Crazytown.

I think that's where we're living.


I feel like I've been a big complainer lately.
Sorry.


But I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed.
Between the amount of homework
{which is crazy!}
and after school activities
and the packing
I'm tapped out.


Yeah....
packing.

We bought a new {to us} house.
We move in this weekend.
Our house is going on the market tomorrow.

It has happened so quickly.
I'm excited
and anxious
and nervous
and ready for it all to be over with.


So if I'm not here much in the next week or so,
forgive me.


I'm up to my eyeballs in boxes
and packing tape. 


{But I'm also dreaming of my new laundry room.  Wheee!}

Friday and Saturday

Friday was the end of a loooong week.
A long, busy week.


And sometime Friday afternoon I decided I really needed cookies.

(Actually I have given up on cookies.  I'm all about bars now.  So much easier.)


So Avery helped me bake.
I wouldn't give her a single taste of the cookie dough,
because of the whole egg-salmonella-recall-thing,
so she wasn't too happy with me.

She went to bed for the night about 15 minutes after this picture.
At 5pm.


And this morning was the opening day of soccer.
We were up e-a-r-l-y for the parade.
Really.  Whose idea was it for us to have to be there at 7:45am?
On a Saturday?
Torture.

We all needed a Starbucks run beforehand.

Every team lines up...

...and then marches down our town's main street...

...and then is introduced at a baseball stadium down the road.

It's small town fun at its best.

And thus begins three months of five days a week of soccer.

Thank goodness next Wednesday is the beginning of 
Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte season.
I'm going to need it.

I can't believe it.

My baby is in preschool.

She started today.

She didn't cry when I left.
{but she got close}

I didn't cry either.
{but I got *really* close in that quiet car ride home}

She's going to the same preschool her brothers went to.
We know and love everyone there.

She played and painted,
and after I picked her up 
she told me about her new friends
and the boy she sat next to during snack time.

The best news of all?
She wants to go back.

And if she wasn't already growing up quickly enough...

she started ballet and tap this week.


I let her go to preschool,
but I've decided I'm not going to be able to let her go away to college.
I'm trying to think of ways to break it to her in 15 years.

A winner.

I'm exhausted, 
so I'm going to make this post quick.

The winner of the Farm Chicks book is
you!
Email me and I'll get your book out asap.


I'm off to bed.
It's been a crazy couple of weeks.
I'll share the craziness soon.

But on a totally unrelated note...

...Mint It's-Its are delicious.

My littlest boy is seven.

We sure do like this kid.
He is one in a million, for sure.


He wanted a combination lock for his birthday.
But was a little disappointed when he realized he couldn't lock his room with it.


He adores Legos and his sister...and his mommy. :)
He looks up to his dad and his big brother,
is smart and funny and loyal.

Instead of a bedtime story tonight,
we read through his baby book.
He didn't even care that it wasn't complete.

Happy birthday, Colin.
We love you.
And I'm going to need you to stop growing.
Like...immediately.




{...winner of the Farm Chicks book announced tomorrow....}

Whoops.

I totally forgot about my 2 year blogiversary.


It was in July.


That's not quite as bad as forgetting your wedding anniversary,
{which I've never done}
{and which Gary has never done}
{because he knows what's good for him}
but still.


So...I got you something.
Okay, technically I got us both something.

I love Country Living...and the Farm Chicks.
Oh, and Christmas. :)
So I had to buy this:

I bought one for both of us.

It has cute anecdotes
and Christmas decorating ideas
and recipes.

I love those trees.
I want to make the yarn one.


If you want to win the other book,
just leave a comment.
If you want to become a follower and leave another comment,
you can have another entry.
I'll choose a winner Monday.


And then once you win the book
you can get right to work
making your Christmas decorations.

Ha.

School...and something cool.

We all survived the first day.
I held my breath a little as they walked out of class,
hoping for good reports....
and they were all smiles.
{They look like trouble, don't they?}

I think it will be a good year.
It's hard to believe I have a 1st and a 3rd grader. 
Avery and I got so much done while they were gone today,
but we missed them.


********************


So you know my husband works at Pixar.
He didn't work on Toy Story 3, 
because he has been working on Up,
and then, for the last 18 months, Cars 2.
But our kids got to contribute {a little} to the making of TS3.

Awhile ago Pixar gave all of the Pixar kids 4 x 4 cardboard tiles.
They got to paint whatever they wanted on the tiles.
And the tiles ended up on the exterior of Sunnyside Daycare.

(image from here)

And, for the record, that arrow is pointing to the tile Colin painted.

It's in his memory box in my closet.

And it's actually the sun and the blue ocean, 

not a cameo appearance by the Luxo ball.

:)

Today the kids got these cool certificates signed by director Lee Unkrich.

And some original artwork.

The kids were pretty excited to see their tiles in the film,

and now on their certificates.

Having a dad that works at Pixar is pretty cool.

lunches are made...

supplies are bought and labeled...

pencils are sharpened...

backpacks are packed...

hair is freshly cut...

outfits are laid out...
and we're ready to go.


The boys are excited
and a little nervous.

I told them that everyone is nervous the first day:
students,
teachers,
even parents.
{Especially parents?}


And to calm my nerves tomorrow 
I think I'll need a grande skinny hazelnut latte
after I drop them off at school.

The Last Hurrah.

We went miniature golfing last week
for our last summer bit of fun.
We didn't finish everything on our summer list,
but the kids desperately wanted to golf.

So we golfed.

Colin and Riley take mini golfing very seriously.
They practice their shots over and over.
They keep score.
They celebrate holes-in-one.

Avery is a golfer after my own heart.

She prefers the "walk down and toss the ball in the hole" method.
A guaranteed hole-in-one each time.
{I'm thinking she will not have a career as a golfer.}


But air hockey, on the other hand...

that's her game.

We had a fun morning
and a nice quiet end to our summer.

And, now ... hip hip hooray ...
tomorrow is a school night!

Summer list guilt.

I have a new guilt this summer.


I'll add this to my
'I don't work out enough' guilt
'I don't cook enough vegetables' guilt
'I don't take my kids to the library enough' guilt.


It's the 'I didn't complete enough on our Summer List' guilt.


We made our summer list in June.
I had really good intentions.
But then life got in the way a little.

We didn't go to the zoo
or keep a summer journal,
but we did do puzzles
and make castles out of blocks
and paint box forts
and create dioramas
and have some fun.

I owe them miniature golf 
and a trip to the Jelly Belly factory as well.
They keep reminding me.

We're busy these days with some stuff.

Stuff that requires a lot of paperwork.
I really am not a huge fan of paperwork.
{If I'm being honest, there are a few catalogs in that stack as well.  
Paperwork is more tolerable with a Boden catalog mixed in.}


And to more efficiently deal with some of this paperwork,
I bought a printer/copier/fax/scanner today.
And I set it up myself.


I know...that's blog-worthy news right there.

Winding down...

This is our last week of summer.
I can't believe it.


Most of me is ready to have our routines back,
but there's a little bit of 'sad' in there, too.


We haven't completed everything on our summer list.
Looks like I'll be making snickerdoodles and ice cream this week.
{It would be a shame not to cross those off the list, right?}


I still haven't bought the kids' school supplies,
so we'll be making a Wal-Mart run this week.


I think these should be on my list as well:

Isn't this the cutest snack bag?

And these iron-on labels are the *best* idea.
I think I need some.


And since I'm a sucker for labels...

I want some of these with my name.
I'm sure I can find something to label.
My phone?
My box of protein bars?
My Diet Coke?


Don't you think any little girl would love this bracelet?

And I know the boys would like this backpack tag:

Colin seems to think the more tags/keychains you can hang from your backpack,
the better.


We're going to soak up the last week of summer around here.
And then we're going to smile when the school bell rings.
:)

Back to the field

This week has worn me out.
It was the first week of soccer practice,
which means the first week of the schedule we'll have until November.

Soccer four nights a week again.
Plus piano and drums and tennis,
and ballet starting soon.

If you need to find me,
I'm probably in my car.
Or on the soccer field.
Or in the laundry room washing soccer socks and shin guards.

Friday is my new favorite day:
no soccer
no tennis
no music lessons.

To celebrate, I think I'll stay in my stretchy pants until dinner.

Since we've last talked....

The tooth fairy made a visit to our house a couple of days ago.
She's had a lot of business in this house lately.

I'm not ready to see him with big kid teeth. :(

How could she say no to this request?

 *****************


The other day I was weak.
Really weak.
And my weakness equaled this.

And it's because of weaknesses like this that I'm joining the gym.


 *****************

I had a hair appointment today.
For awhile now I've been wanting to get out of my hair rut.
So for the last couple of weeks I've kept my eye out for haircuts I love.


I asked for the January Jones.
{Do you watch Mad Men?  Love it!}

At the last minute I chickened out a little
and asked her to keep it a bit longer than January's.

She cut off at least four inches.
I was so proud of myself for being brave
and getting out of my hair rut.


Of course when Riley saw it, he said, "It doesn't even look any different Mom".

{men!}


 *****************

Oh, and we've reached the point in the summer where I'm doing this.

Let the countdown begin.