Goodbye September, Hello October!

We've been missing. I wish I had some clever comments or funny stories to share to explain why we skipped an entire month of blogging but the truth of the matter is we just didn't have the time - or want to spend the time. When the day begins or the day is done I have to make sure we are spending time on the most important things - ourselves and the children - and sitting at the computer can not always be on the list. Oh, and there was that 3-week period in September when the computer took a vacation with the Geek Squad at Best Buy.

The Family had an interesting summer and I hope I can find some time to record some of the adventures and tribulations on the blog. We then rolled into the school year - as you saw in our only August posts - and I think we are still trying to get into a rhythm of homework that exponentially grew this year. We have also experienced the trials of growing up, making bad choices, and having the school Principal call us several days in a row. To say that I am glad September is over would be putting it mildly.

September is never my favorite month around here because I am always fooled by the weather. You would think after eleven previous Phoenix Septembers I would be prepared but unfortunately I still take it as a personal attack that the temperature chooses to stay above 100 degrees. It is already getting better though as we have the doors and windows open this morning enjoying a cool 70 degrees. We have also gotten the fall and Halloween decorations out which always brings a smile to everyone's face!

So Hello October . . . a busy one for sure as weeknights and weekends are already full of soccer, baseball, and bike races. It's time to contemplate once, twice, and three more times what we want to be for Halloween. It's time to open the doors in the morning and practice "Atmosphere Management" to keep the house cool throughout the day. It's time to enjoy the backyard and play at the park. Oh, and it's time for this:

Pickle hits Kindergarten

Not all first days are the same. Today was one of the unique ones. The girl known affectionately as Pickle joined the legions of legitimate schoolers by entering kindergarten. She has looked forward to this day all summer long and it was met with a great deal of enthusiasm. since the school age children had different start dates this year they were granted the freedom to choose the meals around their respective start dates. Pickle wanted tacos the night before, mini blueberry muffins for breakfast, and a dinner of pancakes after the first day.

Dance Recital

In June after we returned from Florida Pickle participated in her first dance recital. She has been excitedly talking about it since January when the teacher started prepping them for being on the stage. After weekly classes, costume fittings, and pictures; the big day finally arrived. The performance turned out as you would expect from five 4-year-olds on stage but they all looked adorable. It was a very proud moment for me but most importantly I just loved her enthusiasm for the experience.

 

 

3rd Grade

If it is August then it is time for the yearly back to school pictures. The Boy picked out his clothes last night but as I look back at last year's post I see that he has not branched out too much. He moves into another year but with a familiar teacher and many familiar faces from previous years. This is the first year he gets to ride his bike to school but he didn't hit out on it today. I broke down and drove him because of the usual bag of supplies. The parking lot was a zoo and I am glad it is not something that we have to navigate every morning.

Room Re-Organization

 

Most of our spare time this summer has been spent re-organizing all of the rooms and shifting kids around. It started in early June while The Boy stayed a week in Louisiana enjoying one-on-one time with all of his grandparents. We cleared out Pickle's room, painted it (twice to get the right color blue) and moved in all of his furniture, toys, clothes, and BOOKS! The room looks awesome and he has been really happy with it. I have enjoyed the project as it has motivated me to really clean out many items that I had been hanging onto for sentimental reasons and the result has been cleaner closets and more space.

Before

 

After

Before

After

We plan to build him a desk under the top bunk (while we're at it we need to get a mattress for that top bunk). The next step in the process was to paint his old room for the girls. It turned out great and both girls have moved in and are officially sharing a room! We still need to hang some pictures in there to bring it all together so once that is completed I will post pictures of their room.

Just Hanging Out

The summer has not been just about sitting around and hanging out . . . many blog posts will be forthcoming to show you what we've been up to the last couple of months. Today we are wrapping up a weekend of "resort living" here in Phoenix. We packed up and drove 10 minutes south to stay at The Legacy where we didn't have to use our air conditioning and could swim and possibly play tennis. As luck would have it the weather did not cooperate and our swimming was cut short by a thunder storm that left the courts unwelcoming as well. Oh well, I certainly enjoyed the rare rainstorm!

Father's Day

It's Father's Day and the Father of the house is not here . . . pretty standard Sunday schedule. JP spends 1/2 the day on his bike while the kids and I lounge about watching PBS and Food Network, reading the paper, or just playing. Why should Father's Day be any different? Of all the Sundays in the year he should certainly be allowed to do what he wants on this one. The kids wanted to make him jalapeno biscuits and serve him breakfast in bed but this was the last thing he wanted. He is usually the first one up and would rather be drinking coffee and watching cycling in the den than waiting in bed for breakfast. (He made an omelet.)

He also did not receive any gifts . . . at least nothing purchased. The kids did give him a picture frame that they made with Cee-Cee a few months ago and I printed a "Father's Day Mad Lib" that they each completed and were pretty funny. Giving him gifts is pretty useless as he doesn't want anything and we don't need more stuff. Instead of gifts we are going to go out to his favorite restaurant so he can have pizza and wings. I am also making lemon squares. Consumable gifts and ones that can be shared are the best kinds of presents and ones I know he will like . . . no guessing needed.

Happy Father's Day! We love you.