It is Over

Fall break has come to a close.  I let everyone sleep in 1 more time.  We went to the late service.  Chris preached a great sermon on you reap what you sow.  Afterwards, we took a tour on the new building that will function as both a food and clothing bank.

Daddy took Princess for a special afternoon at Monkey Joes.  Champ and I raked leaves before we played basketball.  He was extremely well behaved at the grocery store.  He got to use a grocery list app and a calculator app on the iPad.  He crossed things off the list and calculated our running total.  We determined we were spending too much money.  So, we returned some items.

I ran about 4 miles in our neighborhood.  I ended at Adrianne Iszler's house.  She had made me birthday treats and written me a sweet note in a card.

I prepared all the fruits for this week's smoothies.

Final Fall Break Fun

Last night we met at the Worgess house for a photo shoot with our costumes on.  We then ventured to a Halloween party at the community center.  We began with a hay ride.  There were three stops where people passed out candy.  One stop was run by the fire department, and one stop was run by the police department.

We went inside to trick or treat more.  Then we ate dinner there.  The kids always love hot dogs, rolls, chips, and cookies.

Today we did some brief shopping with my parents.  We dined together at Jack in the Box, a first for our family.  Princess dined as if she hadn't eaten in months.  Perhaps she recognized that the food was free of spinach, avocado, or any other hidden healthy food.  He even used a spoon to finish eating the leftover ketchup.

We went to The Click.  Champ loves to shoot baskets.  Princess thought it was hilarious when I would dribble the ball between my legs or dribble it around her.  We went on two more errands.  I bought Champ a new winter coat.

Champ and Daddy went to the U Indy football game.  Princess and I worked in the backyard.  Then I bathed Princess.  I painted fingernails and toenails for both of us.  Then we made popcorn and watched a movie of her choice.

Fall break continues

So far, I love the 2 weeks of fall break.  On Tuesday, Abby and Emily Rich came over to play.  My dad took Champ to the airport for a hair cut while my mom came to help me around the house.  When Champ returned from a haircut and McDonalds, we did some errands with my mom.  We got some landscaping done by a former teacher that my brother had.

Champ went to his first basketball practice that evening.  I stepped up to assist the coach.  Princess played with another player's siblings.  Kelly and I ventured to Zumba late in the evening.

Kelly babysat my kids on Wednesday morning so I could exercise.  I took Princess to the wellness clinic to see if they old help me determine why her nose was so running.  We went to The Click, and Champ played basketball for about an hour and a half.  Then we all went to the track and walked/ran.

When we arrived home, Champ and I both smelled something in the garage.  We evacuated to the neighbor's house and called the gas company.  Once they arrived, the gentleman determined that the furnace had a gas leak.  The ordeal took well over an hour.  I was thankful that my dad came over to ask questions and listen.  I was also thankful to the neighbor who stepped up to watch the kids indefinitely.

On Thursday, the kids played with Jonah Smith.  They kept each other entertained with Legos and games while I cooked.  My mom came over to help me some.  Tonight we went to The Click.  The kids went into child care while I exercised.  Then I let the kids join me on the track for some walking/ running.  Princess loves the drinking fountain there, but it gets her shirt soaked.  She hates when her clothes are wet.

Today we went to the library.  We checked out new books, completed puzzles, and played Checkers. For the third time in two weeks, Bryant Heating came to repair our furnace.

  Princess loves a USA map that her grandparents gave her.  She is starting to pick up on some states and some facts about where people live and where she has been.  I love tat she pointed to Washington today and said, " washing machine."  How cute!

Fall Break Continues

We kept Princess in quarantine until she healed.

Friday brought a trip to the aquatic center at the Abe Martin Lodge.  Champ loved the water slide.  He did that nonstop almost the entire time.  Princess needed to go down the water slide by herself.  She made it to the top of the slide, had second thoughts, and walked back down the stairs again.  Princess loved floating along a lazy river in her life jacket.  We feasted on the buffet before heading home.

I began my Saturday with Zumba class.  We traveled to the Mcalisters restaurant in Bloomington for lunch.  Champ was so sweet and made sure the cashier knew it was my birthday.  Our next stop was at Spring Mill State Park.  We took the twenty minute boat tour of the cave.  It was a little scary for the kids, especially when the lights were turned off.  However, after the ride, both kids said they loved it.  We took a very brief tour of their Pioneer Village before it closed.  Princess finally fell asleep in the car on our way to French Lick.  We joined my parents for a birthday dinner at Denny's.  Then my sister and her boys joined us for birthday cake back at the hotel.  The kids finished the evening by playing in the hotel pool.  Princess and I shared a bed in the hotel.  She was especially restless and cranky through the night.  She finally passed gas at 4:15 in the morning and slept soundly from there.

Sunday morning involved the hotel breakfast buffet and a sprint to Bloomington to make it to church....40 minutes early.  Kids did well in their classes.  Our group dined on another buffet  at Bobby's Colorado Steakhouse.  The kids loved our afternoon at Wonder Lab.  It was so much fun that Princess didn't have time to go to the bathroom.  She had 2 accidents.

Favorite moments:
Princess: when I said the lifeguards need us to get out of the pool because it is break time, she said, "So what?"
Champ: When we were leaving Bloomington, he asked, "Are we in Indiana yet?"  Never left it, kid.
Caleb: when the church bulletin asked for prayer requests, he put it was needed for the polar ice caps and to get another Schlotzsky's in Indiana
Connor: conquered his fear and went to the top of the climbing apparatus at Wonder Lab.  Champ says he helped.
Cooper: very sweet when he asked Princess if she had ever been to Wonder Lab
Collin: I think there was a full moon every time I saw your backside.  Ask your parents to buy you new pants or a belt.  These kids would be lost without their Aunt Andrea

On the Outside Looking in

We are resting in our separate rooms right now after biking and playing with our neighbors.  I love listening to Princess make up stories about her books.

This morning I went outside for what I thought would be a quick trip.  I wanted a few yard tools from the mini barn.  Champ came out to ask me a few questions.  When he tried to go back into the house, he realized that Princess had locked us out in her anger over not being outside too.  I tried to talk her into unlocking the door.  She started having a melt down.  I tried calling daddy and my parents. I tried having Champ go to neighbors' houses to see if they could help us. I finally reached my mom at her Bible study group's restaurant where they meet.  She was on her way with a key to save us.  Next, I tried a different strategy.  I used the code to put the garage door up.  I knocked on the locked door between the garage and the house.  I had a sudden thought that this door might be easier for her to unlock, and it was.  She was able to unlock the door and let me in.

Low Key Monday

It was so nice not to rush around this morning.  I gave Champ options I could make for breakfast.  With his guidance, we had scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and a smoothie (spinach, raspberry, strawberry, banana, and watermelon).

We went on errands.  First we went to recycle, and then we went to replace Rocket's water bottle that was mysteriously broken.

Champ invited the neighbor boys over for what I called an author's tea.  He sat in a special chair and read to us the books he has been creating...opposites, super heros, and a take on Captain Underpants.  We celebrated with cookies.

We went on a bike ride with the neighbors and then played on their driveway for hours.

I made sweet potato fries, turkey burgers, salads, and apples for dinner.

We rode bikes around the neighborhood.  When we came back to the house, we ran into other neighbors.  Champ continued to bike with them while I pushed Princess in the stroller with 2 other moms.

Champ went next store to play video games...a treat for playing well today with the neighbor.

I just did one of my favorite nightly rituals.  After Princess falls asleep, I go into her room and clear out all of the books that she has taken with her to bed.  Then I determine if she is too hot or cold.  Usually she is too hot.  So I adjust her covers to cool her off.  She always looks so beautiful.

Pet sitting

Probably the most exciting thing to happen to us in awhile is the opportunity to keep my co-worker's pet guinea pig for a week while she and her family travel.  The kids are thrilled.  They love Rocket, the guinea pig.  Rocket caused the kids to have the biggest smiles when they first held him.  Champ likes to get Rocket out of his cage and put him in the sunroom.  They pass Rocket from person to person, chase him, and move his house from place to place.  They are currently gathering leaves from the yard and bringing them to him so that he can eat them.

Healthy Living

If I had more time in life, I'd cook more.  Of cours, I only like cooking.  I'd need to get someone to clean up the messes I make too.  I hate cleaning the kitchen.

Today I've gotten my kids to eat spinach, pomegranate, and avocado.  I feel it has been a successful day.

 I've stopped buying apple juice and started making smoothies instead.  We have had a lot of raspberry, strawberry, and banana ones recently for breakfast.  In the last week or so, I've started testing the theory that spinach can't be tasted in smoothies.  On the first day I tried it, I got up early and snuck the spinach in before anyone noticed.  They drank it and said they liked it.  Now, I stick a little spinach in their smoothies each morning.

For lunch today, I prepared a pomegranate for the first time ever.  It is messy.  I threw it in a smoothie with yogurt, raspberries, and strawberries.  Kids loved it.

Last week I was making oatmeal cookies when I realized I'd be short on butter.   So, I went online looking for butter substitutes.  I realized avocados could be used as a butter substitute.  I substituted avocado for half the butter. No one knew my little secret.  I even brought some to my co workers and had them play guess the secret ingredient.  No one guessed my secret.  I asked Champ at the end of the week if he wanted to know my secret ingredient.  He declined.  I don't think he wanted to have the yummy cookie image ruined in his mind.  Today I made chocolate chip cookies and replaced half the butter with avocado.  Yummy.  Everyone is eating them today.

Bring on Fall Fun!

Sunday I napped during the colts game.  Princess redecorated the house to entertain herself.

On Wednesday, we went to the gas station.  Actually, it was the fire station, but Princess kept calling it the gas station.  Princess liked to drive the fire trucks.  We learned exciting things like there were seat belts in all seats, but there weren't steering wheels.  Champ liked talking to Patches, the robot dog.  However, he scared Princess.

Wednesday night Princess began crying through the night.  It happened again on Thursday night.  In the middle of the night, I made an early morning appointment at my work clinic.  I learned that the blisters on her hands weren't from biking, but they were signs of hand foot and mouth disease.  I took Friday off from work to be with her.

October Begins

On Sunday, rain kept the Champ from playing in what should have been his final fall ball games.

We loved when my friend Lori Anderson came to visit at the beginning of the week.  She is such a wonderful friend and so sweet to the kids.

Wednesday's conferences started off on the wrong foot when we learned that we were without running water in the building.  That evening a man driving a car in our neighborhood had a seizure.  He drove by the house where my kids were before crashing into a house across the street.  I felt very fortunate that the kids weren't in the way of danger.

Last night we went on a bike ride with our neighbor.  Princess was pulled in a trailer with her buddy Kyler.  Champ decided to cross a road without looking and narrowly missed being hit by a car.  I felt very blessed again.  He wasn't too happy about he consequences  from me that followed.  He finished the night with baseball practice.

Today began with one of our favorite breakfasts....chocolate chip pumpkin pancakes.  Champ had try outs for a basketball team.  He wrote me the sweetest thank you note this week.  He was thankful that  I paid for him to be on a basketball team, but he was worried that he might not make a team.

I was glad to get back to Zumba class.  After grocery shopping, we spent some time playing in the front yards with our neighbors.