Playing Catch Up

(This was us shoe shopping befoe school started this summer. I seriously felt sorry for the salesman by the time we were done. I practically made a camp in the corner and had staked my claim that I was NOT leaving without new shoes for all 3 of them! Why??? Because there was no way I wanted to take them shoe shopping again for a long, long time! Not fun people.)

I have to be the world's worst blogger now...and I'm sure you've all given up on me ever posting again! I can't believe I've let a month go by, but as I said in my post last time-my life is just crazy busy right now! But, we are hanging in there and still alive:)

Work for me is going really well. After 5 weeks I'm now finally settling into a groove. I love my students and am having fun interacting with my middle-schoolers. It is definitely an interesting age! Being a working mom though is something I have NOT gotten the hang of yet. And I honestly doubt I ever will. It's just freaking hard. There's no "nicer" way to put it! I get up at 5:15 every morning to start our day...Get the 4 of us fed, dressed, packed-up and ready for school. Then I have to make two different stops before I have to be at work by 7:30...work all day...pick up kids between 3:30-4:30...then get home to spend some quality 'down time', fix dinner, do baths, Grace's homework, bedtime. Then after they are all asleep by 8-8:30 I have to clean up the kitchen and house, try to do some dreaded laundry, and I usually bring something I need to do for work home every night. And oh yea...try to sleep somewhere inbetween all of that! So you can see that I am not purposely leaving you longing for cute pix updates on Connor, Grace, and Lilly on purpose. I just can't find the time.

Despite my being so busy, life is great. I will admit that I get pretty overwhelmed at times, and certain weeks are harder than others when I feel like I just can't get caught up on things (this week is one of those!), but overall things are really good. The kids are healthy and very happy. So what more can I ask than that? Connor is talking up a storm now. His sisters are officially named "Gace and Diddy" to him, and he is very verbal about what he does and does not want! He's my little linebacker...solid as a rock and still 'a bull in a china cabinet' everywhere he goes! He's still jumping of the couch and doing any dangerous boy-thing he can get his hands on. He's also still the sweetest boy you'll ever meet. He's a huge flirt with the ladies and loves to play hard-to-get so I have to beg him for a kiss. He tells me "I wuv you" all the time and is always hugging on his sisters. He loves school and his teachers adore him. We've been so blessed with the church preschool he goes to. I have a feeling the women there will be a part of our lives for a very long time now. The girls love their school and are very comfortable and confident there already. They are growing like weeds (especially Grace) and are just happy little girls. Still play so well together...still sweet as sugar:)

Before I catch you up on the pictures below, I'll tell you a quick, sweet story about my Grace to warm your heart.

About two weeks ago we had spent a great night with their new, little best friend here, and her whole family for her birthday. The kids played in the sprinkler outside, we had an awesome dinner and cupcakes, and wonderful company. When we got in the car to go home the kids were beat. It was immediately quiet and I assumed all 3 had passed out within minutes. Then Grace spoke up from the backseat and said,

"Mama, I've been thinking about something. I'm so glad we moved here because I love my new school and our new house and my new friends...and I get to see Mimi and Gigi and Uncle Paul...(this list went on for awhile). I feel like I'm gonna cry, but don't worry Mama. They're happy tears. My heart is so happy."

This was all I needed to hear. No matter how tired or stressed-out I get, all that matters is that my babies are happy. Money worries, lack of sleep, and my longing for my once very organized, clean, picked-up house (ha!) shouldn't amount to a hill of beans! Those are all but trivial things in life. That happiness she feels in her heart is all that matters...and those are the things that last forever.

Lilly and Connor

We did a ton of swimming this summer. Here the girls are with their best friend, AC. They love her:)

Lilly loved helping me get my classroom ready this summer. She'd always grab her "teacher glasses" before we left the house. Then she'd sit on my stool with a book and 'play teacher'...and basically boss the 3 of us around!

Even Bezo helped:) And endured a little embarrasment from the kids in the process.

It's never a dull moment when Grace is around! She scared me to death when she walked in the room looking like this one day. She'd gotten into a box of band-aids and ended up looking like a weird Silence of the Lambs sequel!

I love this picture! The biggest perk of living here is being so close to my family. They get to spend a lot of time with Uncle Paul and Aunt "Jessa". Here they'd spent the day with them and they'd gotten all of these storage boxes out for them to play with. These empty boxes entertained them for hours!

They had their first sleepover with a friend (AC) this summer...and since they've had several more. It's so cute to see them growing up and having real friendships. AC is an only child so she loves coming over to our "zoo"! I'm sure she's worn out every time she leaves:)