Kindergarten - Riley is LOVING school!!! After having to explain to him what exactly homework is, and that yes he has to do it, he does a good job of finishing it when asked. Yep, Kindergarteners have Homework! It's only on Fridays, and it's usually just one worksheet of letters to practice writing or coloring page. But he's getting better at sitting still and finishing the whole thing - which if you know Riley you know that he NEVER sits still long enough to finish ANYTHING!! So this is really helping. He has a few friends at school, Zach, Cameron, and Evan are the ones I hear the most about. ;) He thinks his music teacher is so funny, and he loves "E.P." (P.E. - Gym Class, we're still working on the dyslexia thing as you can see!!) Mommy's not loving the mid-day drop off, having to stop everything in the middle of the day to take him, but I think that's just because I've got so much on my plate right now. It makes running errands hard, because nothing opens early enough to get out and do it in the morning before we have to be back to get lunch and take him. But then Jayce naps in the afternoon while Riley is at school, so I can't do much then. We usually pick up Riley and then head out to run errands, but then we get back later, making dinner later, and the evening time with Daddy shorter. Hopefully we can figure something out so this becomes easier.
Since the weather is nice I try to walk over to pick Riley up from school a couple times a week. I put Jayce in the stroller, and Riley's bike on the back (my Sit n Stand Stroller is my best investment!!) and we walk over. Then Riley can ride his bike back - which he LOVES to do. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to do that though! It's only a mile there and back (yes I calculated it), but by the second time during the week it completely wipes me out. Not to mention this week is the first week the temps have dropped below 90!! Since pick up is right during the heat of the day that takes its toll on me as well. Oh well, it will be fall soon enough, and winter soon after that (I hope). They are saying this year is supposed to be a good snow year for Colorado, good ol' La Nina! Cam's hoping for it (as always), but I think I'll pass this year. Part of the reason why . . .
I GOT A NEW CAR!!!! Well, technically a mini-van, but I don't care! I'm in LOVE!! It's a new Honda Odyssey, and it's wonderful!!! More gadgets and gizmos than I could possibly imagine, but the conveniences are to die for!!! I told Cameron earlier this week that it only took me a few trips to drop off Riley at school and one trip to Wal-mart to be sold on the thing!! Power lift hatch in the back, auto-closing doors, maneuvers great (at necessity in Wal-mart parking lots!!) and SO MUCH ROOM!!! Not to mention the gas mileage, the cooler box, the heated seats (no I haven't tried them out yet, but I know I'll love them this winter!!!), there's just so much that I can't even list it all!!
We traded in the Xterra, and I will miss it. Especially the 4-wheel drive and high clearance. But I think it's worth it. We can technically fit all 3 car seats across the middle row in the van, leaving the back seats to fold down for cargo space if we need it (and I'm sure we will on those long road trips to Indy). So space-wise it just makes sense. Ok, I'll stop bragging on my new van and tell you what else we've been up to!
We're trying to finish the basement to turn it into a playroom (slowly), and with the new van that barely fits into the garage, we had to clear out some junk. Older furniture, stuff we don't use anymore, broken or damaged, etc. So . . . We had a garage sale a couple weekends ago. And we learned that unless the neighborhood is having a huge advertised garage sale, we are never doing it again!!! We just live to far out for anyone to want to come look at our junk! I think we sold 3 things! We had much better luck just sticking the few big items on Craigslist and selling them that way. So after multiple trips to goodwill and a few craigslist ads, we got rid of most everything! Cameron spend all afternoon yesterday just re-arranging the garage (and making another Goodwill run) so we could fit the van in. Next on the list is to work on the basement. That should be quick though. We decided not to "finish" it completely right now. We just don't have the time (or the money after buying the van) so we are going to put some carpet scraps down and partition an area off for the "playroom". At least enough to make it useable. That's all we really need right now, just a place to put all the 5 million toys the boys drag all over the house on a daily basis!!! Then it's onto the boys' room. We are hoping to transition Jayce into Riley's room later this month, and so I need to get going on the paintings. My Fabulous Handy-Man Husband is going to build the boys some bunk-beds sometime this fall (with the help from These Instructions) and since the only wall they will fit on is the one with the Dragon Mural, I Have to move it. Disappointing, I know, but I learned my lesson, and this time it will be done on Canvas. I'm also going to do a tiger for Jayce (also on canvas) and add his name on the wall next to Riley's. So there's 3 big projects for the boys' room . . . but there's more!! Jayce also needs a Dresser since the one he's using now we are going to keep in the nursery for baby girl. So what did I do . . . Hit up Craigslist of course!! Found a cute little dresser perfect for him, for only $30!!! The only problem - it's a beautiful shade of pale yellow with purple flower drawer pulls. SO . . . Mommy is going to re-do it! Sand it down, paint it black to match the rest of the furniture and get new handles. Ugh, My to-do list just keeps growing!! My goal is to have all of that stuff done by the beginning of November, because after that I still have to paint the baby room pink and do all the murals and decorating I want in there. And somewhere in there I have to finish all my Baby Bear Designs Orders, and the stuff I want to make for my kids.
So that's our life in a nutshell right now! Mommy working on an endless list of projects all while Daddy keeps up the house for her, and does all the heavy-lifting type stuff, and the boys play tornado destroying all the cleaning up we are constantly doing! ;) Yep, Life at the Louies!!!
Bonus - MOPS starts this Monday, (so all the prep-work I've been working on for that will be taken off the plate) and I am looking forward to Scheduled Down-time for sure!!! I'm really hoping this year things will be less stressful for me at MOPS than they have been the past couple years, and I can really sit back and enjoy the time with other moms. I need it that's for sure!
Well, I'll do my best again to keep everyone up-to-date on happenings around here, but no promises!! At the very least I'll try to take plenty of renovation pictures so you can see the transformations to the rooms at the end. Have a good weekend everyone . . . try to "think fall" for me - I'm looking forward to breaking out the jeans and long sleeve tops again!! NO MORE HEAT!!! ;)
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