Four KIDS, no babies

Jackson and Ryan received awards during the first spirit assembly of the year.  Ryan earned a certificate recognizing his EXCELLENT CITIZENSHIP.  Jackson earned a certificate for the Summer Accelerated Reader Program for DEMONSTRATING A LOVE FOR BOOKS AND READING.  But I'm not going to lie, I think capturing Cole and Jacob participating in the flag salute was my favorite part.

Grampa grampa had to stay in Valencia a couple weeks ago which meant he had a hotel.  Luckily for us this just so happened to be during one of our hottest weeks.  Instead of going home after school to complete homework, he made our way out to Valencia and swam for a few hours.  It was much needed.

Grandma Shopping treated us to dinner afterwards which the kids devoured after all their rigorous swimming.  

 

I can't believe this was THREE Saturdays ago but it was... Jackson had to go to the hockey evaluations for his first year.  The league loans out the gear so we spent a good half hour or so trying to get that all figured out.  This was also the first time Jackson was on roller blades - EVER.  He looked like Bambi for a good five minutes but that's all it took.  For Jackson, this was love at first skate.

 We met up with grampa for some lunch and from there grampa and I took Jackson skate shopping while Andrew took the other three to a swim party at his friend's house.  So grateful their all swimmers or I would have been a little nervous for that outing.

 That night I got a much needed girl's night.  If only there was enough time to do this more often.  Becky was awesome in getting the ball rolling for Fran's birthday celebration.  She and Nikki picked out a great place for dinner and then we all headed to the Improv show in Beverly Hills.  At least I think that's where we were?!?!?

Oh the dreaded Relief Society craft night.  I swore I would never head up one of these again.  Then Mint Cyn. asked to do one with us, we agreed, we advertised, and they bailed.  Eeek.  Because our ward is so small, I don't have an activities committee so I needed to reach out to some sisters in the ward to help me out.  Thankfully two agreed.  Erin headed up the witch one and I LOVE it.  Behold Him I ordered and arranged and I'm equally excited about that one.  I've been eyeing it on Pinterest for a good year.  And truth be told, the night wasn't as bad as I expected.

AND, I had the best little helpers ever.  We left gymnastics and went straight to the church to finish setting up.  All four kids helped me sand all the blocks.

 Andrew was able to check out a hockey consignment store in TO and scored big time.  He got all of Jackson's gear and some skates and a stick for Ryan for just over $100.  Keep in mind, most of the hockey gear is close to $100 for each item!  Ryan has lived in skates since then but he took the cake when he spent an afternoon skating around the house in Andi's short shorts and some cheap looking necklace.  Something you'd expect to see in Venice, for sure.

 I found these two on the computer at the crack of dawn.  Will they ever sleep in??

 

 Off to school!

 So last weekend was the first official hockey game.  Jackson felt like the odd man out because most of the team had played together last year and had all the same jerseys.  Jackson had to wait for his so he stood out in white.  BUT.... none of that mattered when he ended up scoring TWO GOALS for his very first game ever.  He loved it and so wished the game was longer.

 From there we went with grampa grampa and grandma shopping to Fuddruckers.  It's one of our favorites and clearly the kids agreed!

So, we want a new car.  I really want a new car!  We want the same car but longer.  My car has very little cargo space it becomes quite frustrating.  I also have a lot of miles on mine and some things are broken.  Andrew and grandma had to head out to work so my dad and I took the kids over to Carmax for a quote.... we spent an hour or so there with the kids only to find out they'd give me $3500.  OUCH!

 I usually go for a run on T/Th when Cole is at school but one morning decided to take him with me on his off day.  Yes, it was tougher but still nice.  As of late, mornings have been so nice and cool I love it.

 Cole loves music makers and we've been able to bring Jacob with us, too.  The boys truly act like brothers I love it.

 After music I took them with me over to the carwash because I wanted to take some pictures of the car to post on Craigslist.  Yes, I'm not giving up yet!

 Thursday I finally got a sub offer at my dream school.  With that said, I had actually never even been to West Ranch before.  But they are the only high school in our district that follows block schedule.  I had received sub offers all night the night before but nothing sounded great.  Then before I went to sleep, I got online and saw this one.  Not only was it at my dream school, but it was a minimum day.  Score!

To top off my already great day, I received text messages from Brooke and Michalle with pictures from the CPK field trip.  There's nothing like thoughtful friends!

 This little nut has been giving me a run for my money.  He challenges everything and exhausts me on a daily basis.  I don't know what the deal is.  What used to be my peaceful reading time while sitting in the valet line, has now turned into the Cole show in the front seat of my car.

So Andrew has been gone a lot lately.  He has maybe four jobs or so going on right now and most are in crunch time.  He's working all day, coming home around 8pm and leaving at 10pm or sometimes 3am just depending on the job.  It's been crazy.  With that being said, I've been spending a lot of time with the kids.  Which actually goes smoothly when it's just me and we're in our routine - the thing that become wearing is no grown up time once they're asleep.  You have all these thoughts run through your mind during the day and then I usually ramble Andrew's ear off every night.  So the other night when I got to go out for Camille's birthday dinner, it was so great to have some grown up chat time.  Especially because the GNO included people I rarely get to hang out with.  Good times all around!

*I need to remember to get a copy of the group picture!

 Homework is still going very smoothly.  We walk in from school pick up and all sit down at the table.  Sometimes the kids grab themselves snacks while we work but they still work.  Cole wanders or joins us, just depends on the day, but the other three diligently work.  Jackson usually independently, Andi can be pretty independent and Ryan needs a bit more instruction because it's a bit more involved that last year.  When I focused my attention back to Andi, I found a lovely surprise.  Gotta love phonetic spelling!

 The other night the boys were gone with Andrew and the other two were sad.  I had this cake left over from the RS activity and it was just sitting in our fridge.  I let Cole and Andi have at it and then threw them in the shower.

 They decided to play a trick on me - I admit, I had to take a second look.

So, yes, we're out of the baby stage.  And don't get me wrong, I am glad about this, but man these kids are exhausting these days.  They are all so involved, so loud, so competitive so present.  ALL FOUR.  Just taking one kid out of the picture takes it down many notches.  They are driving me nuts.  But, but, I would not go back!  With all the ways they are driving me crazy, they provide so much excitement and joy that I couldn't imagine life without them.  Well, I could imagine a weeks vacation without them!