The best morning ever!

These beautiful ladies and their lovely daughters came over today and we had a freezer meal session.

This was seriously the best idea ever.

 #1 We had a great time.
 #2 We got to know each other a bit better. (esp. Allie and I because Jean knows us both a bit better than we knew each other.)
 #3 We have 3 fantastic meals filling our freezers.
 #4 We were able to make some meals for terrific ladies in our church community who need a helping hand.

Can you say win win win win? I hope we do it again soon.  (Next time I won't have to run away to volunteer at school - thanks to Jean and Allie for wrapping things up as I dashed off!)

September - gets me everytime

I think September is the most challenging month due to the fact that EVERYTHING is in full swing again after the comparatively low key summer.  Here is Joel, with Ken, this August shooting off his rocket with his scout Den.

So now Scouts (X3 with Anna to start any time), Religious Ed (X5 (if you include my class) + Sunday school), Church Choir (X2, but right before RE), Band (X2, mostly just school) and Soccer (X3 - Anna will get her chance next time) are all in full swing. (Carolyn also just learned to be an Alter server - hope to get a picture of her first time serving this Sunday.)  It will be a little crazy at night through October, when soccer will be done.  Typically only Joel plays basketball, but who knows, maybe Anna will give it a try this year, since Carolyn did in Kindergarten.  (activities seemed easier then!)

It is all good and we only do things we love that aren't too high of a commitment.  (ie. Matthew skips Scouts if home-work calls).  I feel like I do limit the kids activities, but if your kids are going to be in scouts and in a sport and there are 4 kiddos (or 6 for my mom) - it keeps ya hopping!

So tonight Carolyn is the only one with an activity - soccer at 5:15, BUT the library has chess night one time per month and we have never been and the kids (except Anna) love to play chess and really want to go......so I think I will pack a dinner and we will stop there on the way home.  Somehow if you don't HAVE to go, it seems less stressful.  The fact that Carolyn remembered that it is held on the 3rd Thursday and that THIS is the 3rd Thursday was pretty cool.  The things we could drop are the things we don't want to drop (like Church choir for the kids and Faith and Friendship for me.)  So I guess we will just keep hopping!

I am gonna play you a tune on my.....

Tuba

It was either this or the flute we already own......

 The whole story is that last year Carolyn and I discussed instruments and I think I convinced her that the flute would be a good idea, since we wouldn't need to purchase one. I did tell her I would buy her another instrument if she really wanted one, but it probably wouldn't be as good as the flute we already own (because it was my 2nd flute). I also hinted it would save us money, so that if she ever wanted a piccolo, we could buy one.

 This year they had "try an instrument" day at school and afterward Carolyn listed good possible choices, including flute, clarinet and tuba. Last year she talked about the trombone some.

 Fast forward. I came to realize that she wasn't that thrilled about the flute and decided to be "supportive mom" and allow her to put her name in the hat to use one of the school's tubas, which was her very first choice. When I found out there were 15 kids wanting to play tuba or baritone, I even allowed her to pick another instrument if she wasn't chosen, as there were several available in the low price range. She said flute was her 2nd choice.

 Fast forward. Her name is drawn 2nd out of 15, so she could choose tuba or baritone (the much smaller, but similar instrument). Clearly she went for the gusto! We walked the tuba home and let's just say, it is going back by car at the end of the year!!

 It is insured. I have a solemn promise from my lovely daughter that it will never be set down, except in its case. (Since Matthew had his mouth piece of his trumpet stuck about 4 times in 5th grade, mostly because it got "bumped" (read "dropped off a chair onto the floor"). Eventually Ken pried the entire trumpet apart in attempt to remove the mouth piece. Luckily we found it really cheap on Craig's List and 10 months later found another pretty cheap. Now Matthew has a "practice" trumpet that stays home (because it has duct tape keeping it together)......clearly I digress....still don't you just love C. with the tuba!! You go girl.

Carolyn is a tween

Carolyn informed me that if you are eleven you are officially a tween. She didn't have a birthday party this year, but paid me a great compliment that our birthday "outing" was better than a party. Here are some of the highlights:

Carolyn and I got our nails done. (I had a gift certificate I received in a thank you note about 18 months ago....to be honest getting my nails done isn't my favorite thing, but it was fun to do together. Our nails are still nicely shaped, but the polish was chipping within a couple days.)

The kids wanted to do a crazy shot with the birthday cake:

Carolyn, Anna and I went window shopping and out to lunch. The mall had the bungie-jumping trampoline thing that Carolyn had done before at the state fair, so I let the girls try it. (It felt quite safe - FYI to Grandma) We didn't tell the boys, because they might never want us to window shop without them again!

Carolyn wanted this book for a LONG time and it really is a great one for a Harry Potter fan (myself included).

She is a lovely tween, and I am very glad we have 2 more years before she is a teen! We don't want to rush these years!