Random pictures since school began

I have been absolutely terrible about keeping up with the blog. No free time. Potty training (STILL). Work. Kids. House. Produce. Working out. Blah, blah, blah!

Daddy and Summer being silly and "napping" in the hall.
Garrett with one of his many creations
And a robot he wants to enter in the Lego Club Jr. Contest this month.
Being silly with the cute hat they made at school for Patriot's Day.
Dress up one day shortly before school started.

Other random bits:
So ready for the fall TV season lineup to start. We booted netflix for their price hike. On our lineup for the fall--Castle, Bones, Psych, Survivor.

I finished reading Harry Potter series. Brad's started the books too. Garrett's last book was Goblet of Fire, I want him to wait a while to read the last three because are so much darker and take on more grown-up stuff than the earlier books. We're watching them.

The new trailer for Breaking Dawn is out and I'm so excited in the worst nerdy way. Only 2 months left to wait! I think I'll be re-reading the books again.

I FINALLY entered my first half marathon. Will be running the Miami Beach 13.1 in April. So stoked, but have a long way to go since I haven't been running much because of the heat.

Garrett is entered in flag football, which starts on Saturday. It should be fun. Brad is coaching his team. It may be interesting--its 5 players for team and the age range is from 5-7 years. Garrett is by far the youngest on his team and the oldest player will be 8 (!!) in November.

Summer is THREE on Sunday, which I can't believe. Grandma and Grandpa Compton are coming this afternoon, so we're looking forward to that.

I'm going to start prepping for the GRE so that I can test sometime either this fall or in the spring. We have a great tuition remission program through school, so once both kids are in school I'm going to work on a Masters degree--something I've wanted to do for a long time but have had to put off for obvious reasons.

A full week of fun

This week has been chock full of stuff. I'm working hard on increasing my productivity AND maintaining this whole keeping-the-house-clean thing. And not planting the kids in front of the TV in the process. AND consolidating everything we need to do into the trips to and from taking Garrett to school, because at $3.40ish a gallon, I am NOT going out a second time. I made Brad replace the tire on my bike, which had a slow leak, because I know we'll be biking more with gas prices the way they are.

That said, we've had BEAUTIFUL weather this week. In the 80s. On Tuesday, we decided this warranted a trip to the pool.
How cute are they?

We had lots of fun at home of course.
Garrett, always the inventor, decided that since we don't own any guns for gun play, he would build one from his marble track. No shortness of creativity in that one.





Summer, always the girlie girl, took it upon herself to make sure we were well fed.
She asked me "Mommy, are you ready to eat?" and I looked down from my work to find this.





And later, we apparently all needed dessert (perhaps the 4th plate is for one of the dogs? Or maybe a dolly . . .)

Speaking of dogs, Aspen always amazes me with both his amazing patience and the level of devotion and responsibility he seems to instill in Garrett. Garrett loves giving Aspen any kind of love, making his tail wag, and giving him breakfast and dinner. I really didn't expect much in the way of responsible dog ownership this early, but Garrett takes caring for Aspen very seriously. But here is photo evidence of that never-ending patience.
Kisses
And the martyr look because I asked him to sit so I could take a picture of his accessory.
If there were a medal for doggy patience, he would surely earn it.

And, speaking of Garrett and responsibility . . . he has been a BIG HELP around the house. He's been willing to do small tasks without whining lately, which has resulted in us using our marble jar again (helping without whining = one marble toward a special surprise.) He has been consistently straitening his room on a daily basis every morning for a few weeks now. Being on blue all week at school + keeping his room clean = $1 for allowance on a weekly basis. But he amazed me this week by making his bed and informing me that he would "organize the kitchen." Here he proudly posing with his handy-work.
He's also getting the hang of reading, which is well, FREAKING AMAZING to watch. And a little sad. But mostly amazing. He also takes great joy in reminding us that he is "almost ready for Kindergarten." Time is flying by way to fast most of the time.

Who needs toys when you have boxes

First produce day in February + 4 crazy kids = LOTS OF BOXES and lots of fun.

Shuman boys came to play after school the other day (we had soccer, but we skipped!). Great fun was had by all with the boxes. The were cars, trains, building blocks . . . you name it. It was so fun watching their imagination go crazy.
Summer is such a cheeseball these days.


"HAT!"



And our box clubhouse, which had survived since Christmas, went out with the bulk trash at the end of January. It was sad to see it go, but hopefully we'll make another one if/when Lowes ever decides to deliver the freezer we paid for.