Good-bye, September!

Our September flew by as we settled into our new routine of school and extracurricular activities.  Apart from adjusting to our new routine, we fit in some fun activities along the way.

Adelie and I had a date day of rock climbing and lunch while Zach took Briggs to the Children's museum in Peoria and Staley enjoyed the trampoline park with Grammie, Grandpa, and Liam.

The climbing gym was empty, so Adelie had the best time climbing routes over and over and over again.  She climbed for a few hours straight and mastered getting to the top of her favorite route.  I love when I get special one-on-one time with my kids.

I also enjoyed some two on one time with my girls when we went to see the musical, 'Tarzan', at a local community theater.

We all really enjoyed it and the girls have been singing the songs incessantly ever since we went.

A local movie theater was showing some classic Disney movies on week-ends during September.  We went as a family to see 'Peter Pan' and I took the girls and a friend to see 'The Little Mermaid'.  (I might have drifted off in those comfy recliners in the dark theater a time or two.)

Briggs and I have enjoyed some fun outings on the days he's home with me while the girls are in school.  We went to Rader Farms with Aunt Melissa and Lucy.  We also enjoyed the Bloomington zoo and a visit to Zach at work one day, as well as exploring some new playgrounds in neighboring towns to expand our playground repertoire.

The library hosted a fun end-of-summer event with root beer floats, bouncy house, crafts, and games.  The kids all enjoyed it, especially because they all ran into friends to play with while we were there.

We enjoyed Eureka Homecoming festivities.  Briggs and I rode in the parade on his pre-school float.  Although he was initially nervous and cried, he pulled it together and had a great time riding with his friends and throwing candy.  The girls also had a great time watching the parade and getting candy.  And we all enjoyed the football game as a family that evening.

We've also enjoyed the beginning of the NFL football season...and some final trips to Uncle Bob's ice cream as fall quickly approaches.

Although that transition from summer to school isn't always fun, it's been pretty smooth for our family.  We've settled into our new routine and gotten used to the busy-ness, but always find plenty of opportunities to enjoy family fun along the way.

Goals

Staley is my persistent, goal-oriented daughter.  Her basketball season started today, so for the past few weeks she has been practicing consistently in the driveway.  The other day she told me, "I want to be the best at basketball."   I commended her for setting goals and practicing hard to reach them.  Then she added, "I also want to be the best at volleyball and softball."  (short pause)  "I don't really care too much about golf though."

It's good to know that, although she plans to be the best at most things, not everything has to be on that list.

My Girls

The other day my girls had a conversation that once again illustrated their personality differences.  Adelie brought home a folder with a book that she picked out to read to her family.

Adelie:  "I picked a really easy book to read."
Staley:  (sternly) "Adelie!  You shouldn't just pick the easy books.  If you don't challenge yourself, you'll never learn anything."

My girls:  the persistent one who lives life seeking a challenge and the one who prefers to coast along without working too hard.

World View

Briggs was having a conversation with a little friend.  He was trying to talk about the world, but she wasn't understanding him when he said "world."  After 3 unsuccessful attempts to get her to understand what he was saying, Briggs explained, "You know, the WORLD!  Like Africa, France, Chicago, Disney."

I love this world view from the eyes of a 4 year old.

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago, we had family pictures taken by our pastor's wife.  Our pastor ran the St. Jude Run this year, and his wife helped with his fundraising by offering family pictures to individuals who donated a certain amount to his run.  She did an amazing job and these turned out to be some of my favorite family pictures we've ever had!!  The setting was lovely, the kids all cooperated, and she made it a fun and relaxed process.

The kids all did what they were asked, smiled nicely, and made the process really easy.  Zach and I kept remarking that these couldn't possibly be our kids.

She got so many pictures with natural smiles and cute poses.

This was one of my favorites!!  I love how Briggy is looking at Staley.

And I love pictures of kids laughing!!

And so many good pictures of the kids by themselves.

I think Briggs just looks really grown up in this picture.

And these eyes!!!

We had our pictures taken at the farm and garden of a church family.  So many beautiful options for backgrounds!  The girls kept picking to have their pictures taken by the flowers.

Such a sweet smile!

This might be one of my favorite pictures of Adelie EVER.

And Staley just keeps growing up too fast.

Love, love, love this picture of my little girl.

The kids liked when we were getting pictures of the two of us so they could run off and play with the farm cats.

There were lots of farm cats roaming around, but this one (Oreo) kept insisting on getting into the pictures.  The kids thought it was hilarious!

Family pictures have always been a trial for our family, but they are getting easier.  Maybe it's because our kids are getting older.  Maybe it's because we had someone we know taking the pictures.  Maybe it's because we bribed the kids with ice cream.

Whatever the reason, these family pictures were fun, easy, and turned out great.

#winning

Soccer

Briggs just completed his first season of organized sports.  Soccer!  He made friends, had fun, and improved throughout the season.  Success!!

 Briggs really enjoyed playing soccer.  He had a nice little team and made some new friends.  Like his sisters before him, Briggs was not the most aggressive kid on the field.  He usually kept himself to the perimeter of the action and would step aside to allow other kids (both his team and the other team) to kick the ball if they were close.  He did make one goal on the season and had a few opportunities to kick the ball down the field, but when there was a crowd around the ball, you would usually find Briggs on the outskirts of that crowd.  He was most often seen running laps around the huddle of kids who were around the ball.

Briggs was never quite ready to get in the mix.

I enjoyed helping coach Briggs's team this year.  In pee-wee soccer, coaching mostly consists of pointing the kids towards the correct goal, reminding them not to use their hands, and corralling them on the bench when it is not their turn to play.  I feel fully capable of handling all aspects of pee-wee soccer coaching even without any background in soccer.

Loved getting to coach Briggs's team.

Briggs enjoyed his first season of organized sports and I loved watching him play.  It was a nice opportunity for Briggs to enjoy "his thing" after so many seasons of watching his sisters do theirs.

My little soccer player!

Anniversary

Today is our 18th wedding anniversary.  And what's the best way to celebrate 18 years of marriage?  With a quiet afternoon together at home enjoying milkshakes and an uninterrupted Chicago Bears game...complete with a wild last second victory.  Our marriage is 18 years old.  It is officially old enough to vote.

And I'll still vote for us every single day.

Realization of the Day

I was home sick with Briggs yesterday.  Because I was feeling particularly lousy in the morning, I napped on the couch while I let him watch episode after episode after episode of Paw Patrol.  Although Adelie was very concerned about my health and said multiple prayers for me to feel better, I have no doubt that Briggs was hoping I'd stay sick for a little bit longer.

Milestones

Wearing deodorant.  Peeing standing up.  Not crying about homework.

Everyone is meeting milestones around here.  Not necessarily the ones you chart in a baby book, but milestones nonetheless.

Too Much

I have always been adamant that I don't want my family to get into the too busy, too scheduled, meet yourself coming and going kind of hectic life that I see so often in our culture.  I wanted to be the family who kept our kids to one activity per season.  The family that had a few nights during the week set aside for family time.  The kids that would have plenty of time to do what they wanted after school instead of being bustled here and there for activities.  Now, as I sit here looking at our refrigerator calendar with activities at least 4 nights out of the week, I realize how hard that actually is to do.

My girls LOVE Stage Kids.  Love it!  And so that is on the schedule for 45 minutes once a week.  And in order to give the girls a boost in the music department to help them with their love of acting and performing, Staley and Adelie take singing lessons after school on Stage Kids days.  (Thankfully at our house with a full lesson for Staley and a half lesson for Adelie.)  And since Staley also loves to dance, she stays after Stage Kids to take Broadway dance.  3 activities for Staley plus 2 for Adelie.

I think learning to read music is important, so Staley takes piano lessons once a week after school.  4 activities for Staley plus 2 for Adelie.

Christian development and church participation are high priorities for our family.  Therefore, all 3 kids go to our Wednesday night church program...that I am now in charge of.  5 activities for Staley plus 3 for Adelie plus 1 for Briggs.

Over the summer, both girls started a tumbling class in a nearby town.  They really enjoyed it and learned a lot.  I think tumbling is a good foundational activity to build body awareness, strength, and flexibility that can translate to other activities they want to do.  The girls wanted to continue, so now they both go to tumbling for 40 minutes one day each week after school.  6 activities for Staley plus 4 for Adelie plus 1 for Briggs.

Briggs happily attends all his sisters activities and games.  In a moment of weakness, I asked if he wanted to play soccer this fall now that he is old enough.  He did.  And because our life isn't busy enough, I offered to help coach.  6 activities for Staley plus 4 for Adelie plus 2 for Briggs.

For those of you doing the math, my initial plan of one activity per season per kid would equal 3 activities for our household.  We are currently at 12.  Remember in school when you would do those greater than/less than activities during math class.

12 > 3.  Twelve is greater than three.  Much, much greater!  I look at our list and I see how this happened.  I feel like all these activities are beneficial.  My kids enjoy them all.  I want to give my kids opportunities to try new things as well as opportunities to stick with something long enough to excel at it.  But when all that happens, you end up with 12 instead of 3.  Too much!

Another First Day of School

Briggs started 4 year old pre-school on Wednesday of this week.  He was excited to go back to school with his same teacher and some of his same friends.  With the girls back in school for several weeks, Briggs was ready for his turn.

Ready for school

We love the little community nursery school in town.  They do a great job of preparing the kids for Kindergarten while keeping the learning environment fun and play-centered.  Briggs will enjoy his 3 afternoons of school each week, and I will take advantage of a little extra time to volunteer at the girls' school and get a few things done around the house...or squeeze in a nap.

Hooray for pre-school!

Football and Family

Friday night we went as a family to the high school football game.  Although we've taken the kids to see the marching band a time or two, this was our first full family football game.  All three kids loved it!  They loved the band and they loved the dance team and they loved the snacks Zach got from the concession stand, but 2/3 of them were also really intrigued by the game itself.  Adelie's friend sat with us and the two of them entertained each other throughout the entire game with nothing but each other, a notebook, and a pen.  I don't think they watched any of the game.  However, Staley sat by Zach and he explained the game and the rules to her as we watched.  Briggs was the biggest surprise.  He sat on my lap but stayed glued to the game almost the entire time.  He enthusiastically cheered when everyone around us cheered.  He watched the action. He made lots of observations and asked lots of questions.

When we first got to the game, I pointed out the two teams on the field and asked,  "Who do you think we should root for?  Do you think we should cheer for the white team or the green team?"  He replied, "I think both."  A little later, he pointed to the row of players standing on the sideline and asked, "Are they waiting in line for their turn to tackle?"  Ummmm...kind of.

I love these new experiences and activities that we get to enjoy as a family now that the kids are getting a little older.  And I especially love seeing them through the eyes of my children.