Corn Maze Time

I am a complete slacker. I apologize.

September is notoriously rough, as all the kids and I readjust to school schedules and the ups and downs of new classrooms. Heck, Megan didn't even have her real teacher until mid-month since she was on maternity leave!

But September is over and October's nearly there as well. We have a busy week coming up. James has a long work week, there's Red Ribbon Week at the girls' school, costume day at the preschool, school trunk or treat, church trunk or treat and then, of course, Halloween. Phew!

Today, though, we took advantage of the finally-fall weather and explored the corn maze at the farm we normally go berry-picking at. It was an enjoyable evening, but I'm not sure I'm up for paying their price for the experience again any time soon... Either way, it was fun while it lasted.

The beginning of the adventure

Which way do we go?

Connor found the exit!

Winner's Circle!

And a celebratory moment at the hay pile

And, the final tidbit: My car started acting up recently. I was all set to switch out the brakes and rotors, but on my way home from a parent-teacher conference, it started making a really scary sound. Enough that I immediately pulled over and called for the tow truck rather than finish the last 3/4 mile to our house. Something was really wrong with the brakes at the end and the repair costs were too high. It was a very long day, but we ended up with another car (this time without the brake problems and the transmission problem right around the bend).

"Last" day of Summer

It has been a crazy busy summer! Not long after I posted my last post, I came down with a summer cold and at least one of us was down for the count for the following week, which means the girls missed their 2nd VBS, but July was extra busy with the summer camp at Little Lambs, a second summer of superhero VBS and the kids enjoying a series of playdates while I attended PTAC for 3 days.

This week was my last full week off. Though we have 2 weeks until school starts up again, I have work days starting this Monday (classroom set up and lesson planning hours). To make up for being too busy to get to the pool as often as Cadence would desire, I promised 5 days in a row of going to the pool (though I cheated on Tuesday and only took them to the splash pad). We were lucky enough to have friends join us for the first three days. I was thrilled with the confidence levels all three kids displayed in the water. Megan, who used to cry at the mere thought of getting in the pool, was ducking her face under water. Cadence was pleading to go into the "big pool" to really swim. Connor navigated the water with the same fearlessness that had him scaling the rock-wall side of the playground equipment at 18 months.

Today, though, on our my last real day of summer (weekends don't count). We kept busy. First on my to do list was a trip to Ikea to see if I could locate any last minute deals for my classroom, or the house in general. I arrived promptly at opening to guarantee the girls a spot in Smaland and we had a happy surprise when we learned Connor was finally tall enough to be allowed in as well (also, yay for potty-trained!). So, I enjoyed a blissful hour of wandering Ikea on my own, before picking up my happy children and enjoying Ikea's "kids eat free" summer deal (though, of course, only 2 ate free, because there was only one paid adult).

On our way home from Ikea, the girls both expressed wonder over a simple rock wall waterfall beneath an office building's sign. Since we were in the neighborhood anyway, I decided it was time for all of us to visit the William's Tower Water Wall (a Houston must-see). Connor was understandably scared of the sound in the little amphitheater of water, but the girls loved it. There's even talk of dragging Daddy with us next time.

We rounded out the afternoon with trip #5 to the pool. Connor recently discovered he can float on his own (well, with his floaties). He insisted on walking around the pool and lowering himself in random spots, so I got my exercise in for the day chasing him through the water. The girls had the time of their lives "swimming" (with their floaties) and attempting to swim without. We're signing them up for swimming lessons next spring now that they're both at least confidence in the water. We spent our longest time at the pool all week and I came home to discover our sunscreen had failed at last. At least the stuff on our faces did its job, so the only one really red is myself (since the kids were up to their necks in water 90% of the time anyway).

So our final day draws to a close. It's the Olympic's Opening Ceremony tonight, though, and now that the girls are old enough to appreciate it, we have an evening of pizza, ice cream and TV planned. I also learned the gymnastics team finals are immediately after my work hours on Tuesday. The girls caught a glimpse of the tryouts of Team USA and were immediately interested (as all little girls are!), so I'll definitely be catching that with them, but we'll probably watch it regularly for the next couple weeks.

Two weeks from today we'll be meeting the girls' teachers and doing our last round of back-to-school shopping. I am just hoping there's no downpour like there was last year. If there is, I'll be wise enough to run back to the car instead of trying to wait-it-out like I foolishly did last year.

Summer begins

One... two... three months since my last post. I keep promising to do better and failing. Oh, well. We'll say it's because I'm too busy living life to take a moment to write about it. ;-)

Summer break has been here for almost a month now (for me). I have been going a little stir crazy not having something to get me out of the house and challenge me every day. Being a stay-at-home parent is a completely different mindset and I've had a hard time readjusting to it.

Of course, we have to blog briefly about the last few weeks of school. I was quite pleased with the graduation ceremony my preschool pulled off. My co-teacher and I were given pretty much full control of what would go down and it ended up being amazing. Starting with the slideshow video I put together and ending with how well each of the students did when it was actually their turn to cross the stage. I took multiple pictures with students I have come to love. (The one actually posted is with a student I had this year AND last year. Such a sweetheart!)

Have I shared my awesome haircut on this blog yet?

Lucky for me, my school schedule let us out a full week ahead of the girls, which meant I was able to attend their award ceremonies and end of year parties. Cadence earned all of the awards she could potentially earn in her classroom. I was a little surprised she didn't get the art award again this year, but I know she's an amazing artist and we don't need a certificate to prove it. ;-)

Megan's ceremony was a little more involved since it was also her program (Cadence's program was for Thanksgiving). Megan also got every award the teachers handed out. I was also pretty proud of her earning a PE medal. The PE coach keeps track of their lap times and the top 20 girls get a medal. Megan was #11.

Then came their actual last day of school. It was dress-code free day, so they were more than happy to don their favorite at-home dresses instead of the polo shirts required of them.

At last, summer! We had a long first week where we all went a little nutso. The rainy weather kept us from making use of free time, pools, splash pads and all the other things that usually accompany summer. Luckily, the second week had better weather and the girls were able to attend the same dance camp they went to last year. This year, we were able to attend the little party the church that hosted the camp put on. The kids had a blast. There were sno-cones, popcorn and an inflatable obstacle course that Connor stubbornly conquered.

The week after dance camp, we had to venture an hour north of home to the other end of Houston. There was no way I would be going to be only 10 minutes from the temple and not stop by for a visit. I was also wanting a little bit of the peace that comes just from being on temple grounds. The kids loved it. A few times their excitement got the better of them, but I don't think anyone minded hearing the occasion squeal of delight on temple grounds.

And that brings us to this past week. The girls got to attend the first of three VBSs I signed them up for this summer (to get them out of the house!). I love that there were so many VBS options near us. I must have combed through at least a dozen options before settling on the ones that our schedule best. I especially enjoyed the conversations I had with the girls as I drove them home and we discussed what things they'd learned about. Of course, most of their stories involved what they had for snack or what game they'd played in the rec room, but...

So, that's the last 3 months in a nutshell. Upcoming: another VBS next week, James has a week off for 4th of July, I'm working a summer camp the week after that (the kids are attending) for my school, another VBS, then I'm off to a work conference the week after that. I think I have a week of nothing to do before I'm back to work again. Even vacation's not really vacation around here!

An adventure in camping

I'm not even going to try to play catch-up from December. Christmas happened. It was fun. ;-)

I will take a moment and backdate a post for Connor's 3rd birthday. From this point on, however, we move forward.

And we start with our camping trip! Let me preface by saying: I had no intention of going camping. James had the week off and decided to go camping to get himself out of the house while the rest of us were busy with work/school. With a forecast of 40 degrees overnight and my only-seen-snow-once children, I wasn't keen on the idea. But late Wednesday night, James convinced me, so Thursday I threw things together last minute before and after work, and ushered the kids out the door as soon as they got home from school.

They had no idea where we were going and I was a little concerned they'd hate the idea once we were there. Turns out, they loved it! We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, because you pretty much have to when you go camping. Due to last minute planning, we lacked graham crackers and chocolate, but the kids loved the marshmallows and didn't know enough to care.

Our camp site backed right up to a lake and a small pier, so James took them all fishing. They didn't catch anything. First of all, the line was only in the water for a few minutes each. Second of all, the lake hadn't been stocked in awhile, so pickings were thin. A few smaller fish nibbled at the bait and made the bobber dance around, but nothing caught.

The one thing I insisted on: If I'm taking the kids camping for the first time, I need a camera to take decent pictures. I've been surviving on a camera phone only for the last several months and, in the process, have taken a fraction of the pictures I'm used to. I had been shopping around for a camera for the last few weeks anyway, so I took advantage of the trip, found a store with my pick in stock (all the way across town, but conveniently along the way) and splurged a little.

Oh yeah, bathroom selfie!!!

 I had fun toying with some of the options, especially the color selection one:

It was cold the next morning. Well, 40 degrees, which may not seem cold to some, but when a person lacks certain types of clothing, it's freaking cold. Especially when the fire won't start the next morning. Poor Connor, despite having clothes layered over his fleece pajamas and being bundled in his jacket and mine, still shivered for the first hour unless being held. The girls handled it okay, content in their jackets, and it warmed up several degrees within an hour or so.

We didn't stay long in the morning. With the Easter crowd on its way in and Connor giving me constant heart attacks by wandered toward the little pier, we packed up early. James instructed the girls in taking down the tent, while I played a last minute game of peek-a-boo with Connor and Megan. Then, it was back on the road, where we managed to avoid the same traffic that made the trip take twice as long on the way up.

Connor screamed as we buckled him in the car, irate that we were leaving when all he wanted to do was run wild. He continued to scream for 30 minutes until he cried himself to sleep in the car. The only thing that soothed him, upon seeing our house in front of him when he awoke, was a slice of cold pizza (leftover from our one night James wasn't home for dinner).

What did Fall bring?

So, now it has been three months since my last update. Of course, 99% of my regular readers are on Facebook and get regular updates there, but I do want to eventually want to print off this blog as a family history book of sorts. So... here goes.

What has happened since September 10th? A whole lot of everything and a dash of not much. ;-) School and work took up most of our time the last few months, but that's been a good thing. I'm enjoying my 2nd year of teaching preschool. Megan is rocking it at kindergarten. Cadence is excelling in 1st grade. Connor's charming everyone in his class. James is working his butt off as he always does.

We did lose Aunt Robyn earlier than we expected to. She was supposed to be here until late winter, but felt strongly impressed to return home. So, she quickly packed up and headed home to surprise Nana with her early return. The girls were sad to see her go and even Connor noticed her absence the first day. Naturally, all three kids got sick immediately after she left and James and I had to swap taking days off, instead of just leaving them home with their aunt.

Shortly after that: Halloween! We had a busy time of it. The ward Halloween party, costumes at school, school trunk or treat and, of course, Halloween night itself. Connor was ecstatic to be Wolverine. Megan happily braided her long hair for Elsa. Cadence did not care that nobody recognized her costume, because she was Kitty Cheshire, gosh dang it, from Ever After High. James and I did not wear OUR costumes, though we did attend a party earlier in the month dressed as a mobster and his wife. We looked amazing, but sadly did not get pictures. I did, however, don the school-appropriate Halloween shirt I got for work and owl-dressed-as-witch earrings.

Not long after that, James and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. It was a quiet affair. We took the entire family out to dinner. We originally intended to celebrate at a steakhouse, but after poor service (as in 20 minutes of sitting at the table with nobody even getting us drinks), we ditched it for Ihop. Next year... we'll do something more. :-)

And, of course, after our anniversary, we celebrate Megan's birthday. She's 6! Holy cow! I adore this girl. She's the snuggliest little brat around and she is all attitude. There are days I don't know what to do with the amount of sass she can put out, but then she grins and all is forgiven.

And then the bigger brat turned 7. In a year, we'll be planning her baptism. When did I get old enough for that? She's the biggest goofball I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

As cute as they are, however, James and I finally put the foot down with their messy hair. For months we warned them if they didn't take care of it, they couldn't have the long hair. Finally, we carried through. Both girls were extremely upset as we drove to the salon and argued with me over just how short I was going to cut their hair. I gave each stylist my thoughts on length and texture and stepped back to let them work their magic.

For Thanksgiving week, all 5 of us had the week off to spend at home and together. We took advantage of a group deal at the nearby Wildlife park that shuttled us through the exhibit with bins of food to lure the animals to us. The kids got to feed camels, zebras, buffalo, llamas, and a variety of exotic deer. Heck, just walking up to the wagon had deer tame enough the kids could wander up and pet them. There were also pony rides involved. We skipped the petting zoo itself, since the kids were getting restless.

Over Thanksgiving week, James and I also tackled to house projects. I had repainted the atrocious main bathroom a year ago, or part of it. The main bathroom has the toilet/tub room and the vanity area is separate. So, we got another shade of blue for the vanity portion of the main bathroom and went to town. It looks amazing! The main part of the house and the master bedroom had been painted before we bought the place, but the rest of the rooms had old paint jobs and it was obvious. A little color made a world of difference. We plan to get the lumber to frame in the mirror at some point to finish the refresh.

Next on our to-do list: Cadence's room. This room had what I thought were grease spots, but ended up being a bad touch-up job with paint a shade or two darker than the rest of the wall. When I began picking up paint chips for Cadence to choose from, I went for subtler tones. She snagged the bright green. Initially, I balked at the idea, but then I envisioned it paired with bright pinks and teals and got excited about it. The more we painted, the more I loved it. It's a great color to transition to her tween years and beyond. And, for my vibrant, creative girl, the color is pretty much perfect. Now we just have to find fantastic decor items to match!

So... that's been our fall season. Winter is upon us (at least according to the calendar, it's still 70+ degrees around here). Our tree is up, our stockings were up but the hooks didn't stay on the wall, the presents are slowly beginning to pile up as they come in and I get them wrapped. We're in the final stages of preparing for my work's Christmas program. The girls have their penny gifts for their own Christmas parties. James has one more week of work before he's off for two weeks, just like the rest of us. Plus, Grandma will be in town, so we'll have lots of fun. :-)

We already attended our ward Christmas party (I'll add pictures later). Connor pointed to Santa and seemed like he might actually go to the big guy this year, but he got about three steps into the room before he changed his mind and ran away crying. Next year, Santa. ;-)

Hey, look, I'm back!

The problem with using my phone as my main camera source (since my nice camera finally bit the dust), is I don't take as many pictures and I don't upload them to my computer as frequently, so I don't think to post.

Anyway, a month in updates using the pictures from my phone:

We'll start with my work! I had my first day back on August 10th. I walked into my new classroom and it was filled with junk. There were boxes and stacks of school supplies, unusable furniture, etc. I honestly spent the first day feeling rather hopeless as I attempted to get things sorted and arranged and set up and went home feeling very deflated. However, by the end of the third day, things had mostly come together and I am so far pleased with the results. I've been back at work for 3 weeks now and it's been an experience. There's some growing pains with a new class and a new director, but we're starting to hit a groove.

Just before school started, we took advantage of James getting some extra hours at work, my first paycheck finally coming in and a night of "I really don't want to cook" and treated our family out to dinner. It was an extremely enjoyable evening. We beat the rush, get to smash peanuts, feast on yeasty rolls with cinnamon butter, and, oh yeah, we ordered food too.

Then, it was nose back to the grindstone and the first day of school (still no pictures of Connor at school, I put my phone away as soon as I get there, since having it out while I'm "in ratio" can get me fired). James got to drop the girls off (and sent me pictures) so I could focus on getting out the door and getting to my first day of school on time. Cadence's teacher called me later that day to tell me how awesome she was (apparently something she does for all her students).

There is a funny story in there about meet-the-teacher the Friday before school started. I parked 2 blocks from the school, loaded the boxes of school supplies in Connor's stroller, grabbed the kids, eyed the storm clouds overhead and decided to chance it. Yeah... we weren't 50 ft from the car when the heavens opened and we were drenched. For some reason, I thought it would let up soon, so we trudged forward. We were that poor family dripping puddles as we shivered our way down the air-conditioned halls. I stopped at the 1st grade bathroom to try to wring out the worst of it, but we still left puddles in both classrooms. (Naturally, it only sprinkled for the rest of the day, the only real downpour was when we were walking).

On our first Friday off, Connor and I got to go to the zoo with other moms and tots from our ward. We'd let our membership lapse last spring, so it was a nice treat. Connor was fascinated by the elephants and the snakes. It was also our first time seeing the gorilla exhibit. I took the picture below and posted it before I took a closer look and realized Connor has the same smirk as the gorilla. Ha!

The past week has been a week of milestones. Not only did I turn 30, but both girls lost a tooth AND got their ears pierced. The ear piercing was a spur of the moment decision. Until recently, when presented with the idea, both girls would refuse to do it, but over the past month, they've been pestering me relentlessly. So... we did it. Cadence wasn't expecting it to hurt as bad as it did and actually cried afterward, which terrified Megan. Then Megan, now expecting the worst, was pleasantly surprised by how little it actually did hurt and uttered only a quick, cute: "Ouch!"

Connor cried the most, though. He didn't get a lollipop.

Top tooth gone!

First tooth!

This month...

There's a reason for my silence. The biggest one being: We didn't have a computer for the last 3 weeks. Out of nowhere, our laptop up and died. It would turn on and immediately freeze when you asked it to do something. Since the fan was off kilter for a few weeks leading up to the death, I can assume something overheated. In the end, it was easier to purchase a new computer.

We have had a pleasant enough summer during the computer-free weeks and the weeks before.

(Unfortunately, pictures are slow in coming. Most of them were on the other laptop and I haven't been able to move them over yet. So, text only updates this time around!)

Starting the same day as my last post:

The girls enjoyed a dance camp offered by a local church. They had a blast, despite the summer heat. There was even a short performance at the church's block party. I do have video to share of that adorableness (Cadence has the red sleeves in the front and Megan has the crazy hair right next to her).

Shortly after that, we enjoyed a few more pool days, library storytimes, and even a reptile exhibit where the kids all got to pet an alligator and some snakes and even pick up and play with tortoises!

Fourth of July was a ton of fun. We went to a barbecue put on by a church family, then left early so I could take the girls to the city sponsored firework show. We had to park in a separate parking lot and hop on a school bus acting as a shuttle to get us to the stadium, then find a spot in the already crowded bleachers. It was the girls' first time seeing a real firework show and they were properly impressed. Though, with the 30 minute delay in starting, they were ready to leave before the grand finale (which was fine with me, it put us near the front of the shuttle line to get home quickly!)

This past week, the girls got to attend a VBS (Vacation Bible School). I wasn't sure what to expect when I signed them up, but I knew they'd enjoy the chance to get out of the house. The quality of the program blew my socks off and the girls had a blast attending. There were daily performances, with special effects and everything. I got to attend the parents night on the last day and see the final "episode" of the superhero saga that unfolded all week. Already, both girls want to return next summer.

We officially registered both girls for the upcoming school year. I have a work conference this week and then I'm back to work 2 weeks after that. We're about to get caught up in the hectic back-to-school prep that's only going to be made more hectic by my work back-to-school prep. Wish us luck and sanity! :-)

School End/Summer Beginning

So, some of this happened a little before my Broadway post, but most of it happened after. ;-) Naturally, with the end of the school year, we have end of the year graduations/ceremonies. The first one was mine and Megan's. I don't have a lot of pictures easily accessible (I need to get them from Robyn). The overall thing was a success. It was short, sweet and simple with lots of chuckles from moments of 4/5 year olds being 4/5 year olds (like one of my students who smiled for the picture then walked away without his certificate, or another student who refused to smile when everyone was taking the group pictures).

It was bittersweet saying goodbye to my students. It still hasn't quite sunk in that I'll likely never see those students again. I may have been exasperated with the majority of them by the end of the school year, but I will miss each of them, cheeky grins and all. At least Megan will get to keep tabs on Ms. Kim (and vice versa) since I'm friends with her on Facebook.

The chaos of everyone trying to get the class pictures while we all posed. You can see me fixing the hat of one of the students. Those hats would NOT stay on!

Starting to leave. You can't actually see Megan in this one. She must have been one of the first ones to dash off stage!

Megan at her farewell party. Mrs. Kim spoiled her kiddos!

A peek at the party going on in my classroom.

A week later, it was Cadence's turn! James (who had the previous week off and was able to attend Megan's ceremony with little fuss) was able to get the morning off to attend. Cadence earned 3 of the 4 "general" awards (she only missed out on perfect attendance, darn flu!) and earned a special award from the art teacher (was anyone really surprised by that?). As the kindergarteners stood up and sang their collection of songs, I couldn't resist poking Megan and telling her "you get to do that next year!" and watch her big grin. I was able to attend Cadence's end of the year party later that same afternoon and watch her interact with her teacher and friends. She seemed so tall, though...

Sitting on stage between her two best kindergarten friends (so glad she was next to them for this picture!)

Showing off her awards: Kinder completion, good behavior, reading, and art!

Her very last day of school. Look how OLD she looks!

At last, school is out and we have just over 2 months of freedom (Unfortunately, I got my marching orders for August 10th). My phone's calendar is filled with all sorts of free options (reptiles at the library next week!). First and foremost, of course, is figuring out our personal pool schedule. To help decide which pool to use and when, we explored the neighborhood pool right around the corner from our house (one of the reasons we bought the house was being walking distance from the HOA pool). Tomorrow, Connor and I are going to test the waters (haha) of the activity pool our HOA also gives us access to.

I also signed the girls up for a free dance camp this week, hosted by one of the local churches. They had their first day today, while Connor and I scampered off to toddler time at the library. And, of course, we can't forget Beau who needs to be kept busy as well. We have a favorite dog park that gives him a TON of room to run off all that 2-year-old energy. Plus, Connor gets his fill of being licked by every dog he can get his hands on when other dogs come to play too.

The pool is Cadence-approved

Connor and his dog taking a break in the shade at the dog park.

The dog adores the dog park. He recognizes the word and knows the route by heart. If you make a wrong turn he gets very distraught. He's so in love with the park, the two times he's rushed past us out of the car, he's gone straight to the gate and waited. It's always a treat to watch him take off as soon as we open the gate and I finally remembered to get it on video. He starts running and doesn't stop for usually a full 5 minutes (at which point he finds the biggest puddle to cool his feet in before taking off again).