just an {insta} average week.

Life here is pretty run-of-the-mill lately,

and I'm thankful for that.

And I'm thankful for the quick snap of iPhone pictures,

that help me to remember those beautifully average days.

{big reading to little.}

{beans in the crockpot.}

{sunday nap.}

{pick up.}

{book covers.  old school.}

{'you don't know jacques'.  my fave fall nail color.}

{three ingredients and delish.  get some.}

{stealing minutes to read before school.}

{running sucks.  there...i said it.}

{brrrr.}

Average is good.

Here's to September.

some wednesday randomness.

So there's not much exciting happening over here.
My house is quiet during the day,
so I'm getting a few things done,
but nothing very interesting.
I have projects in mind...but so far my kid-free time has been spent
doing laundry and running errands
and getting ready to host TEN BOYS FOR A SLEEPOVER on Friday.

Pray for me.
Please.
{what was i thinking?!}

We're getting back into the swing of getting up early and making lunches and doing homework.
And I'm exercising.
My body is definitely trying to revolt against every run I take.
My ankles and shins aren't happy with me right now,
and I'm feeling a bit like an old lady with aches and pains.
But I'm determined to keep going.

And...a little while ago I ate three mint oreos.
So I guess I have to keep going.

On an unrelated note...
Colin is finally reading Harry Potter,
after months of me trying to convince him he'd love the book more than the movie.



Surprise!
I was right.
{my living room looks so gray in that picture.  i swear there really is some color in here.}

And I think it's so crazy how differently the kids do homework now.



Riley is getting very proficient with the word processing program.
I didn't type a paper on a computer until college!
{i know...i'm totally dating myself here.}
It's funny to think about doing my homework in high school on my typewriter.
I remember it was so loud to type on, and having to use white out when I made a mistake.
And you'd' have to line up the drum exactly to type over the mistake you made.
Do you remember that?
And I was so excited when I got an electric typewriter!
I thought it was so fancy.
I also remember getting my first email account in college.
Gary showed me how to use it.
I thought, "What does he think I'm going to do with this thing?"

CRAZY.

And finally, raspberries are her favorite fruit.



She can eat the entire container in one sitting.
Why do they have to cost $3.50 a basket?
Are they really that hard to grow?
I need to look in to getting a raspberry bush.

See?
Told you.
So random.

reminiscing.

I was looking through my flickr photostream today trying to find a picture.

Such a bad idea.

I got sucked into looking at pictures from a few years ago
when the kids still had chubby little hands and baby faces.
Wah.  Time stinks.

Avery at our old house in April 2010:
Those piggy tails.  Sigh.



And I miss that kitchen.

Baby bowl and spoon!
I don't have any of those in my kitchen anymore.
How can that be?



I can't even handle this.



Crazy kid.



Now I want to cry.  She was one.



Oh those little people.













And one of my favorite pictures of her.  Ever.



Seriously.  Babies in sponge rollers.  It's the best.

And now my boys wear deodorant
and that baby was singing Poker Face this afternoon.
I'm off to go cry a little.

hooray for friday.

Let's breathe a collective sigh of relief...it's Friday!
We survived the first week of school
and this weekend we have soccer, soccer and soccer.
And between the soccer and the apple cinnamon candle I have burning
it's beginning to feel a lot like fall.
And, of course, pumpkin spice lattes will be popping up at Starbucks next weekend.
Woo hoo!
Can't wait.

Here's what we've been doing for the last couple of weeks via instagram:

no milk...no cereal...no bread = smoothies for breakfast.



the bigger the shoes, the bigger the price tags.  yowza.  we hit up the outlets instead.



hello, soccer.  goodbye, saturdays and family dinners.



mom deserves a little back-to-school shopping too, right??



sunset, for the win.  i mean, really.



ponies in the tub and trying to break a pesky fever.



soccer drill planning.  no distractions in this house what-so-ever.



waiting at the BART station to load my passenger from portugal.



as seen on tv: the turbie twist and the hair bean.  two thumbs up from this customer.



freebirds burrito, i've missed you these past 11 years.  oh, and i like your free kids meal thing.  a lot.



the last day of summer: the pool and a hello kitty mani/pedi.



first day of school: a quiet house.  can you hear the peace?



birthday class treats.  doesn't get much easier than these.



my pretty new mug from susan {thank you!} and a peach the size of my head.



just a cake with three sticks of butter in the frosting.  no biggie.



back to running this week after a 2.5 month absence.  ouch.  and, also, OUCH.



Happy weekend.

back to school.

I wore my waterproof mascara today,
because I was sure I'd be a sobbing mess this morning.
I sent my littlest person off to kindergarten.

Yeah, the boys started school too, but I knew they'd be okay.
They have great teachers...and tons of their friends in their class.
They're good.
But I wasn't sure about Avery.

Riley looks SO tall to me here.



And she looked so little in line.



She walked into her classroom and never stopped smiling.



And my waterproof mascara wasn't even necessary.
I was okay because she was so happy.

I went home to my quiet house and finished my coffee,
folded some laundry,
put quinoa in the crock pot,
and headed to Target.  Alone.  Without my little partner.
Wah.

But I'm happy for her.
Kindergarten is so much fun!
And it's kind of nice to have some time to get things done.
But I was pretty happy when she came home.
She decompressed on nickjr.
:)



School starting means craziness,
but believe it or not it makes me happy to see my counter like this:





After school I was in full birthday treat mode.
A certain 3rd grader is turning nine tomorrow.
Pumpkin muffins are his standard class birthday treat request.
And Avery and I made him a birthday banner.





Everyone in this house just keeps on growing up.
I'm not okay with it.
But it's fun to watch it happen.