The September Bombardment

This month was full of so many ups and downs. Some days, there were more downs than ups... But that's why God gives us limitless tomorrows. There will always be a tomorrow, granting us the blessing of starting over and trying again. On the hard days, I opt to take a mulligan, and tomorrow I will start anew.

We learned at the beginning of this month that Aaron needs glasses. His teacher has him sit at the front of the class, which is nice, but he could still use a helping hand. The eye doctor said first, that Aaron is among the 2% of children who have had surgery for Ptosis that won't need a second surgery (way to go Dr. Engen!!!) and second, that his eyes are just shy of 40/20 in his Ptosis eye, and just shy of 30/20 in the other - combined, they sit around 25/20. This means that if he wears his glasses consistently, his eyes stand a chance of fixing themselves and perhaps by the time he is 7 or 8, he won't need them anymore. Cool, huh?

Getting his glasses was a bit tricky as we had to go to more than one location. Luckily, both had suckers. Adelynn got one stuck to her butt at the first office - she learned at the second office that she actually likes suckers, and there was no need to spit out, and sit on, the first one.

 

Adelynn got ahold of my oatmeal when I wasn't looking ... she most certainly enjoyed it more than I did.

We had to wake Audrey to go to scouts (my first day as the Bear Den leader) and, well, that has a 100% chance to end poorly. When Audrey started freaking out, Adelynn went and found her tablet, brought it to her, and rubbed her back. Sometimes, I wonder how my heart is still beating given how often my children cause it to melt. Speaking of melting ... the ice tactic with Adelynn? Still going strong!

 

I don't know about "work hard," but this is the common, next day aftermath of my girls' version of "play hard." And yes, Adelynn has reached the I want to sit on the potty and do nothing stage.

 

Audrey and Adelynn received some gifts in the mail and, rather than ask why he didn't get any, Aaron sat down to "write" a thank you note to Nona, the one who sent the gift.

We would be wise to remember ... Sometimes, determination pays off ... and other times, it just makes things worse. Should have waited for the hubby ... #storyofmylife Don't worry, I eventually got it!

 

Let's not talk too much about the quality of this picture - there is a chunk of time where some of my photos and videos went missing ... both on my phone and the online back-up. Bummer. Anyway, usually, Audrey puts away her laundry (she's really good at it, as is Aaron - hooray for less work for me!) and I put away Adelynn's. One day, however, Adelynn really wanted to help - which involved putting diaper covers on her head...

These girls are growing closer together with Aaron in school - and they transition into the three musketeers when he gets home. ***Triple A***
Adelynn watching Dancing with the Stars along side me ... getting inspired, and practicing to be on the show, I guess.

I love (so so so so so much) when Eric takes pictures of the kids. He took them to the park and then they played games at home.

I have no words.

Wear Everything, All at Once!

Wow - it's the impaired eyesight French Painter who moonlights as the Buzz Lightyear Fairy in her natural habitat! What an amazing find!

Missionary Fun

We've always loved having the missionaries come over, but Sister Hudson and Sister Berry are something special. It is so easy to see how much they care for my kids. We will miss you ladies!

I Did It!

I adore watching Adelynn accomplish something - so pleased and proud! I love when she says, "I did it!" (16 and 36 seconds into the video) She always asks, "help me," and sometimes adds, "get it off," like in the video (19 seconds in), but time after time she proves to herself that she can do it on her own!

Also, update, her head is healing phenomenally. She'll need to wear headbands for the next while because, A. bandaids, and B. when we pulled off the medical tape and gauze, the front chunk of her hair may or may not have come out with it... sorry kiddo. Your mullet just got worse. There is no 90-day return policy on a bad haircut. 

"Talking" on the Phone

I'll start this by explaining what you see in the top area of Adelynn's head. A very large firetruck fell down the stairs and they collided. Brother and Sister felt terrible. We wondered if she was going to be our first ER visit - luckily, it wasn't. She's quite a trooper.
Now, on to the fun stuff. Adelynn loves to pretend to "talk on the phone" to Gramma and Grampa! I can only understand the "Hi Gramma/Grampa" part ... and that's it. Often, she follows up her greeting with, "ha you?" (How are you.) This time, however, she got right down to business, directly into her own, undecipherable language.

Prayers Before a Tea Party

A tea party; complete with pretend food, real food, and little girls who ask to say prayers before we begin.

Hakuna Matata

They bare their teeth and sharpen their claws, each seemingly ready to destroy the other, but at the end of the day, the bond of being siblings is stronger than conflict and transcends time itself. It's these little moments that I live for - something as simple as me stumbling across them singing together at the table. This is why I take hold of the tomorrows I've been given; because I know it is all worth it.

... Why We Can't Have Nice Things ... Or White Pants

"... let her come outside with us," they said ... "she'll be fine," they said.

Yeah, and then they introduced her to the dirt.

#thedirtylifeisthefunlife

Reading Turns to Tickling

Sometimes, reading turns into a tickle fight ... a fight I don't usually win.

 

The New Backpack

Seriously, I can hardly get over how handsome he is!

Thank goodness we had a reason to take his picture again, because on the first day of school, the SD card was not in my camera ... so all of the pictures I took by the front door didn't save. I may have ranked that crisis up there with Hurricane Katrina ... #sentimentalmother

... Millennials ...

Aaron's First Day of School

Today was Aaron's first day of kindergarten. I went upstairs to see if he was awake only to find he had hit the snooze button (during our practice last week, he hadn't done that at all). He said, "I just needed a little more sleep. I stayed up last night, and so I needed more sleep," as he snuggled back into his blankets. (Yeah ... Welcome to the rest of your life kiddo...)

We laid there talking and I told him that his backpack wouldn't be here for a few days, so I had packed his things in my DotA2 backpack. I told him I was going to share it with him so that he could have a backpack to use - one that his folder could fit inside. He said, "really? You would do that, for me?" Of course Aaron!

We took him to the bus and then I drove to meet him at school, panicking the whole way because there was crazy traffic and zero parking - but I met up with him not long after he'd gotten off the bus, thank goodness. We arrived to his classroom and he got straight to work writing his name per the activity sheet on his desk. When it was time for me to leave, I told him I was heading out and he said "okay, love you" and went back to his work. Usually, he shuts down around big groups of people, and fights the concept of me leaving him, so I expected a breakdown or show of defiance, but he was super confident and comfortable there. His teacher did one-on-one meetings with each student the week before, and Aaron has been begging to go to school for over a year ... both were enough to conquer and seize the day!

I brought his lunch box a little bit later, since we both forgotten it, and found him sitting on the rug, behaving as he should.

I assumed I will be a blubbering mess, since I cry at everything, but I wasn't - even now, I have yet to cry. I'm just excited for him to learn new things, make new friends, and I know that this new adventure will be really good for him.

 

Desk work

Fresh off the bus! Audrey wore her backpack too! Aaron raced to me for a hug and declared, without me asking, "Mama! My first day at school was AWESOME!" thank heavens!

***addition from waiting at the bus stop for Aaron the second day as well***

Adelynn was so excited to see Aaron.

"MAMA! I did AWESOME! IT was the best day of my life! Want to hear about it?!"

Yes kiddo, I want to hear about this day, and every day after!

 

The Yearly PP!

... oh come on. stop thinking about "pp" like that - you know I mean the annual Precoa Picnic!

 

 The historical cycle continues as we had to, once again, pry Audrey off of the horses. Seriously, someone get this girl a pony! 

 Or an alpaca - she's rather fond of those too...

 

... and then there's the goats. Now, not only did she take a liking to them, but one goat in particular took an exceptionally strong liking to her! That goat was intent on checking out her skirt - and following her ...

 

 ... and following her ...

 okay goat, that's enough!

Aaron was pretty jealous, so he got all up in that goat's face and finally had the goat lick his shirt. He was pretty ecstatic.