Oof

Poor Ethan!  Like seriously -- I feel like his cross country career is cursed.  After running in his first race this season on Saturday (and being pretty pleased with his performance considering he hasn't really been able to RUN for the past 3 weeks), he rolled his same ankle during practice today on the exact same part of the trail he rolled it on the first time.  OOF!!!

He was limping pretty badly after practice this afternoon, and I could tell it was really hurting him.  It's such a bummer because his ankle was totally starting to feel back to normal and he was starting to get excited again about cross country.   It really sucks!  Especially since Saturday's meet was so much fun.  :(

We were there pretty much all day on Saturday, and it ended up being the most perfect weather ever.  It was nice and cool, completely overcast, and it didn't rain at all!  It was a huge meet, with teams coming from all over -- from the collegiate level all the way down to some fun runs and open races.  There were SO many people and teams everywhere.  It was really so much fun to watch.

The fact that it was such a great day, makes it that much more frustrating that today ended on such a sour note.  I'd like to be optimistic and think that he'll be able to recover from this quickly and run in the rest of the meets this season, but I am a little concerned that his season could be over.  I guess only time will tell.

Never a Dull Moment

Monday already seems like a lifetime ago!  This week has turned into the week that just doesn't quit.  From Isaac starting school to our air-conditioning going out in record breaking high temperatures to Grace having an almost-case of blood poisoning -- it's been a non-stop kind of week.

First things first, though.  Tuesday morning started with the high of dropping Shoo Shoo off at his new preschool.  Thankfully, it was a success!  He insisted on bringing a magnifying glass with him -- and he refused to change into his own clothes -- but that's no big deal, right??  Hahaha.  Here's to hoping that his teachers will find him entertaining and not frustrating.  ;)

 "Cheese!"

This is my "What am I going to do with myself now that all 6 kids are at school?" face.  (Rest assured that I found plenty to do.  Hahahahaha.)

 He even took a nap!

The end of Tuesday was much less successful.  At some point during the afternoon, when going upstairs, I realized that the A/C was not doing it's job.  By the end of the day, the thermostat was reading 89 degrees up there and with the humidity in the air, it was miserable.  Everyone but Grace and Sophie ended up sleeping downstairs that night (our downstairs unit was working just fine -- thank goodness), and all of Wednesday was devoted to waiting around for a repair guy to come over and then waiting for the repair guy to fix the right part to make the air-conditioner work.  It was a long day.

Thursday SHOULD have been a nice, relaxing, laid back kind of day, but that pipe dream was shattered when I started getting texts from Grace a little before noon with pictures of her arm.  A bug bite she had gotten the day before was now sporting red streaks up her arm and looking kind of crazy.  After doing some quick Googling -- and then making her go to the school nurse -- I ended up heading over to the junior high to check her out and take her to the doctor.  The doctor, meanwhile, was concerned enough with how quickly it had tracked up her arm, that she prescribed her some antibiotics to keep it from hitting the lymph nodes and then the blood stream and potential sepsis.  Fun times!

 The bug bite.

 The arm.

 The school nurse's contribution.

(It actually looked even worse this morning, and had spread a little bit more up her arm.)

Grace, obviously, was excited at the prospect of leaving school early, but she was almost more excited at the potential bragging rights that having a case of blood poisoning would give her.  The good news is that she was feeling just fine and it didn't hold her back from coming with me to watch Gianna cheer at a home football game that night.

 (We came to watch them perform at half-time for the first time this season.)

Gianna, Grace, and Freddie

Before the football game happened, though, I was able to take a brief time out from life responsibilities by heading over to the middle school "Stampede" with Sophie and a couple of her friends and their moms.  Nothing like a little mother-daughter bonding at school events, right?  Hahaha.  J/K.  There wasn't any actual mother-daughter bonding happening for me and Sophie, but I certainly enjoyed my time socializing with the other two moms while our girls took off to explore the Stampede on their own.  I love that Sophie has found such good friends so quickly here with our move.  :)

 Sophie, Lauryn, and Eva

{I totally should have gotten a shot of the three moms, too!}

And now, thank goodness, it's Friday!!!  I, for one, am totally ready to kick back and relax and enjoy the first Fall weekend of the year!  Ethan's home meet is tomorrow and he'll finally be able to race.  The temperature is supposed to drop overnight, which will be nicer than the heat we've had all week, but it's also supposed to rain all day -- which will make the cheering-on-the-sidelines portion of the race much more obnoxious for the rest of us.  It's all good, though, because at least this week is over!!  And now I'm off to bed...  :)

Catching Up

There's just too much to catch up on!  First things first, though.  {'Cause I'm the realist.}  Tomorrow is the start of a brand-new day!!!  After looking and looking and striking out over and over again, I finally found a preschool for Isaac that fell into place so perfectly that I'm chalking it up as a giant, tender mercy.  Now that I'll have an empty house during the day from Monday-Thursday, perhaps I can finally get around to getting this house in order.  I like to dream big, you know.  Hahaha.

For the rest of the post, I'll just go ahead and recap the last couple of weeks while checking in on all the members of the family.  I know everyone's dying to hear what we've been up to.  ;)

• Cross Country

Poor Ethan -- last season's cross country career ended in a stress fracture and this season's cross country career has started off with a rolled ankle.  :(  As a result, he has yet to race this year.  However, I think he's finally feeling back to normal-ish and should be able to run this Saturday in their big, home meet.  Meanwhile, Grace has been my sidekick on the sidelines for the past couple of weeks, cheering our cross country boys on and has now attended more meets this year than she has in all of Ethan's previous cross-country running years combined.  Hahaha.  If only she could get rid of her own ankle problem (and absolute aversion to training), maybe she'd have her own fan club on the sidelines as well.    

 Danny did awesome in the first meet!  He was the first to finish for the team and came in 8th overall.

 (David apparently medaled as well, but we had left before they got to his division.  Danny was happy  to oblige with a photo op before we went, though.)

• Shouting for Joy

Our school year theme of "Shout for Joy" is off to a great start -- if by great start, you mean everyone is finally mostly cooperative-ish for shouting "huzzah!" after family prayers each night.  Hahaha.  J/K.  It IS off to a great start, and we've decided to focus this month on Gratitude to help us increase our Joy and spread Joy to others.  I thought it was also past time for my children to learn the art of sending Thank You cards, so our weekly activity this month has been to send notes of gratitude to people who have touched our lives.  Some are more enthusiastic and prolific than others, but everyone has joined in the fun.  Grace in particular has taken it upon herself to write "notes of positivity" to people in her Sunday School class to help spread joy and happiness.  I don't know that Ethan is as enthused to receive some of those notes as Grace is to write them, but that certainly isn't stopping Grace.  Hahaha.  

 Sophie surprised me with the first thank you card she created.  :)

 Dear Mom,

Thank you for taking care of us.  You are very nice to all of us, even though we are super annoying.  THANK YOU, MOM!  From: Anonymous

The girls were busy as bees tonight writing fresh Thank You notes for Family Home Evening.

• Tailgate Party

The elementary school had their fundraiser last Friday in the form of a Tailgate Party, and everyone (minus Ethan) joined in the fun!  It was fun to see the kids playing with new friends they've made at school this year and having such a blast.  

 Bounce Houses are always a hit!

 One of Jane's best friends here is Annie -- Annie and Grace are also kindred spirits.  There's just something about those second born daughters.  Hahaha.

 Rainbow face paint for my Rainbow Brite.

Grace and Annie being goofballs.

Grace and Gianna with one of the mascots.

 And with another.

• Cutthroat Kitchen

Last night, we had so much fun competing in a "Cutthroat Kitchen" competition with some family friends from church.  I've never seen the TV show, so I didn't really know what to expect, but it was such a blast!  Poor Scott had to miss out because he wasn't feeling well, but the kids and I did our best to represent.  Hahaha.  None off us ended up being on the winning team, but it didn't really matter, because because having fun with friends is a win for everyone all around, right???  ;) 

 Our task was to create a pancake dish.

 There were 4 teams and 5 different sabotages that were doled out.  We were saddled with only being able to use whole wheat versus regular flour (good thing I have my whole wheat blender pancake mix memorized -- mwahahaha), another team was only able to use aluminum foil for utensils, another team had to have a hot dog in their final presentation, and I can't remember what the other ones were.

 My team -- Sophie, Gianna, Grace, and David.  (And Jane who snuck on because she wanted to be with me.)

 Our finished product was a "breakfast sandwich" -- made with pancakes, a hamburger patty (don't ask), and two fried eggs.  Plus syrup all around the plate for garnish.  We did not win -- in case you were wondering.  Hahahaha.

 Aunt Polly was the judge.

 Grace and her Bestie.

• Odds and Ends

Other than all that jazz, we've been getting into the swing of things with school and carpool and everything else daily life related.  I think I spend more time in my car here than I have anywhere else we've ever lived -- mostly because I'm doing a morning drop off of kids from Grace on down and then an afternoon pick up of Grace on up (Ethan and Danny have cross country after school) -- but you know what?  I really don't mind it all that much.  The kids seem to be chattier in the car than anywhere else, and it's nice getting an inside scoop on their lives.  All-in-all, life is good.  :)

Life is Good.