My Sweet Little Girl

Isn't this a great picture of Tabitha!? She loves to be a girly girl but she sure knows how to play with the boys!
Signed up Quincy and Tabitha for band tonight. They are both eager to participate. Quincy plans to play the drums and Tabitha wants to play the flute! What's wrong with the trumpet and saxophone that dad and mom played? Practice starts next week so we'll see how it goes.

Our big Calvin...

Calvin just keeps growing up so quickly, it is amazing! I guess it is the way it is when you are 7 but I took these pictures to show you his latest. He now reads the comics every day at breakfast. He also loves to wear his mouthguard and grunt at us as he enjoys his flag football season! I keep teasing him that even though I drop him off the elementary school each morning, he actually must go to Purdue. He brings home spelling words like "West Lafayette", "mud-dauber wasp", "scorpion", and "tarantula"! I found out that if they get certain number of practice words right on the first pre-test, they are allowed to pick some hard words to go into their list. He loves the challenge of it all! He just eats it up when Quincy and Tabitha admit to not knowing how to spell those words.

School Daze

The kids are busy with school activities and homework. They are all enjoying their new schools. Max had a little bit of a tough time recently because of my work schedule. He has had to go to after school care and it just wears him out. On Friday, he was crying when I walked in to pick him up and it just broke my heart. Today, he told me that he cried twice but just for a little bit. He says that since he cried 3 times on Friday, and 2 times today, he plans to cry only once tomorrow and then not at all after that. He loves school and does not cry at all for school, it's the after care that wears him out. He will only have to go on Mon and Tues after this week of orientation for me. That will be nice for all of us. My boss turned in his resignation on Friday and encouraged me to throw my hat in the ring. I love being a manager and since I am naturally bossy as everyone around me knows, I considered it but I think I'd rather leave work at work these days and just keep my fingers in the profession without committing too much time or energy to it. Yesterday, Josh took the 3 younger kids up to the local lake to put his sailboat in the water and get settled into the marina. Despite the fact that the wind was pretty wimpy, they all had a great time sailing and already can't wait for their next opportunity to go out. Quincy and I stayed home and did some cooking together and then took a 5 mile bike ride. Very fun and nice to hang with my big boy without any distractions.

Fun Day!

Yesterday was fantastic! We got up early and headed back to Batesville for a visit! We got to check on our house (still there and still unsold), visit with friends and neighbors and have a cookout with our pals. Very fun! The kids all had a ball with their friends although we didn't get to see everyone we wanted to. Quincy got to have a big fun day at his friend, Max's house with a big group of his closest friends. We didn't see him for hours! We were also able to pull Josh's sailboat back here so he can get it set up at the Sailing Club.

Busy, busy, busy...

Whew! I sure picked the wrong week to start my orientation at work. I have to be there full-time this week which keeps me busy enough but then, all of the kids' teachers have decided that this is a good week to have meetings about their classroom policies, etc so we have been heading to one of those each evening! Calvin also had flag football practice for two hours tonight, followed by a Cub Scout meeting. Poor boy has been going non-stop since 8 this morning! He is just loving football however and is really quite good! I knew he would be.... he seems to be our most coordinated, naturally athletic child. He can run and dodge and weave with the best of them. Fun to watch! It has been fun to get to hear about each kid's classrooms as well because we find out the things that they will be working on for the year and learn about many fun projects that they will be a part of. Quincy and Taba both told me today that they really feel as though they are fitting in and getting to know lots of people. I feel the same way as I get myself more and more involved. I am the official room parent for Calvin's class - wish me luck with that one!

What We Do...

This is what our kids do around here! Each day, they can't wait to get home from school so that they can play in the tree. Sometimes they take turns, sometimes they play with the neighbor boys in the tree, sometimes they switch trees but they are always in the trees! I feel like we are raising monkeys all of a sudden! Sometimes Taba even takes her friendship bracelet kit up in the tree and sits and makes things.

Back to Work

Okay, the real world has set in yet again... I started back to work today with a new job. I'm excited about the job but the next 2 weeks will just be boring orientation. All went well however, and the kids did great in their after school care programs. Max and Calvin said it was "totally awesome" to stay after school and play some more with their friends. Quincy and Taba said it was "okay" but were happy to get a headstart on their homework. We'll see how the rest of the week goes!

The Garage is Unpacked!

Can you believe it? Only 4 weeks after moving in, we have the garage unpacked sufficiently enough to get both cars in! I know many of you doubted that this could ever happen since we went from our big 3 1/2 car garage in Batesville to our standard 2 car garage here but we did it! We don't even have all of our shelves and hooks up yet and we could still pull both cars in. (Fortunately, we are all thin or we wouldn't be able to get out of said cars after pulling them in.)
We had a great day today. Started out at the downtown Farmer's Market where it was Purdue weekend. So... we got to ride the Boilermaker Special (a fake train) followed by an autograph signing by Purdue Pete or whatever their mascot's name is. We then acquired some yummy fresh tomatoes and sweet corn as well as some popcorn. We headed out to test drive some new cars (Josh is always looking but rarely buying) which we all enjoy. Next, we drove up to Lake Freeman where Josh got 2 men to sponsor him to join the Lafayette Sailing Club so he will have a place to store and sail his boat once we get it up here from Batesville. We then came home and cleaned, unpacked and organized the garage. A very exciting day!

Grandpa Moves to Town!

On Wednesday, Josh's dad officially moved into town! Very exciting! The kids can't believe that we finally have a family member in the same town as us like so many other kids they know. We completed our first week of school and everyone really had a great one. The schools really seem to be great with so many new and different things offered all the time. Everyone is adjusting well and making friends. Max is still just thrilled with his all-day kindergarten program which makes every morning pretty fun! Josh's company was in the paper yesterday as they make chemical detection systems and are part of the current investigations into terrorism scares. Pretty cool. I start work on Monday and have to work full-time during my 2 week orientation period before I can settle into a 19 hour/week regular schedule. Should be interesting to see how we pull it all off these next two weeks. I'm very excited about my job however as it is an outpatient orthopedic clinic which will allow me to concentrate on my women's health specialty.

Football!

Calvin is playing flag football! He has never been allowed to play most team sports due to the contact aspect and the fact that he only has one functioning kidney. He hates missing out on soccer, basketball, etc so when we saw the opportunity for flag football for K-2nd graders, we decided to give it a try. Calvin had his first 2 hour practice tonight and loved every minute of it! He is so excited! The season goes through the beginning of October so we'll have plenty of time to learn all about football. There is even an ex-Notre Dame football player as one of the coaches! Calvin thinks that is more than awesome!

School Days

The kids are doing great in school and coming home excited! It's very fun to see. Max told me twice yesterday that school "was not great". When I asked him what he meant, he said "it was not great, it was awesome!" I'm sure we will soon be embroiled in lots of activities but for now, we are enjoying play time after school with the neighbors in the yard. We have a couple of big trees so there is lots of tree climbing going on every day. The boys want to build tree houses but our trees are in the front yard so mom has to squash that idea.

First Day of School!

Well, we all made it through our first day of school! Whew! What an emotional rollercoaster! The kids did great, I felt like I was abandoning every one of them to a roomful of strangers! Quincy was one of 5 new kids in his classroom and with a native Texan as his teacher. He loved all of her "y'alls" throughout the day - felt like he was back in Austin. Taba was the only new kid in her class but her teacher made a huge effort to get her involved and knowing people right away. Her teacher is also really big into reading and writing so Taba felt like she fit right in and immediately made two new friends, Hannah and Vivian. Calvin was one of 7-8 new kids in his class with a very bubbly, friendly teacher. He was the most excited of all the kids and had a "totally awesome" day. Max has a very young, very nice teacher and a parakeet in the classroom so he did fine. He wiped his eyes a few times when I left but that was it, he was ready to go! Heartbreaking! Quincy and Tabitha ride the bus home from school and get home about 15 minutes before Max and Calvin get out of school so we all walked together to pick them up. It was very nice! We'll see how a whole day of school goes tomorrow.

Another visitor!

A very exciting day today as Quincy's friend, Andy, came up from Batesville for a visit! Andy's parents were dropping his big brother off at Purdue for Freshman orientation so Andy was able to spend time with Quincy while they were busy doing their Freshman Parent stuff. Quincy was just thrilled and we all enjoyed having a friend around.

Tabitha

Our big girl turned 10 yesterday! She was thrilled to receive an iPod from Josh and I and has had a great time loading her favorite music onto it.

Cousins, cousins everywhere!

We had a great week to end the summer on a high note! On Wednesday, we spent most of the day at the local pool with 2 sets of neighbors and really had a good time hanging out with new friends. On Thursday night, my sister and her family came over to see our new house and new town. We then spent several hours on Friday at the local water park. The air was a little cool but it didn't seem to bother the kids at all and all 7 kids seemed to have a great time. We then discovered the best playground and ice cream in town and really had a fun day. We woke up to another gorgeous day today so Josh took Calvin out for an hour of practice putting at a nearby golfcourse while the rest of us lazed around. We have big dinner plans tonight as it is Taba's birthday and she has spent some quality time trying to pick out the best restaurant with good food and enough Birthday hoopla to make her feel special. We'll see what the end result is.

Rainy day...

The kids and I are just trying to keep ourselves entertained on this long, rainy day. Everyone is doing great, however. Max has been coloring and drawing for hours, Q, T, and C are playing in the basement and I have made 2 batches of fresh pesto from some basil my neighbor gave us and 2 loaves of homemade bread! Yummy! The house smells awesome. I kept waking up last night thinking about my "baby" starting kindergarten on Monday. How did that all come about so quickly!? I'm sure going to miss my buddy all day. We have gotten so used to doing everything together. I'm sure Max will make the transition just fine. I'm not so sure about mommy...

Our Big Girl

Tabitha will celebrate her 10th birthday on Saturday, August 12. We began our celebration a little early yesterday when our Batesville friends were here to help us. I cannot believe how quickly these 10 years have gone by! Where did my baby girl go? She is such a great kid, though, easy-going, very mature and loves to read. She is starting to really enjoy clothes and shopping, however.... Uh oh!

My Long Weekend in Arizona

"Re-entry is difficult" as my friend, Maureen, always used to say. So hard to get back into the swing of our crazy life with 4 kids after spending time away. I got back from Arizona last night after staying 4 days with my friend Leah and her husband and new baby girl. We had such a nice time, very relaxing and quiet! It's amazing how quiet those newborn baby cries are after getting used to the full blown cries of 4 big kids! While in Arizona, the weather was beautiful! Even cooler than the midwest each day - it was such a refreshing break after the stifling humidity we have had recently. We did some serious shopping, lots and lots of eating, lots of just fawning over baby Jordan, a little swimming in their backyard pool, some running in Sabino canyon, some hardcore walking on Mt. Lemmon, and lots of lots of catching up. I really missed my kids and Josh though and was happy to get home and see all of my cuties! Today, we had a visit from our great friends and neighbors from Batesville, the Poltracks! The 7 kids had a noisy ball all day while Kelly and I did some catching up. So nice to combine our new home with some old friends!

On my own!

I have abandoned the family for a few days and am in Tucson visiting my college roomate and her new baby. Baby Jordan is just gorgeous and very good natured! It is so fun to see Leah in her role as a mother and to see myself relaxing and just not being a mom for a few days! We are having a great time, eating, shopping, running, etc. Josh tells me that he is holding down the homefront quite well and all the kids are doing fine. He got everyone registered for school and I took them back to school shopping before I left so everyone has clothes, shoes and supplies to start school on the 14th. I'll be in AZ until Sunday and then it is back to the real world.

Just like home....

Last night after dinner, Josh and Quincy went out to shoot some baskets while I went out in the frontyard to pull weeds. A neighbor then came down to introduce herself and before you know it... we had 8 kids running through the yards playing hide-and-go-seek tag! The kids are having a great time and already finding friends. I love it!

Back in the pool

When Quincy asked me yesterday if we were ever going to "live" in this house rather than just "unpack it", I decided that it might be a good time to start exploring our new town a little bit more. So, we took off for Super Target!! After having lived almost an hour away from a Target for the past 4 1/2 years, this was a very exciting experience! We got all of the kids school supplies which they were thrilled to do. Always so much fun to start the new school year. After lunch, we then headed to the city pool! Beautiful pool and since it's about our 3rd week of scorching hot temperatures, lots of people! We had a good time although the kids were a little frustrated that no one recognized them as new people and therefore did not approach them to go play. They had to play with each other but did realize that making new friends is going to take some effort on their parts. After dinner, Calvin noticed that our next door neighbors, Charlie (age 7) and Tyler (age 9) were out in their backyard, so with new resolve, Calvin and Quincy headed next door to make some friends. All 4 of my kids and the 2 neighbor kids ended up having a fantastic time playing soccer, baseball and hide and go seek together for almost 2 hours! I also made a new friend with their mom. She is about my age, likes to run, volunteers at school, loves to read and has invited me to join her bookclub! Perfect!