got him to eat was a piece of cheese.  But he went to bed well and she was willing to come back.  By the time I took her home, I was pooped.

Ned and some friends worked at the farm Saturday.  The kids and I just stayed home.  We did decide to go to the farmer's market but then remembered that Sam's seat was out of the car from the night before.  Ned is the car seat installer around here because I feel only he can get it tight.  {I've since had a successful car seat installation lesson.} We had corn, tomato, and cheddar pie for dinner, and sadly, it was delicious, which means I need to work on my dough rolling skills.

Week in Review ~ 8/3

You would think I could keep on top of blogging much better since it's summer, but life is awfully busy now too.  Last week was probably our busiest of the season.

Sunday was the day after Avery's birthday party.  We had church and naps and then worked on Avery's bike riding skills.  Initially she would just do her feet back and forth on the pedals and pretty much drive us crazy, but she caught on quickly.

 Avery had a very busy week with Y camp from 9-12:30 and swimming lessons from 1-:30.  We did this week of camp to help keep our momentum going, but she actually ended up crying 3 of the mornings that we left her.  Each day the teachers commented on how well she did, so the new routine is just going to take some getting used to.  She loved the under the sea theme and especially loved wearing her bathing suit Friday and digging for buried treasure.  Swim lessons were Monday-Thursday and Avery improved in terms of confidence a lot.  She still doesn't want to put her head under the water, but that was the only thing she needed to work on.  Avery's busy week helped her to sleep all night 4 nights in a row, the longest since vacation.  That streak ended Friday night, so we'll be starting tough love soon. 

Sam and I enjoyed our time in the mornings.  We had a painter at home two mornings repairing a few places where the house had settled.  He of course left Wednesday and didn't come back all week.  Sam also entertained his first non-family and first teenager babysitter Tuesday morning.  He enjoyed playing with Abigail and even let me put some laundry away out of the room.  He and I had a lunch date at The Palm Tree Thursday, but we didn't tell Avery.  Ned came home each day so that I could pick up Avery from camp and head to swimming lessons.

Ned and I were busy as well, each having 2 meetings during the week.  Thankfully they mostly hit on opposite days.  The kids and I also ventured out to dance registration Thursday afternoon.  Pizza was our dinner of choice between our busy day and Ned's meeting.

Our church had weekend Bible School starting Friday.  I taught Avery's preschool class, and Ned kept Sam at home.  I had a sweet group and we had lots of fun.  I took Avery home Friday night then went to a jewelry party at Amanda's.  I was so tired by the time I got there, but it's always fun to get out for a little while.

Avery and I had Bible School Saturday morning until 12.  Ned and Sam had a guys' morning that involved the barber shop and the hunt club.  We brought Camden home from church and she had lunch with us.  It was funny to have her in the car and then at the house without her parents and was definitely a taste of what's to come.  That afternoon, Mimi came to keep the kids and Ned and I went to Colonial Heights.  We made the terrible mistake of going to a Dick's that had just opened during the first of the month and during the tax-free weekend.  The mall was no better.  We met the Millers at Wabi Sabi for some sushi and had a wonderful, kid-free dinner.  When we got home, Mimi was sneaking out of Avery's room since she hadn't let her leave while she was awake.  I then had to go over a Sunday School lesson for Avery's class since I was teaching that the next morning.