Random Stuff from the last while

We went camping with my Dad & Terry, near where my sister lives, over Labor Day Weekend. Dad & Terry have a permanent spot there now for their RV, and we set up our tent on their space. I wish I could post more pictures - I had some good mini-golfing pictures, one of Jock & Kaylen working on the tent, and a few others. But, my camera is nowhere to be found. :( I took this one of Caden & Kenny and their furry, multi-legged friend on my phone though. Notice Kenny's shirt and then look here, at Elijah's shirt. Caden saw those pictures of E and wanted to know why E was wearing Kenny's shirt. :)

Two weekends ago (after our meal packaging - pictures from my phone again) we spent an evening at our neighborhood block party. We're not home much, being that we both work full-time, so it was fun to chat with some of our neighbors. We also had a visit from a fire truck and an ambulance. When you register your block party to get the street barricades, you can have them stop by. (I think last year a police officer came.) It was fun for the adults and the kids to get to see inside the rigs. In the ambulance, they hooked the kids up to a monitor, so they could see their heart rates on the computer screen. I'm hoping to get a picture or two from one of our neighbors (this is when we realized our camera was MIA).

Last weekend we had a last-minute change in plans. Some friends had two tickets offered to them to the big UI/ISU game. So, Friday night we threw things in the car, grabbed fast food drive-through, and drove 3 hours in heavy traffic and pouring rain (it's usually a 2-hour drive). Dawn & I left our husbands home with the kids, and met her dad and a friend at the game. Not the outcome we wanted to see - ISU lost, but it was so much fun! We really didn't get harassed too much, being ISU fans at UI. I hadn't been to a game in years, and it was very nice to spend the weekend with our friends. I did take a few pictures on my phone (and threw in the one I took of Ben, because is just so darn cute!)

Kaylen sprained her wrist last weekend too. It was a little swollen and hurting her to even do some minor personal care things, like going to the bathroom, etc. But we knew it was going to be fine when she complained Monday evening that at school she fell and hurt her wrist (four times!). I slyly asked her how she fell and hurt her wrist again she said one time she fell from the monkey bars. Hmmmm... Can we say milking things just a bit?! I know she really injured it - it's now bruised a little bit, and she still has a little pain when she moves it just right, but it's no reason to be getting out of holding my hand when crossing the street!

The past few weeks have been challenging with Kaylen. She's been fine with Daddy, but it seems with me, her disrespect, disobedience, defiance, are at an all-time high. It's been tough. Jock and I have had long conversations several evenings. We're working on it. It's frustrating and exhausting, but we are keeping on top of it. We could use some prayers for this.

Kindergarten is tough! Not really for Kaylen though - she's for the most part doing beautifully. But for the parents! :) There's a lot to keep track of. I think I'm pulling it off, but there's a lot. There's a library book that has to be returned to school before the next library day - on a 6-day rotation. There's homework worksheets to be completed, signed and returned to school. There are notes from the teacher at least weekly telling me what they've been learning, and what we should ask about at home to reinforce things. There is the "book-in-a-bag", that Kaylen reads to us and returns to school the next day to get a different one. It's hard to get it all in between 5:30 and 7:30, in addition to dinner and a shower, and a little playing.

And, to top things off, today was school picture day. Kaylen for some reason decided she wasn't going to ("couldn't") snap her pants today, so it took us an extra 5-10 minutes to get ready to go in the morning. Then I had to finish fixing her hair and literally run out the door. We got across town to daycare just in time, but then as I was on my way to work, I realized the school picture order form was next to me on the seat of the van. So, I have to drive back across town to drop it off at the school for her. It all worked out fine - I was a little late to work, but Kaylen got to school, so did the order form. The pictures got taken as planned. And, when you're running late for work, there is less traffic on the freeway. :)

Tomorrow Kaylen starts the 6 weeks of fall soccer. Same format as last year - one hour each Saturday - practice for 15 minutes, then a game - playing a different team each week. Then she has a birthday party at the bowling alley - with pizza, cake and ice cream for dinner. Sunday we're planning to go to an apple orchard. It should be a fun weekend. Hope you all have a great one.