I hate fundraising

Yes, I understand how important fundraising is when my children are in a small christian school. That being said, I really hate going door to door or chasing down my friends and asking them to buy something. UGGGGGG! And if my kids each sell 10 things they get to go to a big party with bouncy houses and ice cream. So, they HAVE to sell 10 things. Of course I end up buying most of it. Every other parent I know is already drowning in wrapping paper and candy from their own child. Anyway, I just realized that the packet has been sitting on my desk for almost 10 days and I haven't even opened it ( can you tell how often I clean off the top of my desk?). And they have to turn it in on Wed. So I guess everyone is getting wrapping paper as a gift this year :) Merry Christmas!

This has been such a crazy week. The kids are in school full time. I have been catching a cold and yesterday Sophie and I took a sick day. We stayed in our pjs and watched tv all day except for when we took a nap :) It was nice. Tomorrow we start our Thurs bible study. Our church does a book study during the school year. We follow the school schedule and the classes change after Christmas. It's a lot of fun for everyone. Moms get a couple of hours away from the kids and enjoy talking about grownup things. I'm going to be working in the nursery. Sophie loves to go and play with her cousin Jack and see her Aunt Kimie and her Nana and her great grandmother too. We all go to the same church.
Sophie goes to her preschool open house tomorrow. She is so excited. We've been counting down all summer. Today we went and got her supplies. She has them all packed in her Dora backpack. She's excited about using "safty scissors". I should probably warn her teacher how much she loves scissors. She is going to have so much fun. She is spoiled rotten and so strong willed. It's going to be good for her to be around kids her own age and follow rules. Here at home the older kids baby her and give in when she pitches a fit. She is getting so grown up and lets you know exactly what she wants. This morning she didn't want her hair brushed and she let me know.
Mom-Come here and let me brush your hair
Sophie- No pony tail
Mom- Just a little pony tail to keep the hair out of your face
Sophie- (Screaming)- NOOOOOOO
Mom- Now Sophie or we won't go play with your friends
Sophie-( with her lip stuck out and her arms crossed) I'm angry and I'm tired and I don't want a pony tail, then she sighed
Then of course an hour later the hair band was gone and her hair was sticky and in her mouth.
I don't even want to know what her teenage years are going to be like.

first week of school

It was the kids first week at their new school. After a very nervous first day (for me) they came home and told me that they really liked it. They have had half days all week because the air at the school is out. Sophie is having a hard time adjusting to life without big brother and sister. She starts preschool on Sept 5th so her turn is coming soon. I've been busy trying to clean house and working for my friend Kelly at her drop in child care center since she's been so busy this week. Sophie loves to go there and it helps break up the day for her until the big kids come home. Now if we could just get used to getting up early again.

Ladies Day

Today was girls day for me and Lexie. She had a hair appointment at the salon with the woman who does my hair. She felt so grown up. Then we went and had lunch at Red Rocks and ate Oreo cheesecake. After lunch we went and got pedicures. It's so nice to have a daughter who is a little older so we can spend time doing girl things. Sophie and John William got to spend time with their daddy at home. Tonight we're all going bowling. Only one more day till school starts. We can hardly wait!!! Here's a pic of Lexie's toes with flowers on them. And a pic of her new hair cut.

Countdown to school

School starts on Monday and we have been busy getting ready all week. The school supplies are bought and ready to go. The older kids had their physicals yesterday and have grown so much. John William went to the eye doctor for his first checkup and Lexie got her glasses fixed from where Sophie tried to wear them. Haircuts are the last thing on my list. Lexie is going on Sat for her first grown up hair cut at the salon where I get my hair done. JW is going with his daddy later this week. Sophie doesn't start preschool until the 5th so I don't have to worry about getting her ready yet. She is going to be so lonely without her big brother and sister here. She really loves spending time with Lexie. She wants to hold Lexie's hand and play in her room. Lexie has been getting Sophie dressed and she wants only Lexie to take her to the potty. Lexie has such a sweet heart (sometimes :)) and loves her baby sister so much. She is going to miss the time they have had this summer too. It always makes me sad when the kids start back to school because it reminds me how big they are and how fast they are growing. Then again, I'm ready for some quiet time at home. I'm itching to clean out closets and get some yard work done that I just haven't had time to work on this summer. Everytime I walk up the sidewalk to the house and see my messy flower beds, overgrown with weeds, I think about finally having time to work on them. Not too long now.

Beach fun

We got to spend half a day at the beach and the kids and Ben had a blast. I got to sit out and enjoy the sun. We got to see a bunch of dolphins swimming in front of us for almost an hour. Lexie wanted to swim out to them.

Vacation

We went to the aquarium in Virginia Beach. Lexie wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up so she loved seeing all of the sea animals.

Vacation

We spent the weekend in Virginia with my best friend Robin and her husband and 6 month old cutie Reece. He is the sweetest baby and is so good. We had such a great time. The kids start school in one week and this was a perfect way to end the summer.

What a day

Today was such a long day. It was sooooo hot outside so that meant that we were inside all day. All four dogs were in the house all day because it was too hot for them to be outside. Normally they stay outside a good part of the day so they can run around and play. Then when it gets to be afternoon they come in and lay around until bedtime. Well today they were wrestling and running around the house. Bella my great dane weighs 120lbs and has a tail like a weapon. She just turned one so she's still a puppy and she had lots of energy today. She and Salsa the chihuahua just love each other and chased each other around the house in circles over and over again. Sophie was so fussy today and after dinner she got flushed and I checked and she's running a 102 temp. She just finished antibiotics for a sinus infection on Fri. so I guess we'll be heading to the dr.s tomorrow. We're going to Chesapeake Fri to go see my best friend Robin and her family so Sophie has to get better in a hurry!!!
I think that I can officially say that Sophie is potty trained. Since she is #3 I really wasn't in a rush to train her. But preschool starts next month and she has to be trained by then. It's been pretty easy and today she took her first nap in big girl panties. Now she's only wearing a pull up at night. SHe's getting so big so fast. Thank heavens for the Backyardigans. She was so excited to wear her Uniquia panties that she fights me when it's time to take them off for the day. It's nice to think that I'm all done with diapers, but at the same time it makes me sad to be all done with having little ones.

What a nice day

We had such a nice family day today. Ben and I took the older kids uniform shopping in Charlotte this morning. The new school that they are going to requires that everything be bought from the one uniform store. Since it was tax free weekend we decided that today was a good day to go. Sophie was so excited to go and play with Jack and her Aunt Kimie and Uncle Brad. She loves to go over to Kimie's house and it was such a big help. It's hard to clothes shop with a busy 2 year old needing attention! After we finished shopping we went to Lexie's favorite restaurant, Olive Garden. After we ate all of the breadsticks we could we went and picked up Sophie. We are dog sitting for a friend across the street while they are out of town. She's a wonderful friend who pet sits for us when we leave town and with our crew that is saying a lot! They have a pool in their backyard and told us to use it while they were gone. So, needless to say we have really enjoyed it. We all spent a few hours swimming and the kids got to show off and splash around. Lexie has been asking to go see Hairspray, so Ben took her on a "date" tonight just the two of them to see it. I remember being little and doing special things with my dad and it makes me smile to see my little girl with her daddy. I know one day far too soon she'll think she's too grown up to spend time with us.

Sleepover update

The boys did really well. It was a very late night. They slept on the pull out bed in the living room so they could watch Firehouse Dog till they fell asleep. Ben and I finally crashed around 12 and at 4 John William came upstairs and asked if he could sleep in his bed. But the upside was that everyone slept in till around 9. Lexie would sleep all day if I let her. Here's Lexie enjoying the couch bed before I cleaned up.

First sleepover

John-William has his very best friend Matthew over to spend the night tonight. He has been so excited all week counting down the days. He's never had a friend spend the night before. Lexie was planning on staying at her Aunt Kimie's house but after a few hours decided that she missed her daddy and wanted to come home and see him. We met Kimie for an exciting dinner at McDonalds (the boys choice) and now the house is booming with little boy noise. Sophie decided that she didn't want to nap today so she's headed for bed in a few minutes. Hopefully she'll sleep thru all the noise. She's been getting over a cold so we've been staying close to home this week and she's catching up on her missed sleep.