Weeks 36 & 37: A quick photo post

Everything seems to be going well here these days. I mean, there are still never-ending to-do lists, but we feel pretty good about our level of activities right now. The kids are all enjoying school, cub scouts, playing stuffed animals together, their video games, play dates with friends, and on and on. Here's what I've got photos of from the last two weeks:

a fun lunch (as always) at Chili's
Frank and Zach playing his new Star Wars X-wing game
cub scouts building fires to make their own dinner
meeting friends for dinner and playing at the playground
we finally got around to sealing our driveway
Charlotte had her 4-year checkup--she was super happy for most of it, then she remembered she still had shots
me shopping at our newly renovated Aldi--some of my extra time has been spent shopping during the week and doing extra food prep at home
I'm also trying to get a handle on 5 years of school papers and artwork
we take turns reading bedtime stories--Gabe is an excellent out-loud reader!

Week 35: Birthday and Pre-K excitement

Last week was a whirlwind of first day excitement then me trying to recover and us getting into the routine. Charlotte loves Pre-K (never wants to stop playing to come home!) but it has affected bedtime a little. She is tired enough to nap at school, but then she is awake enough to stay up at least an hour later than normal. She wasn't used to it and kept asking to come back downstairs. We were quite annoyed to have our after-bedtime TV watching constantly interrupted every night last week.

There was lots of playing paw patrol. I finally got a picture of Zach with his Harry Potter collection. He also had a STEM project for his first day of gifted classes. Gabe is enjoying school, continues to play his Mario (and all the other) games, is still drawing all the time, and is creating Mario-type levels on his Minecraft world. Charlotte had her first school project and she's a whiz at cutting and gluing.

Week 34: The eclipse and the birthday

Monday was the eclipse, which lasted from about 1 to 4 pm for us. Frank, Charlotte, and I went to the park to watch during the first half. Then I walked the boys from their school dismissal to the park for the second half, stopping to watch peak coverage (87%) right when they came out of school. Even though it didn't get as dark as I thought it might, we all had pretty much the same reaction: "Wow, that's amazing!" At the park the cub scouts had a viewing party and ate moon pies.

We celebrated Charlotte's birthday on Saturday. She was possibly happier to help make the cake than to open gifts. We had a fun multi-way skype call with family and the boys read the cards to her.

Week 33: School etc.

The first week of school was busy for us. I forget how much time and effort it takes to get everyone to the bus or to pick up the boys at school to go to the allergist, on top of other activities. It makes me appreciate summer just a little bit more. And in true pre-schooler fashion, Charlotte's need for attention grew to fill any gaps that the boys absence might have left. It was a long week.

Monday was open house at the boys' school. We met teachers, saw classrooms, and talked to friends.

In addition to a couple of playdates/babysitting with our neighbor, Charlotte's big excitement was getting to see her pre-K classroom and meet her teacher and assistant teacher. We are excited that she has the teacher Zach had when he was there, and that she is in the same class as another one of our neighbors (the little sister of Zach's best friend).

The weekend was pretty easy, with skype calls, the kids playing well together on Minecraft, a little shopping, and catching up on all the laundry. Frank took Zach to his annual cub scout water carnival, where he won first place in their raingutter regata.

I also got a chance to take some "after" photos of other Ikea furniture additions. Our entertainment center shelves definitely need some TLC, but we're on our way (and have more space now). Next up is fixing the coffee table...

There are two pre-K classes at her school and the teachers were revealed with photos. Miss Penny is her teacher and Mr. Dion is her assistant.

Charlotte missed the boys while they were at school.

Zach's minecraft world, that I said looked like a pig amusement park.

Gabe was having a blast making roller coasters for the pigs.