Fall lovin'

We love fall.  We love the crisp cool air, the smell of the trees, and being outside and not being miserable!

On Monday, Xander didn't have school, Nick didn't have work, I had a splitting headache, and we cancelled Sterling's playdate.  She didn't mind too much because Nick took the kids in the hot tub so I could have some quiet time without everyone.  It was much needed.  I love my man!  He's thoughtful like that :)  They spent 2 hours outside!  After they were done, I was feeling a little better so we decided to go out to a regional park and take a hike.  What better way to spend a perfect fall day?!  The fresh air was just what the doctor ordered.  I felt so much better that night.

We found lots of broken limbs and the kids had a great time balancing on them.

Nick had a brilliant idea to have Xander climb a tall skinny tree.  Xander had no clue what to do and was terrified, ha!

These pictures crack me up.  Sterling was nervous Nick was going to drop her and Xander had no clue what Nick was trying to get him to do.  Then I say, smile guys, ha!

                                               
       

Have a great weekend!

This and That

I attended Parent's Night at Xander's school.  It's where the parents get to go and see what theirs kids do in a day.  It was pretty fun and informative.  As I walked in I saw this cute coloring of my little man.

This boy is fearless.  I'm guessing his friends from school some him some new tricks in the first month of class.  He crosses the monkey bars, climbs the top of the structures, and is even pumping his feet to swing.  This is a big step for Mr. Dependent.

Sterling loves to balance.  Just like in gymnastics :)

Sterling likes to play with either myself or Nick and I told her one day that I would put my computer away and my phone away and just play with her.  So, when we came downstairs, she decided she needed to hide my computer to guarantee I'd play with her.  I found it behind the chair.

I don't actually enjoy "playing" anymore.  I'd rather teach them a craft, play a game, read books, or bake something with them.  But open play?!  My mind is not all that imaginative anymore.  Old age problems.

Our house is struggling getting those veggies in, so on Pinterest one night, I came across this recipe for Crispy Vegetable Fritters.  It looks great...but I have to say it's a good thing she posted the photos she did and not the one after it's all blended together.  I was a bit disturbed {looked like dog food} by the result of the mix, but I kept going, giving it the benefit of doubt.  I'm so glad I did!  They were so good.  Everyone but Sterling (of course) at them.  Xander took one bite and told Sterling she'd love them because it was cake...little did he know they were veggies.  

On a rare day that I'll "play," I built them a "castle" for Princess Rapunzel.  We had a good time saving Rapunzel and all the animals from her bad mother.

Xander stayed home from school one day because he was complaining of a sore throat.  I think I judged that one too quickly because he was just fine after he ate.  You know how you sometimes wake up with a dry throat.  Have a drink and everything is fine. Yeah, I think that's what it was.  So, since he was fine, I took him to get a haircut.  Look at the marks left by the lady?!  Crazy.  He said it didn't hurt, but man, it looks painful.

Don't ever get TREX decking!  It's a pain in the a**!  Our landlords told us to bleach it once a month, so I have been.  But, it's not working.  This is a result from 2 weeks after a bleaching.  Just disgusting!  When it rains, it gets the worst.  Everyone says just use soap and water, but yeah, that's not going to cut it.  

This girl is busy.  She's a dancer.  She a singer.  And she loves every minute of it!

One more day of soccer practice because the last official day of practice we'll be at Disney on Ice.  They don't know yet, and I'm keeping it that way.

Queen of log rolls!

Ninja boy and Bat Girl on a mission to see cousin Marcus.  This will be their halloween costumes this year also.

On Friday Sterling and I had hair appointments.  I desperately needed my roots done and we both could use a trim.  Moving around so much means having to find new stylists.  This is probably the worst part of moving.  Some people just don't know how to cut hair and going in blind sucks.  I decided to give Ulta Salon a try and I think it was a winner!  I loved my turnout and Sterling was a little disappointed her hair didn't look like Elsa's.  Of course she wanted it as long as Elsa's and does not understand that it takes time to grow.

Because this girl was a rockstar during my appointment (2 hours), I told her i'd take her to the Disney store to buy a new toy.  As we were leaving, she asked to go to Walmart.  Why yes, I'll pay a better price.  Thanks, girl!

A girl and her horse...

I also discovered a new latte for my Tassimo machine.  Love it!  It smells like pumpkin puree and tastes like pumpkin puree with sweetened milk.  Oh. my. goodness...so good!

We had a family night on Sunday and headed to the movie room to watch Hocus Pocus.  We played rock, paper, scissors to see who chose the movie.  Xander won.  He's really into this movie this year.  I tried to get him to like it last year, but he didn't want anything to do with it.  So, I'm loving that he wants to watch it all the time now!

Have a great day!

Busy-Busy

Heading back to September because how is October already here?!  

We had a pretty busy day when Nick's car decided not to start after work one day.  That day was also the day when the air conditioner peeps were coming out to check our unit because it was loud and dangerous.  The company called and asked if they could come out sooner than 530-7 because the guy was done with a job.  I said sure, I'm not doing anything.  Ha!  At 405 Nick calls and says I need to come get him because he couldn't start his car.  What?!  The maintenance man hadn't shown up yet, so the kids and I run off to get him quick.  I worry the whole time that the maintenance man will show up.  He didn't.  Nick calls the tow truck to haul it out to the dealership so we have to wait for him to show up.  So much waiting that day!  I ended up calling the air guy to reschedule because I didn't want to take any chances.  As you can see by the sky, we had some cooler weather, so we survived without air downstairs.  What a day!  I feel like I do a lot of waiting everyday with 2 different school pickups and drop-offs, then add the unexpected and it was a doozie!

Every month Xander will come home with a family project we need to create.  Septembers project was a reading treasure box.  While he was at school the day before it was due, I painted a shoebox and printed emblems from the internet onto sticker paper.  When he returned home, he made the box how he wanted.  Sterling remembered we had toothpick swords, so she wanted to put those on too.  Turned out pretty awesome!

Mine and Sterling's favorite days are when we get to FaceTime with our favorite 22 month old!

Sissy needed a box too.  But for her toys of course.

Sterling and I were hitting the park after she was done with school and before picking up Bubba.  It was usually a 15 minute play time, so perfect for her!

We received a beautiful peace lily as a housewarming gift.  I love it!  Now, I just pray I keep it alive.  I don't have a green-thumb.  Sigh.

Sterling is still loving gymnastics, but not the forward rolls.  She's so funny to watch.  She has her test in a few days and I don't think she'll pass this area.  We're working on it though.

What some luck!  Back in August I bought the kids some back to school clothes from GapKids this year.  At the end of September they were finally able to start wearing some and as I put on this beautiful sweater on Sterling (on sale now and not an affiliate link :)!) and rolled the sleeves, I saw this...a separation!  UGH!  I still let her wear it, but I was not happy.  Gap always has such good quality clothing.

A few days later, I go put these jeans on her, and 20 minutes later I saw something out of the corner of my eye as she was playing.  It was this...

Really, what luck?!  Two defective items on the same shopping trip?  I was heading out to Fairfax (an hour away-the closest Gap) to pick up Nicks car (which had a dead battery but now's fixed), so I took these items and my receipt and hoped they would let me exchange them.  I called them first because it was past the 45 day return window.  Good thing I brought them along because she said bring them in anyways.  The lady was super nice and found the two items and exchanged them for me.  So nice of her since they were outside the 45 day window.

We then had to rush the hour back home to get Sterling to school.  Busy busy.  Always!

Boys.  Why are boys SO full of energy?!  Xander bounces off the walls after school.  I hate that he only has one 10 minute recess break each day because we are on the struggle bus once he gets home. So, we decided that I should start taking them both to the park after picking him up.  So, Sterling and I altered our routine and pick him up first, then hit the park.  It has helped so much spending 30 minutes playing before going home.  I've also started sending them in the backyard while I dinner prep.  It's been a night saver!

I fell behind in school work because I needed to redo an assignment four times.  I felt like I was never going to get ahead and turned in two big point assignments late.  But, my motto with school is quality over quantity.  Always has been, always will be.  So, even though the due dates approached and passed, I didn't rush through it just to get it done.  I plugged away and did my best research.  It pays off in the end because I only had a .5 deduction for being late.  My professor appreciates the quality of my work and efforts.  Now, I'm ahead of school work.  My next assignment was finding themes in all 15 of my research articles and compare them.  I finished that yesterday morning and it's not due until the 16th!  Next, I'll begin working my first draft of my thesis for my final class.  I'm so close to being done!  I can't wait!  Falling so far behind has made me want to give up, but I'm SO close to being done.  Plugging away!