Things We've Been Up To

Since returning from our trip two weeks ago, life has been in full swing of re-entry, sick kids, tears over homework, Mom's in Prayer group, party planning, etc.  Here's a brief recap of what we've been up to.

Ava Jane has been enjoying the new Kroger carts for kids.  When I can't find a ClickList time slot available to pick up my grocery orders, this is how we've started rolling...no pun intended.  She loves putting the groceries in her basket and getting to put all the items up on the conveyor belt which is super helpful to me.  She's getting a daily dose of Home Ec as she's been wanting to help cook dinner, make grocery lists (i.e. scribble on paper) and help me pickup and clean the house, all of which are very welcomed helps for sure!

The kids school has been in the middle of Warrior Blitz, which is a fundraiser the school does that helps to fund 100% of the educational experiences at LRCA.   Last Friday I went and helped with the Warrior Blitz Celebration by manning the inflatable area; these cuties had a great time climbing and bouncing the afternoon away!

And when I'm cooking dinner or folding laundry (really, whenever I'm doing anything mindless), I have started listening to books on Audible these days.  This little nugget, Sparkly Green Earrings has been a really fun read as I've gotten to listen to Big Mama, Melanie Shankle, as she shares the everyday humors of being a mother including both the funny and sad moments as well as the heart wrenching and belly laugh moments as a Mom.  It's had me in full out tears and out right laughter as I can fully relate to all the ups and downs of Motherhood that she speaks of.  I have now finished the book and was teary eyed as the last words were read.

There's been lots of Saturday morning soccer games for Emerson and his little buddies.  The good thing is that he has honestly enjoyed playing this season and actually engaged, since last Spring was his first attempt at organized athletics and he's definitely more engaged then last season when clouds and dandelions were way more interesting then following which way the ball was headed.  We have been proud to cheer him on as he has scored goals and helped his team mates each week.

As I'm typing this up, it's starting to feel like this blog post is all about Emerson but I think it's just how the events have fallen the last few days.  On Monday, I got to attend his very first field trip with his Kindergarten class which he was tied between which was more exciting to him, riding the big yellow school bus to the pumpkin patch or getting to ride the trailer around the pumpkin patch...either way, both were a hit and he had fun enjoying time with his buddies outside the walls of his classroom.  And to top it off, it was a beautiful day to be picking pumpkins!

Out of these first four weeks of Bible study I have only made it to one.  The first week we were in the Dominican Republic, the second week Peyton was diagnosed with a Staph infection, which is extremely contagious, that kept him home from school that Thursday and Friday.  Then last week I made it to the study but this week two of the kids were hit with the stomach bug.  It never passes over our home, we always, always end up with that icky, horrible viru...each semester, without fail, we get it!  I'm learning to just enjoy the down moments with the kids, staying in our pjs almost all day never happens so we gave it a go this week and honestly, I kind of liked it...not the six loads of sheets and towels or the vomit that I got to pick out of Ava Jane's hair, but the down time that it afforded me was  nice I must admit.  So that's a bit of what's been going on.  Here's hoping for less sickness next week!