back to life, back to reality

I love this first photo!  This little tent has been in our garage since we've moved here.  I had totally forgotten about it until Liv brought it in the other day.  We set it up in the hour between picking up Tosh up and the older boys. 

Getting back into the groove of things can seem fairly overwhelming to me after a nice break/vacation.  School is in full swing and we seem to be adding new things to our schedule each week.  Burke started band this week.  He is doing percussion (Rob and I were very happy with this choice).  Band is before school on MWF and it works out perfectly for Rob to drive the boys (we are carpooling with a boy in our ward) on his way to work.  Soccer is starting up as well.  I never know how we will juggle three boys in soccer, two in piano lessons, and also Cub Scouts (Burke and soon Hewitt).  I felt very stressed out on Monday night and so Rob put together charts for each of the boys to help them use their time as wisely as possible.  We are leaving the house earlier this year, and the boys' bus has been getting home quite a bit later this year (it shouldn't be, but it's a new driver). 

  

Chart example:



So I totally felt like a lame mother when Burke read through his chart for the first time and then asked, "I'm supposed to say personal prayers in the morning?"  I guess we ALL have things to work on.  Also, some of you may not be familiar with "SPLA" yet.  A couple of years ago Rob was trying to get the kids excited to help clean up the house and said something like, "Now we are going to do SPLA!  Super Put Laundry Away!"  The term stuck and our kids always refer to putting their folded laundry away as SPLA.  I should note that I am also trying to teach our kids to come to me each day and ask, "Mom, what can I do to help?"  I've told my boys that if they can get in that habit of asking how they can help then their wives will LOVE me!  :)

Hmmm, what else?  After 13 years of marriage, Rob is writing a duet for us to sing together.  It's kind of fun to be involved with a little project.  I sing maybe once a year, so it's not easy to dust off the old voice.

There are several things I've been excited to do with Liv with the boys in school.  On Friday morning I got out the bike and trailer and took Liv on about an 8 mile ride to a covered park and let her play for a while.  Maybe I wasn't thinking about the fact that it's AUGUST IN ARIZONA!?  The ride home was very hot--96 degrees before 10AM.  We jumped in the pool as soon as we got home.  I think we'll stick to swimming for now, or at least not ride so far.  O October, October wherefore art thou October?   

Our boys don't play with friends very often.  All three of our boys invited friends over yesterday.  They all played so well and had lots of fun.  We swam and made pizza and the boys did all sorts of interesting things. 

The younger boys having fun with the hose on the tramp:

Burke and his buddy came downstairs dressed as ninjas:

Rob and I did a little "home improvement" project together on Saturday...  That kind of thing will test our marriage like nothing else!!!  Rob pulled our old vent hood out when we had the cabinets refinished in January, and we are now finally putting a new one in.  Luckily, we will have a friend install the new cook top when it arrives in a week or two. 

 Handy Rob; cleaning up the mess:

So I've been very sad all week about missing the Olympics.  I love the Olympics!  Rob really surprised me when he said, "Do you want me to get a TV?"  We haven't had TV (cable) in a year and have been planning to get a flat screen when we finish our family room (built-ins and new mantle which we are doing soon).  The TV and digital antenna (not getting cable again) both arrived on Friday in time for me to watch Michael Phelps swim.  Thanks, Rob! 

We took the kiddos to dinner last night (Chino Bandito):

We were celebrating a certain little girl wearing big girl panties ALL DAY-- and keeping them dry, of course! 

It's the end of an era!  I knew that Liv would just decide that she was ready one day (she's been going potty on the toilet off and on for over a year, but at my request).  We were so excited yesterday when she came downstairs (we were working on the vent in the kitchen) and told me to come upstairs to see her poo in the toilet.  She had been playing in the playroom and just went to the bathroom on her own!  This morning we laughed that she got herself dressed in panties without us saying anything about it.  So proud of my big girl. 

 Liv was dancing around the family room last night singing a 'Liv original' that went, "I can do (pause) anything!"  She sings all the time.  Another funny thing is that she gets mixed up and will also say the word 'anything' when she really means 'nothing.'  For example, she will be upset about something and will say, "I want ANYTHING!"  It makes me laugh because she is saying the opposite of what she means.  What a funny girl.  I am going to sign her up for a little dance/movement class through our community center this week.

I think those are the main highlights for the week.  Happy August.  Stay cool!