Where Has The Time Gone?

Boy oh boy.. Have I been a busy bee. I can't believe that it has almost been two weeks since my fabulous trip to MI. What a nice freedom to have no cares and worries while I was there. I have some great pictures to post but don't have the computer here to post them so I will have to do that another time.

The trip there was thankfully uneventful since I have a bit of a fear of flying. Was picked up by me sis who I was able to spot from a distance which saved time I'm sure. We had a wonderful chat home (poor thing had to drive a very long time roundtrip). But it was nice to catch up.

It was a short nights sleep due to the time difference but I felt great the next morning. We got up and went to see R and T play hockey. What a kick. The hockey gear that each kid wears is amazing. They even have kidney pad protection. They were so patient. Then what fun watching them go on the ice. Ice hockey is not very common here but seems to be the definite sport to play there. R sure gets a good workout and is smiling the whole time. T moves pretty good on those barrels and even scooted a few times to the barrel. Sometimes looking like he is having a blast and other times like he is a bit bored. Hee hee.

After hockey we had a yummy breakfast and then went to a fun session of Dream Dinners where S and I assembled six dinners that I pre-ordered as a birthday gift. How fun it was to order them from here and have the order go through without any problems.

After Dream Dinners we went to have hot fudge sundae cake at Bobs Big Boy... I miss that big guy. We don't have any of those anymore. Then we went home for a bit.

That night we went to dinner and saw a movie. Mr. & Mrs. Smith.. Don't recommend it but it was still worth it to be there with my sister and no worries.... oh yeah and with popcorn and Diet Coke. Can't go wrong there.

The next day we went to the corn maze as described on S's blog which was a lot of fun. REALLY good apple cider and two darling boys running around having a great time. After we went home from this outing M got out the grass cutting tractor and I was able to give it a whirl. That was pretty fun! A bit intimidating compared to a lawn mower. But lots of fun. I think the highlight of this day though was R teaching me how to play chess. Talk about being impressed! He knows all the moves of every piece and even knows some strategy. He was whipping me. I only had two pieces left and he kept moving in on my king. At one time he said "check" and then I moved and he moved in again and said "check" and this continued for quite awhile until he said "are you getting a little tired of me saying 'check'? Too funny. I ended up taking out his king which I felt a bit bad but it was a very obvious move. He even saw it. And what a great sport. He was soooo excited for me to win. He seemed even proud because he taught me. Such a mature lil youngster! (Doesn't take after his Auntie J with the good sportsmanship like conduct)

It was a very peaceful evening and then before you know it, it was Monday and time to come home. I was very sad to go and seeing the boys sad face made it very hard. BUT I wouldn't trade it for the world. What a fun time. Thanks for the trip and happy early birthday sis!

Plane ride home was also uneventful and was happy to see my smiling family pick me up. It is always good to come home!

School days..school days.. Good Ole' Golden rule Days!

It's that time of year again! The day went off smoothly. I told P that I didn't need to rehearse getting up early the week before school started. No, I was able to do it COLD TURKEY! I have been so used to not having an alarm clock that 6:45 felt sooo early. But I did it. Even made breakfast and packed lunches with time to spare. J woke his sister up saying "Come on, come on, time to get up..we have a big day today." He was up and dressed from head (even had his hair done before breakfast) to toe! K dragged a little bit. I guess the novelty of school has worn off some since she is a big 5th grader. Anyway, J came home from school with a little bit of a different attitude. When it came to homework time he didn't understand why the teacher wanted to copy down the whole sentence. HE felt that the sentence could be shortened somewhat. Ended in tears but he got through it.

Little C and I are enjoying preschool. His teacher is great and very knowledgeable having a Masters in Early Childhood Development. It is such a great program and extremely reasonable cost-wise. I work in his class one day a week and we go on fieldtrips every Friday. This Friday, we went vegetable picking at a local Family Farm. VERY FUN. Went on a hayride and picked onions, and a variety of squash. All the kids received a coloring book and got to feed the farm animals. There was a mama pig who just gave birth to twelve piglets. They were all nursing when we arrived. OW! I'm glad I only had one at a time. That poor mama. When one piglet went for the mama's dry food, the mama put her snout under the baby and flung her in the air. I think it was payback for the nursing abuse.

Anyway, we are keeping a pretty busy schedule now but very satisfied.

All Smiles!!

Boy, has time been flying by. So much to blog about and so little time. Will get back regarding first days of school etc. BUT the big news in our household is that "K" is now wearing braces! She was so brave. No tears or nervousness. She even was able to pick out the colors she wanted in her braces (currently light and dark blue). It is so different than when I had braces. No big deal but big bucks! Whew!!

She was doing great for the first couple of days and then informed me that it felt like someone was trying to pull all of her teeth out. Soft foods only for the time being. Sent her to school with two fruit cups and one pudding cup. She is not allowed to have crunchy foods or carbonated drinks (carbonation (sp?) loosens the bond of the cement). She should only have them on for 18 months at the most. She is lucky to have all of her teeth in (including 12 year old molars) so that she can get this phase out of the way!