Life is never simple...

... no matter how hard you try!

Just keep hanging in there!

Caden's behavior has had a dramatic change in the last three days! We haven't had and major meltdowns and essentially NO fighting. If you've known us for long then you'll understand what a HUGE deal this is! I am so excited to see the "new" Caden emerging!

"You take the good, you take the bad..."

We had teacher conferences yesterday. Trace's teacher said, "he is a brilliant kid and his grades are wonderful." Then she closed his file, folded her hands and said, "but there are some other issues we need to discuss." Oh-crap. You just know this isn't going to be good. She was very careful in her wording and I knew she had probably stressed over just how to say what she wanted. But how exactly do you tell parents that their kid is an obnoxious pain in the you-know-what? Rude, disrespectful and arrogant. Mmmm hmm, not good.

THEN... to top the week off, we had a huge nightmare/mixup with our checking account and let's just say my paycheck was gone before it arrived. Two months of working without a check then it's just gone!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, our satelite receiver died Monday morning and we've had no t.v. all week. Not a huge deal (thank goodness for Netflix though), but definitely a pain.

Sooooo, it's a good thing we are a the place we are at right now and we're not letting it get to us like it could. The house is clean(ish), there is food in the pantry (thanks to a shopping trip before discovering the checking issue), and we are all healthy. The rest will work itself out!

So, how's your week been?

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we drove past the local pumpkin patch and were totally shocked to see the number of cars and people!  It was INSANE I tell you!  We first started going to this place when Trace was just tiny and essentially no one had heard of it.  It’s grown just a tad.  So, as we drove by yesterday and discussed the cost for a family of five we knew there was no way we could swing it this year.  I knew the kids were bummed (especially Trace who loves tradition), but they are so understanding of financial matters.  Then late in the evening there was a knock at the door and in walks a friend we literally haven’t seen in years!  He works a the pumpkin patch and was stopping by with five free passes for us!!!  I was honestly just totally shocked.  How could he have know the decision we had made just hours earlier?  Only God.

So with the beautiful Fall sun shining down on us we set out this morning to try and beat the crowds.  Apparently everyone who wasn’t there yesterday decided to get up early and go today presumably to beat the crowds.  Needless to say it was a bit crowded!  By the time we left though there was a line probably a good 20 minutes just to get on the tractor to take you out to the fields and cars had filled the parking areas and spread across the street to the baseball field’s parking lot!  Just nuts!  According to our friend they estimated over 9000 people yesterday ALONE!  At $8 a person, three days a week over three weekends?!?  Holy Cow. 

The kids had a lot of fun and were sooo grateful to be there!  Trace just kept saying how much he loves going since we all get to go as a family and it is such a fun place to be.  The boys and Rick picked four of the largest pumpkins they could find and I just shook my head and told Rick he better be prepared for all that cleaning he’ll be doing!  Before heading home we had some hot apple cider and kettle corn and the boys did the corn maze while Paige and I checked out the animals.  What a fun filled, beautiful day!!!

Crazy days

Wow!  What a week we just had!  For my new job I was required to take a class on Non-violent Crisis Intervention –12 credit hours earned over four nights.  With a husband who travels and three kids with activities that isn’t easy.  (thank you Mom and Ed!)  So this week I had that on Monday and Wednesday nights and on Tuesday night I had CPR training for work!  Thursday I picked the boys up early from school for a visit to the orthodontist.  We’ve been going every six months and are always told to come back in six more months.  I strongly suspected Trace was about to the point of starting but I was a bit shocked when he said Caden was ready too!!  Holy cow – doesn’t having them three years apart buy me three years between treatments?  Apparently not if the second one’s mouth is a far bigger mess.  So Trace will be getting a spacer on November 4th and poor Caden will be getting four teeth pulled and a spacer on the top AND bottom!  I got to go into the special little room to “go over the details” – Ahem, the BILL.  Good thing the Suburban is almost paid off.  Well after that appointment we took Trace to unicycle then raced home to get both boys ready and out the door to practices.  So another day where I was gone 8-7 basically.  Let me tell you, I was pretty exhausted by Friday!

Work is going well for me.  It isn’t my favorite job of all time, but it is ok for now.  The kids are all doing well.  Caden has adjusted very well to being back at his old school which has been a huge relief to see.  Paige is having fun in preschool despite the fact that they (at my request) are riding her pretty hard.  We are trying to get her to play with the other kids rather than follow the adults around or just sit in the book corner.  She isn’t happy about it but is making an effort. 

A wonderful friend stopped by last night and surprised us with free tickets to the pumpkin patch so I think we are going to try to get there this morning.  Guess I’d better get moving!

I’ve been really slacking on the picture taking lately (wonder why?) but here is one of an awfully cute little guy.  Cruz is 4.5 months old now and just the happiest little guy.  After the pumpkin patch I should have lots of pictures.

I Just LOVE where we live!

 

The kids and I decided it was time to let our fishies learn to swim with the big fish.  (well, ok, I decided, and they begrudgingly agreed)  Trace brought home three of the little darlings last March and they had mysteriously morphed into 14! 

On the path to the creek Trace found a very friendly and pretty kitty.  Of course we had to stop for some petting!

Getting ready to free the fish.

If you look closely you can spot the little buggers.  Two are on top in the clearer water.

That’s the kids school in the background.  Isn’t it a beautiful area?!

   

So, our fish are swimming with the big fish (we hope).  Either that or they were some big fish’s dinner!

Our little athletes...

Caden is our football player. He loves the games but hates the practices! So far he mostly plays center (where he spikes a mean ball) and left defensive guard. This year he isn't the smallest on the team so it is much harder to spot him out there! He has been blessed with a winning team (last year undefeated) and took quite a blow with their first loss today (by one touchdown!). He's a tough little guy and he makes us awfully proud!

Trace is our soccer player. He loves the practices (for the social aspect!) but games make him pretty nervous! This season he has played backup goalie once but mostly prefers to be in his comfort zone as defender. I think of him as a brick wall on the days he is really "on". Little gets past him and he's the type of defender I used to hate - no one gets past him! He has a natural instinct as a defender and we are sure proud of him!

Then there is little Miss. At Trace's game today she and Caden went off to play on the playground and in the trees. Every so often they either checked in or I'd glance over to try and spot them (there were other kids around too). Toward the end of the game when I hadn't seen them for a bit I looked over and noticed a child in one of the trees. At first I thought I was seeing an older child's light colored t-shirt. In a split second though it dawned on me the the movement didn't support that theory. I asked out loud if it was Paige which made everyone turn and look. By that time I was sure it was her and sat there a little in shock trying to decide what to do. She was at least 20 feet up in the air! I'm thinking maybe we should look into gymnastics rather than soccer!