What was I thinking?!

Two weeks ago on Friday we got a dog. He smells, he pees and poops in my house, he chews up important stuff like the DS charger, whines at night, and generally is...a dog, I guess. I would have thought I would have known. I did, really. I'm holding out hope that he isn't as dumb as he looks to be so far. He is a Bichon Shihtzu mix. He looks like a bichon with white fur and brown spots. We named him Friday. We went through several names with Friday being the one that the girls could agree on. He still doesn't know his name so it doesn't really matter and I still call him "it" or "the dumb dog." So that has been my last two weeks mixed with the starting of school and getting settled into a new routine.

Katelyn loves school and so does Justin. Kate already has her posse on the playground and adores her teacher and Justin has already earned two prizes for good behavior. And out of the selection he picked nail polish. Both times. His teacher says he always plays babies at school, but that they are generally taking rides in trucks and such. He is a balanced boy, I think.

School for Ashley has been much more stressful leading me to meet with the teacher, talk with other schools, and meet with the curriculum lady at TCA. Since then things seem to be getting better for Ashley. I was planning on taking her out and cottage schooling her, which I really really wanted to do, but after much prayer on her part and mine, we've decided staying where she is is the best course of action. I was disappointed because it sounded fun to have her home and able to do more extra-curricular stuff she would enjoy, but I also feel good and relieved to just do more of the same. I'm just hoping they treat this girl right and decide to challenge her. They say they will as long as I work closely with them on it. I'm so in...I was planning on homeschooling, after all!

Hans and I have been sick. For some reason we are and the kids aren't. I am trying to figure out a way to boost my immune system. Any ideas? Hans is spending time fixing up his motorcycle. It's fun to see him doing this. He is always happy doing it and I love that. We took the motorcycle on our date on Friday, which was great fun. He taught me to ride it and I love it. Now he is dreaming about getting me one so we can go together. Sounds fun, I think. The weather is turning colder, which stresses me out. Not sure how long I will last running outside and if I can hold out on joining the Y. I'm going to miss my mornings with Kim. If I can stay motivated to run outside I will keep going to the yoga studio. I think I'm in love with yoga. So it would make me sad to quit and go back to the Y. Now I am looking forward to my roommate from freshman year at college coming to visit me in a few weeks. We're going to hike Pikes Peak and do yoga. I seriously can't wait.

I think that's all for the week....or two.

Mia is so cute. She is almost 2. She says stuff like "that fycle (motorcycle) fast, right?" And throws giant temper tantrums about having bandaids all over her body. When I say no she says, "I go Kaykyn a bandaid (Katelyn will do it if you won't, mother dearest)." She is by far my most....spirited? Is that a nice way to say it? I love her energy. She misses her siblings when they are gone and always has to ask me where they are going when they leave. She's used to us all being together all the time. Life is changing.

Last Week

This past week has been a whirlwind. The girls started school on Monday, which is going to be fantastic. Justin started pre-school on Tuesday, which is also going to be fantastic. He's going with 3 of his friends and the class is only 6 kids. For 1 1/2 hours twice a week I now get time to myself. It's very strange. I feel a little like I'm rushing everyone out of bed in the morning and rushing Ashley to school. Then we do our errands or play and then rush Kate to school and then Mia to her nap. It's been nice to have some alone time with Justin. We build train tracks mainly. It's fun. Then after school we are doing homework and reading and soccer. It is all very busy, but I know once I get used to the routine and remembering all their schedules, I will be okay. It's such a change from our no routine summer. This week gymnastics starts for Katelyn as well. I have to have 30 minutes to myself on Sunday just to get all the events into my phone so they remind me what I'm doing and when. Or really what the kids are doing. I'm also coaching the YW in basketball every week and doing activity days. It's a lot for me to remember. So far so good. If I don't forget any children anywhere (which I did to poor Kate once last year) I will count it a successful week. I also joined a yoga studio, which I am loving. I've been going 3-4 times a week and doing yoga one other time at home. It's so good for me. It helps me de-stress and helps my tummy hurt less, and makes me feel strong and present. I'm enjoying it immensely. I got into my first "full expression" of hurdlers, which basically is yogi terms for I can actually do hurdler pose the right way. It is fun to have something all to myslef. I'm still running, just less often. I love it.

So overall it's been a great week of firsts. On to next week....

2nd Grader

Hooray for Ashley! She prayed that she would be in Kaylee's class, which we thought would never happen since I requested a different teacher and Kim didn't do the pick, but Ashley has incredible faith and is grateful for Heavenly Father hearing her prayer. She gets to be with Kaylee for the third year running. I'm so happy for her. They even get to sit next to each other. Their teacher Mrs. or Miss. Rosin is very young and excited, but also disciplined, so it is the perfect combo for Ashley. Ashley said, "Mom she's really nice, but kind of strict." Perfect. It's going to be great. Cousin Andrew is also at school with Ashley so it's fun for them to see each other occasionally. Andrew is in 3rd grade. Her favorite part about school so far is the fancy hair we've been trying out. The middle set of pictures is her favorite, but it takes a long time and it only turns out half of the time. I'm not very consistent. It's fun to spend the time with her in the morning. I'm missing her a lot. She's gone all day long. I don't like it. It does make the time we spend together that much more important, but I don't like turning her over to someone else. She's happy. Gosh I love Ashley. She is a girl with no guile. I admire her immensely. She teaches me daily. I feel incredibly fortunate and loved to have been trusted with this girl. She's amazing!!!

New Kindergartener

Hooray! Katelyn got The World's Best Kindergarten Teacher. Ever. And there's no disputing this. Ask Kim or Joyana. I think they'd agree. We did a dance when we found out Mrs. Meyers would be Katelyn's teacher. It is extra fantastic because my child who screams at the idea of change felt like she already knew her way around the kindergarten scene. Hooray! She gets to go to a brand new school with a fancy playground, which she loves. She gets to finally wear a uniform to school like Ashley. And she is loving learning. She already wants me to teach her all the phonograms. She is a go getter, this one. She spends all morning asking me how many hours until she gets to go. And she is upset to not be going on the weekends. She also decided on the first day I dropped her off that she would like to walk in alone. This made me slightly nervous, but we pulled up through the carpool lane and she hopped out and ran in. It was very strange driving home that first day. I felt a little empty inside. But I am so excited for her. She is so fun when she is this happy. It's contagious. I love this girl.

My Man

Just wanted to give a shout out to my wonderful husband. Not only does he work hard to provide for our family, but then he comes home and wrestles, does dishes, builds train tracks, plays games, reads princess books, helps me, and doesn't rest. Then he pretends like he doesn't care when I have accidentally finished off the ice cream. And promises that he's not too tired to go get some milk from the store. He's amazing. I realize how incredibly lucky I am to have a husband who puts the needs of the family ahead of his own self. He truly looks after us and puts us first. Because he wants to. I love and admire him.

To do list

Posts to come:

1. Trip to Utah to celebrate my Dad's 60th - swimming pool, lagoon, and party.
2. School orientation for Ashley.
3. School orientation for Katelyn.
4. First day of school.
5. Justin's pre-school.

Missing these girls

I'm missing these girls. They bring so much joy to our home that without them it seems downright strange and boring. I absolutely love when they get home. We are all adjusting to the change. Luckily I have these two crazy kids to keep me busy...