First Day of School

Beth was super excited to go back to school, and of course I got a picture before she left. This year got off to a good start. She got the teacher she wanted all summer long. She's super happy about it. Now that we are two weeks in she wants more recess and less school work. Homework starts in another week. It's every day! Yikes. I don't know how I feel about that in first grade.

The boys wanted pictures as well. So I thought I'd share them too.

Sunday Best

We got ready early for church one day a few weeks ago. I wanted to get a picture of Jacob in his suit and vest. I think it is adorable, and loved it when Caleb would wear it too. Jacob's finally big enough. Of course the other kids wanted to pose as well.

Jacob and Caleb. 

Caleb's orange crocs are a signature accessory for church.

A solo picture of the suit!

Uk,Uk Boost!

Today we had a wonderful family home evening lesson. We ended it with a few games, ring around the rosie, and Duck, Duck Goose. Jacob was enthralled by the games, and kept on wanting to play. When it was Caleb's turn to play he would go around, Duck, Duck, Duck, Boost! And run screaming hysterically. I was getting the biggest kick out of it.

Then Jacob was chosen. He got the walking around the circle and hitting people thing. But even better he was saying uk, uk, uk, uk, uk for several trips. He never did say goose, and continued to go around the circle even when we let someone else go. I was so happy that he said anything--since getting him to speak is one of our biggest goals.

Anyway--we have a new game at our house--"UK, UK, Boost!" You can join us anytime!

Brrring, Brrring, Brrrring

Funny moment today: Caleb's been overtired, and I think he needs a nap. So we make a deal. If he lies down until the timer goes off, then he gets a treat. (This is in hopes that he will fall asleep during that time.) 

Originally I had the timer by me, so I could hear it, and he wouldn't touch it. But then he says he needs to hear it too. So I move it to his room. It is quiet for approximately 30 seconds. I begin to think this is working, then . . . 

Brrring, Brrring, Brrring comes out of his room. He has decided to imitate the sound of the timer, since it is taking too long.

Now he's climbing on me, begging for the prize that will not come unless he lies down.

Easy Peasy

This last week was fairly nice. Caleb and Beth spent some time at Grandma's this week. They loved it. Caleb wants us to move closer. Beth does too. But I know we'll most likely be here at least another year. 

Beth has her meet the teacher this week. We don't know who her teacher will be, but she definitely knows who she wants. I'm excited to see who will be in her class this year. She made some good friends last year, but she has some church friends as well. I just want her to have another great year.

We have our meeting for Joyschool this week. I'm super excited for Caleb. It should be a good year for him. I know he'll love meeting each week. Kids this age are so much fun. Caleb is constantly telling me about what he "did last night" always some type of story--maybe a dream, but it always starts "Last night I  . . ." 

Jacob is feeling a bit under the weather, but we'll take him in tomorrow and see. It's either his ears or the fact that he is teething. He is pretty happy otherwise. I think it's ears, 'cause he's not been sleeping, which means I haven't been sleeping. He was so excited to have Beth and Caleb back home. I think he enjoyed the extra attention though.

So I have a post written, and waiting to publish. I planned to include pictures, only to find out that I don't have the software I need to size them correctly. Rob is supposed to work on this for me. He's busy and the olympics are going on, so we will see when it happens.

Today Elisabeth asked me when school started, and has started a countdown. I am going to take that as a good thing. I always looked forward to school, so I'm glad that she is too. She wants to stay up late to watch the Olympics, and I've been letting her, but right now she isn't watching. So she might have to go to bed!

Caleb is still having fun and being crazy. He is always asking to go outside and do something. He has lots of busy energy that he needs to work off. He's going to start Joyschool this year. I think he is really excited. I hope so. We've got a fairly small group, but that will be okay.

Jacob is still his happy self. He is really making progress with his speech therapy. He said bubbles today. (A word we have been working on.) He is more vocal, and you can see him trying to form letters with his mouth. He is getting evaluated by the early intervention team tomorrow. So we'll see how that goes.

Rob is back to working five days a week again. This might mean that he is in a better mood in the evenings, but we'll miss him on Fridays. I'm doing all right so far this week.

Getting Over the Awful Week

A little news first. I had a miserable week, a week ago. I ended up losing one of my blogging jobs. One of my good friends moved away (Of course I'm happy for them). And I had yet another medical scare all in a week. Things are resolving themselves. I ended up with an infection instead of a tumor. I'm looking at the lay off as a good chance for me to grow and do the things I want to.

The kids are doing pretty well. Although bedtime is miserable for everyone. They are still not asleep. And it just keeps getting later and later. Although they do get up by about 8:00 every day. So I don't get it. They are super cranky some days. It must be the Ghost Hunters that Rob is letting them watch.

We are trying to keep their room much cleaner. I wanted to show you the before and after pictures, assuming that we cleaned it in one day. But we were almost finished, and then I went to make dinner, and it got worse again. Finally, three days later, it really got cleaned up. Here is the after picture.

Jacob is on a little kick on choosing his own clothes. He likes to step into whatever he ends up giving me. So he will wear a lot of shirts as skirts. Here is a picture:  Sometimes he wears layers and layers. It really is cute.

On a side note: I went to the Breaking Dawn release party. It was fun, but honestly my group was probably the oldest one there. We had t-shirts and everything. Kind of silly. It was fun, like I was back in high school, just for the fun part of it--or maybe college, since I like college better. Here's some pics of it.  And yes I finished the book. And man, I didn't know what to think. Still don't. I'll get back to ya on my opinion of it. Some of it really bothered me and still does, some of it really bothered me and doesn't anymore, and a few things I liked. I could wish for a bit more action though.