September

Sometimes I used to think I was busy ... even when we homeschooled and I was home all day with both girls and it felt like we had a lot to do. Now I just have to laugh at myself because I don't think I ever really knew what busy was until the past month.

Here's a little sample of our week:
:: went to soccer opening day ceremonies
:: attended two different soccer games in 2 different towns
:: went out for dinner for a friend's birthday
:: helped teach teen Sunday school at our church
:: went to a local fall fair
:: 2 girls in school every day {making lunches, doing homework, etc}
:: myself working in the school every day
:: taking the 2 girls to and from 3 different soccer team practices and games which ends up being every day of the week except Sunday
:: attending a PTO meeting at the school and back to school night too
:: planning, shopping for, decorating for and throwing 2 birthday parties for my oldest who is about to turn 12 {one with friends, one with family}
:: picking up groceries, running basic errands for the house
:: cleaning the house, putting away summer décor and putting out fall décor
:: keeping up with laundry and dirty dishes - a never ending task!!
:: making time for my husband, the Lord and a little exercise too
:: and oh I guess there must be time for sleeping, eating and showering too, right?! ;)

This week I wrote all the stuff on my big kitchen calendar and then I color coded it all with highlighters for each person/sport ... I feel like I would be lost without that calendar!

It all seems a little crazy and some days I feel like I AM going crazy. But I've found through talking with other parents that the older your kids get, the more crazy it's going to be. And right now even though our life is VERY full ... it's full of very GOOD things. Our daughters are doing fantastic in their schools and their sports. They are great girls and are such a blessing to us. It's so exciting to see them do things that they love and see their joy when they work hard for something and then see the benefits of it. {You should have seen the smile on Hope's face when she made the middle school soccer team!}

Personally I am starting to find a routine. I really miss those lazy summer days that we could just go to the beach and hang out in the sun. But I also love this season of life. I really like my new job, it's so rewarding and challenging all at the same time. Sometimes the kids drive me bonkers and then two seconds later one is hugging me or smiling at me or telling me a story and I'm so thankful to be working there. I also really like that I have 2 hours in the morning when I can dash home and get some things done. Usually I throw something in the crockpot for dinner, do some house cleaning and maybe run an errand. If I didn't have those 2 hours each day I would really be struggling to keep up with my housework!

How about a couple pictures? Blogs aren't fun without something to look at ... =)

I forgot to share pics from the 10K we ran the day before school started. It was my first 10k and wouldn't you know, I haven't run a single day since then! It was good though, I'm glad I challenged myself to complete this goal. In the second pic you can see my time and pace - nothing great but I'm just glad to have finished the whole thing!

AND I forgot to share first day of school pics too ....

I have one sporty girl ...

 

 And one sparkly girl ...

 We picked up their instruments a couple weeks ago and it was so cute to see how excited they were to get started right away. They both chose songs they found online and are practicing playing them so they can hopefully play them at their schools during the next band concert. This is all extra! Not even the songs they will be assigned from their band teachers!

And a couple pics from the fair ....

 

 Hope you have a great weekend! We have LOTS going on but I will try hard to blog again before too long!