It's not broken

In the midst of all of the back-to-school excitement, I neglected to post about HT and his weekend experience. We were at the lake enjoying our time with my dad on Saturday, and my mom even came up to join us as well. This was a rare treat and we were all very excited! Although the older two were planted in front of the TV, HT was out enjoying the scooter that is kept up there for the kids. Mom had just arrived, my wonderful husband was out front grilling, and Dad and I were enjoying the sunroom. All of a sudden, I heard my husband yell for me in a panic, and my Dad said, "Uh oh, something happened to HT." As a mom I went running with my heart in my throat. They are allowed to ride on the street up there because it is rarely traveled and even though he's always careful and wears a helmet, I still pictured the worst in my mind. Fortunately, although he'd taken quite a spill, it only involved himself and the ground. He held his hand gingerly for quite some time, and we put lots of ice on it throughout the evening. The tough thing is that, at his age, it's very difficult to determine what is real and is "drama". Sunday morning though, he was still in a lot of pain and there was still lots of swelling. To urgent care he went! He was very excited about getting to have an x-ray taken and being able to see the bones in his hand...which very fortunately were not broken! He just has a sprained thumb, and already today feels much better. Of course, he got to have it wrapped for the first day of school, and I'm sure he loved showing it off!

Successful beginning

It appears as though school is off to a successful beginning for our crew. In fact, HT announced when he got home yesterday, "Mom, my first day was awesome!" I'm very happy that he was so excited about his first day. JR has a big transition this year...his classes are being run more like middle school where everyone has their own schedule. He only has three teachers for all of his subjects and they are all located close together. He's really excited about the teachers he has. And JC loved the mid-morning snack that her teacher provided.

As suspected, HT is having trouble adjusting to his early mornings. The other two do fairly well, but he's all about trying to continue sleeping!

First day of School!

It's here...the first day of school. I've been so excited for the kids to be back in a routine, and of course for me to have some quiet time. I've got to tell you though, it feels so quiet. Six entire hours of just me. I miss the kids, and I especially miss the happy-go-lucky little one. My trips to the grocery are definitely faster and quieter by myself, but that doesn't necessarily make them better. My husband and I have realized it's official...we no longer have "little" children. I'm happy to see them grow and mature and develop and learn, but I miss the days of my kids being little.

Saturday morning tidbits

We are headed up to the lake shortly to spend the day with my father. We've been having absolutely gorgeous weather lately, and I'm really looking forward to getting to spend the day up there. Of course, the heat is supposed to be in the 90's on Monday, just in time for the kids to return to their schools without air conditioning.

I'm officially employed! My contract arrived from the kids' school district this morning for me to be a substitute teacher in their school. I'm really excited about the opportunity to earn some extra money, and at the same time to totally be on the same schedule as the kids. I'm nervous about some of the changes that will take place in our lives because I'm not home all day, but I'm also grateful for the opportunity not to have to be home all day missing the kids.

Last night high school football kicked off and the weather could not have been more perfect. In fact, it was actually chilly by the end of the game. Our school district continued their winning ways, but the game we were at was my husband's school district where they are just not good. Going to be a long season for them I think.

Haven't mentioned it lately, but my Reds are in first place, four games in front of the Cardinals. Loving it!

HT and his toys

A toy catalog arrived yesterday in the mail. HT was on it right away as he is by far the most excited about such things. JR is entering the phase where "toys" aren't the first choice...more like "electronics". JC is still into toys and playing, but HT is still a little kid. He was pointing out all of the things he wants for his seventh birthday, which is still many months away. I finally said that I thought that was too many requests for just his seventh birthday and he informed me some of them could be for his seventh and a half birthday. I said we don't really celebrate that and his response was, "I think we should." Not going to happen but I've got to give him credit for trying!

There was definitely one thing he didn't want included among his presents though. It's some kind of dinosaur thing and he pointed to it and announced, "I don't want this. This disturbs me!" Ah, he makes me laugh!

The End of Summer

Today is the last day of summer vacation. Of course the kids don't start school until Monday, but at this point Saturday and Sunday are just a regular weekend. I've had such an emotional reaction to this week. I've been SO ready for the kids to start so they can get out of the house. At the same time, I LOVE having them home with me in a relaxed environment where they can make drawings and play games. Sometimes I wish I had the patience or endurance to home school them so I could always have them with me, but I am very aware that is something that would never work for our personalities. My kids love going to school and for that I'm grateful. I'm a little melancholy that my youngest starts first grade. I know he's more than ready, but in so many ways it makes him all grown up, and I'm not ready for that! I've even had a tough time adjusting to my husband being at work this week. I really miss him. I'm so grateful for these mixed feelings though...while I'm excited about moving on, I'm so glad that I'm happy enough with my life as it is that I'm a little sad to see it change!

It's Gonna Be a Long One

It took all summer, but boredom has officially set in for the kids. We are kind of having a rough week of it, with Dad back at school but the rest of us still in summer mode. I personally feel no motivation for accomplishing anything, and that certainly isn't helping our cause. And combine it with the fact that my wonderful husband is not only gone all day, but almost every evening as well and you can imagine that we just kind of feel like we are in a funk. This evening I am taking the kids to watch a cousin play soccer. Because of travel, this will kill a good two hours! Tomorrow is lunch with my mother and grandmothers, and then I think we will travel to Dad's school and have dinner with him between the end of his school day and the beginning of his open house. Thursday is lunch with my sister, and Friday we'll be driving back to Dad's school to meet up with friends for the opening of the high school football season. At least we are getting out and about! The kids are so excited about school starting next week, and right now it just feels as though it is forever away!

A Week to Go!

Just a week until the school year begins for the kids. No sleeping in this week as we are "in training", but still mostly carefree days. My wonderful husband is officially back at it today...I miss having him home during the day, but enjoying the beautiful weather that we are having. JR has a dentist appointment today, and we are accomplishing other small things during the week. I can't believe all my "babies" will be in school all day every day, but looking forward to the freedom that will provide as well. Life is very blessed!

Family Fun Day

Today our family is spending the day together, doing fun things, to mark the end of our summer. At least, we will be, as soon as I am finished with the three loads of laundry calling my name. We will be taking the kids to a movie and to someplace fun for dinner...someplace where they serve ice cream. The kids are all still off next week, but my husband is officially back at it on Monday, and our evenings are full with open houses, etc. So today is it, and I want to cherish it all day.

Starting the Transition

Two weeks from tomorrow, school begins for the kids. Given the heat here lately, we've all been kind of cooped up indoors and I think school will be good for us, and I think everyone is ready to get back at it...even myself. The one thing that really makes me sad is that it's back to the clock watching...kids have to be in bed by a certain time so baths need to begin by such and such and I need to have dinner on the table by this time in order to make it all "flow". I love the fact that in the summer, we just eat whenever we get around to it, and if it gets late they can always take a bath in the morning. I suppose this would get old after a while though, if we didn't have the school year to make us better appreciate the freedom of summers! Anyway, because the little one is definitely not a morning person, we are beginning our transition to school mornings tomorrow. We'll have two days of making sure everyone is up by 8:30, then the rest of the week by 8, and then next week it will be a normal 7:30 wake up. UGH! I haven't missed that either! Because I'll be subbing in the schools, there is a chance on some mornings the kids will have to be up even earlier than that, so it's really important that they are in bed the night before at the correct school bedtime...and losing our fun loving, stress free, hanging out summer evenings, is what I'm going to miss the most.

I surrender!

It's hot. It's unbearably hot. I do not like heat. I don't like it at all. One or two days, that I can get through. This, though, this is ridiculous! Right now the heat index is 97 degrees. I guess I should be grateful we didn't hit 100, at least that I am aware of. This is about the fourth day in a row it's been absolutely miserable. And tomorrow you ask? Yep, more of the same. UGH!

Last Hurrah

We are kind of having our "last hurrah" this week. After HT's soccer practice last evening, we made the 90 minute trek to my dad's cottage. It's so peaceful up here, and we, as always, are having a wonderful time. Sadly, it's really almost too hot to enjoy the outdoor activities, but there are still plenty of other fun things to do. We just can't believe how quickly the summer has gone by, but we are so grateful for the wonderful memories!

Sweet Corn

One of the really awesome things about living in our rural community is the abundance of the roadside sweet corn stands. I have great memories of my childhood, where my mother would buy corn on the cob at the local farm market and we'd sit on the side porch getting the corn ready for the boiling water. Now, I don't have a local farm market, but there are plenty of farmers who just set up on the side of the road. My husband had picked up some the other evening and commented that the sign said it was the last week. Yesterday, I just kept remembering how sweet and juicy that corn had been, and off I went on a mission. I returned to the exact same stand my husband had visited earlier in the week and picked up two dozen ears. I didn't make all of it last night, knowing that it would cover a few lunches that way as well. It was just as sweet and juicy as it had been earlier, and I loved watching the kids devour it with the same enthusiasm I had at their age! It's always nice to make a dinner they actually like to eat!

Free Friday

We are having kind of a "free" day around here. My wonderful husband is working on the garage organization project, but other than that we are just kind of hanging out. We had friends over yesterday which required us to clean the house, and since that was accomplished I'm just enjoying the fact that it's Friday...and trying not to think about the fact that school begins again in a little over three weeks!

Hotter than, well, you know

Yes folks, it is sizzling here! I have come to truly understand the meaning of oppressive heat. Today I checked weather.com at noon, and it was 93 degrees, with a heat index of 112. That is completely insane! The dew point was 80, which I'm not sure I've ever been aware of before. We had a shower around 2 this afternoon that cooled things down to a heat index in the low 90's, but by this evening the regular temps were reaching that point again. As I write this after 7:30 PM, the heat index is currently 102. Thank goodness for a/c!

Home sweet home

We are all very happy to be home! We had a wonderful trip last week to Gettysburg with the in-laws, and then stayed through the weekend until yesterday. I'm not a person who enjoys traveling, so July was rough on me. Now it's August though, and we are looking towards a new school year. What? It can't be happening already!