I blogged.

For a week now, I have been telling myself to blog.  Not sure what's up, but I just haven't really had it in me!  Maggie is still asleep and Levi is already on the bus, so I felt like now was a good time.  There isn't a whole lot to say, so this will just be a boring random "what we've been up to" post!

Last Friday, Jami and I took the littles {that's what I will now use to refer to Mags and Cam because I think it is just too cute!} to the walking bridge.  My kids love it there and they hadn't been before.  

They were stroller bound for the first half and then they busted FREE! 

I don't think the mile walk back can be counted as exercise because the littles (CUTE, RIGHT?!!) stopped about every 25 steps to look at something.  Oh, and then they started a spitting contest.  Because they are crazy awesome like that.

FUN day!  Jami even helped me after our walk.  I was on the hunt for a stroller for Disney and she was giving me her expertise!

Saturday, I had to cross the big river and head into the land of THE BEST MALLS EVER to take my phone to the Apple store.  Eric suggested dropping the kids off somewhere (a grandma's house, not just the side of the road...) and making a date of it.  He also suggested Kansai for dinner.  Ephesians 5:22 "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord."  Being under full submission, I willingly went along with him to Kansai.  

We headed to Apple afterwards and I was amazed at their service!  I had an appointment for 7:10 pm.  The "genius" came over promptly and asked how he could help me.  I was a little distracted by his accent.  I think he was from South Africa.  He spoke as smooth as butter and for about two seconds, I pretended I was on a tropical island and he was asking me if I wanted a fruity drink with a cute little umbrella!  In reality, here's how the convo went:

Him: Hello, how may I help you?

Me: Hello, my iPhone is broken, I think.  

Him: What seems to be the problem?

Me: This button on the top right {very technical} won't turn the phone off.

Him: {after looking at my phone for a half a second} The problem lies within the phone.  If it is okay with you, we would like to give you a new phone and then you will be on your way! 

Me: Um, okay!

Less than three minutes later, I was out the door with a new iPhone 5!  No hassle.  No costs.  Once we got home, Eric set my new phone back to my settings from iTunes and everything was good to go!  

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This week is the first full week back to school.  It has gone incredibly smooth!  Levi loves his teacher and comes home everyday with new stories for me.  I think it's gonna be a great year!  Monday, I had lunch plans with my CBS group from last year and my dad was going to babysit Maggie for me.  

I figured while she was there, either she would dress up in princess attire and make my dad play babies, OR, my dad would dress her in SWAT attire and they would shoot guns.  Either way, I'm sure she had fun.  Two minutes out of their driveway and this happened.

Who am I to deny a child a nap?  I went to the nearest McDonald's, got a diet coke, and drove around for a little bit listening to music.  Sweet times! 

It has been such a nice, quiet week!  I'm thankful to be back into a routine again.  I know it has been a while since I've posted one of my infamous MM posts.  Just seems like over the last few weeks, I've wanted to take that motivation and stick it where the sun don't shine! ;)  Stay tuned for more on that!

Second Grade's not so bad

I don't know how many times I've heard my mom say, "That's exactly how you were as a child."!  And, she seems to say it with a smirk. ;)  She is referring to Levi and his anxiety doing anything new.  Poor kid.  He is just like me!  

There was a little drama the night before school started.  He was still begging me to home-school him.  He wanted to "take the first day off".  Ha!

  

However, once we got to the bus stop and he saw his friends, he seemed like his old self.  

Maggie wanted us to wake her up so she could kiss him goodbye.  Adorable.  She told him "Happy Fadder's Day, Bubby" (yes, she still randomly wishes us all a Happy Father's Day), gave him a kiss and hug, and we watched for the big yellow bus!

I wanted to holler at Amy, our bus driver, and tell her to be careful, drive slowly, watch for deer, but I politely waved at her as she closed the doors.  It would be eight hours and ten minutes until I could fully relax again. ;)

And, like clockwork, exactly eight hours and ten minutes later, I had one HAPPY little boy on my hands!  

One of his best friends from last year was in his class and they even ate lunch together.  Presh!  He came in 4th running around the big track during P.E.  His teacher is "so nice and has black hair".  He ate all his lunch and loved his Kool Aid drink. He was so happy I made him brownies!  Oh, and he had one request: Family movie night (watch Toy Story 2) and no one bring their cell phones downstairs.  

So, as soon as we ate dinner, we went downstairs, watched Toy Story 2 and didn't let the kids see that we had our cell phones in our pockets.  You know...just in case. ;)  GREAT first day.

Our last day of summer vacay!!

My mom had a brilliant idea -- on the last day of summer vacay, let's take all the kids to do something fun!  SURE!  We were in.  Didn't have to ask me twice!  We loaded up and headed North to the Common's for some play time.  My brother also met us (he was babysitting, so that's why there are two kids on here you've never seen before!) so we had quite the group of kiddos!

You know what's fun about cousins?  Everything!

Travis was soaking up all this fun with his kids on their last day of break!!

After lunch, we took the hoodlums over to the kidscommons museum.  It was a blast!!  Um, except for this part.

Cockroaches that hiss.  YEAH.  NOT A FAN.  And, bonus -- it was their feeding time.  GAG.  Maggie got to help feed them.  Oh mah gaw!  

Super disgusting.  But I promise that those are the only gross things there.  For the next few hours, the kids played on three levels of FUN!  {You are about to be bombarded with pictures!}

Travis was like a kid in a candy store because there was a GIANT toilet inside a play house.  

The kids were in heaven because you could climb inside the toilet, it would make a flushing sound, and you could come out somewhere else.  Oy.  

My afternoon was spent trying to get a picture of Travis on his phone.  This was the best I got. ;)

Last on the agenda was to get ice cream at Zaharako's!  The kids love it there!  

Proof positive of a super fun day!

Thanks to my mom for a great day!  My family is such a huge blessing to me.

As I put the kids to bed, I was blown away by how big they looked.  SECOND GRADE.  That sounds so old!  Mags will miss her brother.  Love my babies.

 Praying for a great first day of school for Levi and for Eric, too!  He has been working like a dog the last two weeks.  Most days, he has gone into the office before 8 and not been home until after dark.  :(  Their office has been going through bus routes, calling parents, and trying to make sure the first day will be as smooth and safe as possible!  That's what I love about Eric.  He takes each parent's concern very seriously and wants each family to feel as good as possible about sending their child to school on the bus.  All six people in their office have been on the phone from morning till night.  Kudos to them!  Here's to a great first day!!