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 was extremely contagious and that kept him home from school that Thursday and Friday.  Then last week I did make it to Bible study but this week two of the kids were hit with the stomach bug.  It never seems to pass over our home, we always, always end up with that icky, horrible virus...each and every semester, without fail!  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.   Here's Adam helping clean up Emerson's room while I bathed him and picked the puke out of his hair.  Life as we well know, is not all roses or pretty pictures, so I'm keeping it real on this here blog!  (Adam is determined to try and stave off this ugly virus from taking him down too, so he entered Emerson's room fully armed and ready....it was a pretty comical moment in the midst of the disgusting smell and the dry heaves I experienced!)

Another downer has been the struggle to get all the homework completed each and EVERY afternoon without an enormous amount of tears from all my peeps.  If it's not the 10-20 minutes of reading that must be done, its the "confusion" that comes from trying to break apart 596 into how many hundreds, tens and ones it has according to Singapore Math.  Between fourth and second grade math and the gnashing of teeth through having to spell out all 20 spelling words, combined with the fact that I keep being asked after he's written each word down, "how many more do I have to spell?"...I may just go crazy!!  When you add Ava Jane's constant asking for snacks in the afternoon along with Lachlan's fairly consistent whining on top of all the homework drama, by the time Adam gets home in the evenings, to say I'm a frazzled nerve is putting it lightly.  I would break down and cry a bucket full of tears if it weren't for the frustration thats built up inside of me which holds said tears from spilling out.  So that's a little bit of what's been going on recently.  Here's hoping for less sickness next week and for homework to get progressively easier!