Recap Smorgasbord

Even though I have no idea where to even start, I've decided that this is another instance where done is better than perfect, and my plan is to crank out an epic-ly random recap to cover everything that's fallen through the cracks of the last 2 months.  Are you ready for it?

End-of-Summer 

Summer seems so long ago at this point that I almost don't even remember what I'm supposed to be documenting.  As with almost all the segments of this recap, though, I'm going to let the pictures I managed to take do most of the talking for me.

• A James Taylor Concert

At the end of August, Scott and I got to check out a James Taylor concert from P&G's box seats -- and it was pretty awesome.  Not gonna lie.  Coming on the heels of our road trip, it was nice to have a break from whole-family-togetherness and take a little time out for a just-me-and-Scott date night.  Haha.  

Fun fact:  this here concert was only the third concert I've ever been to.  The first was a Third Eye Blind concert my freshman year of college and the second was... ALSO James Taylor at Jazz Fest back when Grace was a baby.  Hahahaha.  (Spoiler alert -- I attended my FOURTH ever concert earlier this month when it was the girls' turn to check out the company box seats with me for a Dixie Chicks concert.

• "Fun" at the Dentist

Obviously, fun is in quotation marks up there because nothing about going to the dentist is fun for Isaac. (Or pretty much anyone in our family.)  Isaac had to get another tooth pulled at the end of the summer, and due to his high dental anxiety thanks to a previous terrible experience elsewhere, we turned to a different pediatric dentist this time and everything turned out much better.  Which is saying something, since he ended up throwing up afterwards (I think because of coming out from under the laughing gas) while I was checking out at the front desk.  All's well that ends well, though, and Isaac was fine a few hours later and with no lasting trauma, so I'll take it!  Hahaha.

• A Minion Breakfast

Towards the end of our road trip this summer, Isaac and Alex got it in their heads that they really NEEDED to go to IHOP for a minions breakfast before school started.  Why?  I'm not really sure.  Especially since neither one of them are overly into said minions, nor has IHOP ever been a premier destination for the fam.  Nonetheless, I finally caved the week before school started and took the boys out on a "breakfast date" only for them to realize that bananas featured heavily in the "minions" menu (which neither of them are fond of) and the only thing they kind of ate were the "Cinna-minions" served as their side.  Even though the breakfast was a bit of a bust, I think they were still happy overall to have had a special outing with just the three of us to finish out their summer vacation.

• Pool Party Time

The last big end-of-summer hurrah was a pool party that someone hosted in their neighborhood for all of the incoming first grade classes.  Isaac was super stoked at the chance to see school friends again, while I was reminded that it would probably be a good idea to teach Isaac how to swim.  Hahahahaha.  I'll put that on next summer's to-do list.  :)

#LikeAGirl

The middle of September found us at an LPGA 5K event for Scott's work.  It was supposed to be a full family affair, but unfortunately, Sophie was unable to wake up early enough that morning to make it to the race.  Although, I do use that term loosely -- none of us are quite in racing form, and Scott is the only one who actually did the full 5K.  The rest of us did a 1K (or maybe it was 1 mile -- I never really got a definitive answer on that) and spent more time posing for pictures, "stretching," and hanging around then actually running.  All in all, it was a lot of fun!  10 out of 10, would recommend.  ;)

I mean...that lighting!!!  Am I right??

#GRL #PWR

LOL

#LIKEAGIRL

Isaac saw this wall for people to fill in the blanks and decided that the "I _______" obviously needed to be filled out with the rest of his name.  Hahahahaha.

Meanwhile, Alex saw the perfect opportunity to fill it in with some Rick Astley lyrics.  "I will never give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you..."  LOL.

Spooky Season 2022

October 1st saw the start of "Spooky Season" around these parts, and for the first time ever, I decided to go all out with some decorating -- "all out" being a relative term.  Hahahahaha.  In this case, it involved taking Isaac with me to Target to pick stuff out and coming home with some pillows, a costume, a giant spider and web for outside the house, and various other crafting projects to bring spooky season to life.  I know how much Ethan loves full-house-holiday-decorations, so I thought it would be fun to pay homage to our favorite firstborn son by ramping up our typical decor response.  Of course, the kids have since brought up the point that doing all of this now that he's no longer living at home is sort of rubbing it in his face, but I'm hoping that Ethan will take it in the spirit that it's meant and know that we are thinking of him and love him and will be feeling his presence throughout the house during the upcoming holiday season as we go all out to a further degree than we ever did while he was at home.  😆

Hey Boo.  Hahahahaha.  I love this pillow so much and I don't even know why.

Isaac picked out an Ironman costume while we were at the store and couldn't wait to try it on once we were home.  In a hilarious coincidence, Isaac ended up posing with a giant framed picture from Halloween 2015 in the background, where you can see ALEX dressed in the exact same Ironman costume.  Hahahahahahaha.  (Well, you can see it better in person -- the glare on the frame and the size of the picture here make it a little harder to see what Alex is wearing, so you'll just have to trust me that it's there.)

Not gonna lie -- this giant spider web was kind of a huge pain to put up.  It would have helped if I were just a little bit taller.  Hahaha.

In addition to pulling out our army of pumpkin cans, Jane helped me to cut out a bunch of black, cardstock bats with glued-on googly eyes to hang up around the house.

The Chicks

And now we get to the aforementioned spoiler!  Hahahaha.  At the beginning of the month, the girls and I got to take advantage of P&G's box seats for The Chicks concert that had come to town.  It was awesome!  Seriously so much fun with my girlie bugs!  Hahaha.  We made an evening of it and ate at Chick Fil A beforehand (where it was so fun to see everyone we knew were also going to the concert based on their cow-girl-esque clothing) and then jammed out to the Chicks until late into the night.  I'm not a super huge country music fan in general, but I've always loved the artists formerly known as the Dixie Chicks.  I was surprised to discover that the girls were ALSO fans and knew tons of the songs and it made for a super fun and memorable night to experience it all together. :)

I'm beginning to think that Jane doesn't know how to pose without pulling a face these days.  Hahahahaha.  (She's such a doll, though, amiright??  Hahahaha.)

Me and my Girlie Bugs 😍

The Chicks Tour 2022

Since the tickets to the concert were free, I decided to let us all splurge and pick out one piece of merch each to document our once-in-a-lifetime-experience.

I love taking pictures of people taking pictures.  LOL.  Hahahahaha.

The Chicks selfie with the crowd.

HOCO

Homecoming was last weekend, and Grace and Sophie eschewed taking photos at home and gathered at a friend's house instead.  Thankfully, I'm good friends with the mom of said friend and she hooked me up with the pics.  Hahaha.  I have to say, they really rocked the "golden hour" light and got some beautiful shots before the dance.  

L --> R 

Sophie, Christian (Grace's boyfriend), Grace, and Ella (their friend)

Aren't they so cute?  Also cute?  Sophie declaring the other day that Grace and Christian are her BEST friends. 

Fall Miscellany

• School

The school year is in full swing, and even though we've had more than a few early check-outs and straight up truancy situations scattered across the children, we've mostly settled in and are hitting our stride.  Mostly.  

This is Isaac's classroom.  While the layout -- with different kinds of desks and tables of various heights and a variety of different seating options -- stresses me out to the extreme, I have no doubt that Isaac loves having an option like THIS to sit in while at school.  Hahahahaha.

"Senior Pictures"

 And no we didn't buy any.  And as of right now, Grace is refusing to let me take "real" senior pictures for her graduation announcements at the end of the year.  We'll see if I can work some magic before then.

Text exchange with Grace (spurred by me telling her that she should write about being like the Pied Piper for one of her college application essays) --

GRACE:  Why are you always comparing me to the pied piper

GRACE:  Bro is evil

ME:  Is he?

ME:  He leads the children away.  That's all I know.

GRACE:  Yeah he leads them away and they are never seen again

Whoopsie!!!  Hahahahahahaha.

• Our Favorite Missionary

I was realizing the other day that I haven't included much about Ethan's mission on the family blog.  Mostly because I'm sure that most people who are reading this blog are also on his email list for weekly updates from him, but also because I've been creating a separate mission blog on the side where I've been uploading all of his emails and pictures and then forget about adding things here as well.  To rectify that situation for today, I thought I'd include a picture showcasing our favorite missionary serving (at the moment) in Henderson, KY.  He's doing so well and seems to have such a great attitude while maintaining his uniquely Ethan sense of humor, and I couldn't be prouder.  :)

• Pizza Time

Speaking of Ethan, a month or so ago, I was looking through old pictures and found one from when he was Isaac's age and had taken it upon himself to make dinner for me as I was newly pregnant with Jane and still feeling rather sick-ish.  He made mini pizzas (using english muffins) all by himself and after telling Isaac about it, I decided it would be fun to recreate the picture while helping Isaac at the same time with some at-home "occupational therapy."  It was actually quite fun even if his opinion of the finished pizzas was quite low.  Hahahaha.  

Ethan to the rescue with dinner.  Circa January 2009.

Precious little lamb.

• Tailgate Time

And finally, the elementary school had their Tailgate Party a few weeks ago and Isaac was super stoked to attend.  (I don't think we went when he was in Kindergarten last year, so this outing was really built up in his mind.  Hahaha.)  In addition to the excitement of bounce houses and free food, he hit the jackpot -- or rather won the raffle -- with a brand-new, collegiate branded football.  You would have thought he'd won the actual lottery with the level of joy this event sparked and he spent the rest of the evening going back and forth between running around trying to show off his football to whoever he came across and getting back in line for yet another bounce in the bounce house.  By the end of the evening, he went home one happy camper.  :)

"Should I flex it off to people?" 

-- Isaac on pondering what to do with his newly won football.  LOLOLOL.

And that is ALL, folks!!!  I am officially done with this recap.  Congratulations to those of you who have made it all the way to the end!  ;)