September: feels like summer at the beginning and fall at the end -- at least it did this year. School year activities began after a little while of being back in school. K had volleyball, gymnastics and Activity Days along with monthly orthodontist appointments. (Gymnastics didn't last long and also ended for her in September.) D has flag football and Cub Scouts (and selling popcorn this month) and his cello lessons. M has Girl Scouts and Activity Days (and her mom is in charge of both so it's a good thing she like me!) and viola lessons with a neighbor now. N is still getting used to going to school 5 times a week but is looking forward to when her Daisy Girl Scout troop starts up in October. She played around with the idea of joining a soccer team but opted not to in the end. And no, I am not going to be the new Daisy leader. But we did combine our Brownies with the other local school troop and it is going great! We earned the Making Friends badge the first time we were together, which I think was a great way to begin and last time my new co-leader did the Dancer badge which was so much fun. M and another friend from the troop, O, and N all earned 3 badges in one day by going to a robotics clinic. Daisies were in one area and Brownies were in another. M's favorite part was when they made a robot prototype. N loved the whole thing! I thought the entire event was very enjoyable and well run. I could not think of a single thing that could have been done better. I was impressed! Later that day M and I joined other members of her GS troop to go camping at Union Reservoir. We had a ton of fun. The 3rd graders all slept in the same tent without any adults after making slime, going on a scavenger hunt, and roasting s'mores. The next morning they earned the Eco Learner badge so M and O earned 4 badges in less than 24 hours!
Collage: K at school, using Oreos to learn the phases for the moon for the Space Exploration badge, the robotics clinic, camping with our troop, N wrapping the present for her friend A's birthday party and C's bubble birthday party.
Silly pic from K's "late over" since I am the most terrible mom in the whole world because I do don't sleepovers.
Playing Twinkle on glasses for the Making Music badge in the older Brownie book.
Kindergarten butterfly release
When we cleaned out and organized all the children's bedrooms this summer I realized D didn't have a very good place to hang up photos even though I had printed many out for him. I found one online I thought was one he wouldn't grow out of and am so happy with how it turned out. I am so lucky to have a son! Sometimes I go into his room while he is at school and reminisce over the memories that now hang on his wall. He is one of my greatest blessings and I am so proud of him even though he has had a hard time the last few months. I have a story from the Primary Sacrament meeting that I must write down: N was feeling very scared to get up in front of the congregation and say her lines she had been assigned for the program. When she got up to the microphone and saw all those people looking at her she almost cried but managed to finish her part. On her way back to her seat D gave her a great big hug that melted my heart. He said he did it because he could tell she was sad. Oh, my precious boy who feels so out of place at his new school right now! I am so blessed to have him in my family!
My favorite day of the month was probably the Saturday where I got to watch K play volleyball, then scoop alpaca poop at Jolene's house, spend way too much money on fro yo on the way home and then enjoy a community potluck and watching The Princess Bride outside on a huge inflatable screen with our wonderful neighbors.
As I've mentioned, our family sees a therapist every week. The very first day all 4 of my children were in school, my dad came over and helped me organize my storage space so I could move the queen bed that K used to use out of my art room so I could start planning Girl Scout stuff. The therapist was shocked that is what I did with my first bit of freedom in months. My homework that week and for weeks after (because I never did it) was to do something just for me. When she could tell that wasn't working, she changed my homework being to read Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. Trust me, even part way through this book, I made sure to do something for just me. And I even did 2 times in one week. This book and Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty needs to be required reading for every woman in America, especially if your child goes to school.
After posting about the book online, my friend Mel encouraged me to join the author's last90 challenge. For the last 90 days of 2018 I will strive to complete these "5 to Thrive" tasks. I actually started on 9/28 instead of 10/1 just in case life happens later. The first 10 things I am grateful for (not in any order because dang, I'm going to try to do this 90 times): 1. My iPhone that keeps me organized/not insane. 2. My parents moving to the same town as me to help with 100% of their grandchildren. 3. Safe travels. 4. A husband that adores me. 5. The gift of adoption. 6. Being able to participate in the miracle of birth. 7. Knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. 8. The Book of Mormon. 9. Wonderful adults that helped me during my pre-teen years. 10. People who inspired me during my teen years. My 2nd 10 things I am grateful for (9/29/18): 1. My hardwood floors. 2. All the work that went in the Waldorf Michaelmas/Silver Harvest Festival. 3. Date night, which meant trying a new yummy Tibetan/Indian Restaurant. 4. M.W., our awesome babysitter. 5. New clothes. 6. How excited M & N were to put out the Halloween decorations. 7. That since N began kindergarten it has been easier to keep the house clean. 8. Being able to volunteer in the children's classrooms. 9. That somehow I have found the time to keep this blog going for 10 years. 10. That the insurance company paid for the flood damage done to my home this summer. 9/30/18: 1. N slept through the night last night. 2. Family Home Evenings that actually go well (tonight's did not). 3. When Hubby makes dinner. 4. For being able to call people on the phone. 5. Watching my children participate in things they love like football or volleyball or Girl Scouts. 6. Healthy food. 7. Junk food. 8. A beautiful place to live in. 9. Invitations to do things even though I usually can't join in. 10. Our little lunch book club.
I must say though, even 3 days of waking up an hour early when you have two children who don't always sleep through the night is brutal! I seriously don't know if I can drag myself out of bed like this for 3 months. Especially with the daylight getting shorter each day! I guess that's why they call it a challenge!
You can learn about Waldorf Michaelmas here: https://blog.bellalunatoys.com/2017/celebrating-michaelmas-waldorf-festivals.html
This year M and D were farmers so I bought D a pair of jeans that he will probably never wear again (lol) and M wore cowgirl boots that were too big for her with her overalls because she didn't think any of the other girls would have pioneer dresses (but some did). The 8th grade sword dance and the cute 1st grade dwarves and the dragon that uses a fire extinguisher for smoke are always big hits. This year they had a nice festival to celebrate the school's 25th Anniversary. I signed up to take tickets for the hay ride and to help at the knight craft table. We stayed there for way longer than I thought we would! The children didn't mind because after that we got flu shots at Target. Michaelmas is was more fun than needles.
K and M with a beloved preschool teacher of theirs. Always a joy to see S.
M being the last one to get whipped cream in the face while playing Pie Face. She paid for the came with her own money, she wanted to get creamed so badly!
D running with the ball. It was so fun to watch him get a touchdown in his very first game of the season.
The most important thing that I did this month was attend the funeral of our wonderful neighbors' son, Trevor. Two years ago we were honored to attend his wedding to the love of his life. (I wrote a little about it back then at http://sardankaemei.blogspot.com/2016/07/4th-of-july-wedding-camping.html.) It pains me to read it now because a few weeks ago I somehow found myself sitting in between his mother and his widow and we went through a whole lot of Kleenex during the memorial service. Thank goodness my friend Katie told me to bring the brand name tissues because that funeral home stuff is scratchy! I am telling you now, people, I want Kleenex at my funeral. Kleenex. Like this whole thing wasn't hard enough. T. was only 30. He was his parents' only child. O. is a widow. The whole thing isn't fair. It was an accident but the world is worse off for his loss. He was a great friend, a great employee, and the world to his family. When his mother called to tell me the news we cried on the phone together for about an hour. She will never get to be a Grandma. She wanted me to tell my children never to do anything so stupid that might get themselves killed. No parent should have to bury their child. When someone said that over the pulpit that's when I really lost it. His parents were always so kind to us. We lived across the street from them in our old house for 9 years. They watched us bring all 4 of our children home. And when K broke her arm, they babysat D for us while we both took her to the ER on a Sunday morning. His mother came to K's baptism and wrote her the nicest card. She picked out wonderful Christmas presents for the children. We have missed M & D greatly since they moved to Illinois. I have learned a few things from T's funeral: 1.) Plan your own so your family doesn't have to. 2.) Be a good friend. 3.) I need to visit Illinois next summer. 4.) The Plan of Salvation is real, people. And my knowledge of it gets me through the hard days sometimes. I don't think I could have come home and taken care of my children that day if I hadn't have been able to go sit in the Fort Collins temple parking lot for a few minutes before returning home. I am so grateful for the Gospel.
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