Lots going on

We did family photos tonight. So many cute individual candid pictures were taken. If we get even one decent family one it will be due to our photographer's mad Photoshop skills because holy cow, they were not cooperative tonight, haha! He sent us a sneak peek and it is, of course, adorable. I love new family photo time.

A friend asked me if I could help her install quarter round molding in their office last week. I said sure and had no idea what I was getting into. This is not just a room or two. This is a two-story new office with a cubicle room and tons of rooms and so many cuts. I'm 22 hours into this project and probably have ten or more to go. Bill helped me out last week in the afternoons so I could put the time in there, but Chloe has spent a lot of time with me at the office. She's a pro now. We had the place to ourselves today, just working away. She got a kids meal and has a soft chair to watch a movie on and is happy to hang out with me. It's been fun. I wouldn't want to do this as a full-time job or anything, but I'm sure enjoying the project. You can see a bit of the finished product in the shots below. It's a really nicely-designed new office.

Here's Chloe waiting for me after my chiropractor appointment. I had held my adjustment for six weeks, but I'm sure the amount of bending and craning pushed me out this last week. So I got an adjustment and she hung out and played with all the knick knacks. That's her Dora backpack she always grabs when we go there and she fills it with all her favorite toys that visit.

Some friends invited us to a Clemson men's soccer game. It was so fun to get out on a date. The student section did these orange and purple smoke bombs. Nice touch.

Bill is coaching Aaron's soccer this season and having a grand time. Last Thursday was their first game. I wouldn't say Aaron is a soccer lover yet, but he thinks he might be, so we'll keep at it.

All of the kids have decided their gymnastics lovers. Aaron informed me tonight he's doing gymnastics after he finishes soccer and Chloe is enthralled watching the older kids do their stuff.

Exciting week

This is potentially an exciting week. Bill has his engineering job fairs to attend and I'm hoping some job opportunities come out of it. And dissertation defense is coming along soonish as well. Exciting times!

 We've got another bookworm on our hands.

 Genevieve has started dressing Chloe in her clothes. It's pretty cute.

 And here again. Chloe the Snow Princess. I'm pretty sure it was about 85 degrees outside when she had this on, lol.

 Newest painting and frame.

 My hiking backpack we got when Spencer was a baby is total overkill for my tiny princess here. We've been going hiking and I decided to get a soft pack instead. This has a hip seat, so she's not as squished against my body as in most soft packs. She loves it.

 We didn't get hit by Hurricane Florence as was originally forecasted, but Chloe was ready the other night, just in case.

 She's such a good hiker. She probably hiked the first mile, or maybe even more, of this 3.5 mile hike we went on this week. Way to go, Chloe!

 She's so excited for her cold-weather clothes. The high today is 84, but hey, who's counting?

 Lego creations. Chloe built her first one this week.

We had fun at the kids' literacy night.

Gymnastics

We had a fairly normal week. Gymnastics, a career fair for Bill, and normal every day things. 

Here's an amusing collage of Chloe while Bill is reading to her. I swear she's a monkey. 

We spent lots of time at gymnastics. Judging from Genevieve's instant love I imagine we'll be doing this for another decade or so. Haha! I'm not complaining. It's fun.

Spencer is a big fan as well. Turns out he has quite the hops. He won a little competition to see who could jump the highest. I got a video of the last two trying one more time. Neither could get the last one, but they could jump two footed up onto the mats when the very top one was gone. They're jumping like waist high. Pretty impressive.

Labor Day

Genevieve asked to go to the zoo for her birthday, so we headed over today. We thought about going Saturday but Spencer has a gymnastics class at noon and it is still so hot here that an afternoon trip would have been miserable. so we headed out first thing this morning and had a lovely time. The kids don't know it, but they are outgrowing our little Greenville Zoo. Hopefully wherever we move has a bigger zoo that we can show them and blow their minds away by how many more exhibits there can be. But for now they love our beloved tiny zoo here and we had a lovely day. 

 Chloe's all about taking selfies. She is ridiculous about smiling for the camera. She says cheese and then doesn't smile, but if she can see herself she is all grins.

I'm super proud of this picture. I painted the paint-by-number and it took awhile to get around to making the frame, but i finished it and now I'm going to make three more for my other ones that have this similar mountain lake or water sort of theme so I can put them all together on a big wall. I love finishing a project and liking it even better than I imagined. That's certainly not always the case, but I have pretty solid woodworking skills these days and I love good results.

 I take Chloe to the park just me and her these days and it's like going back to new mom days almost, except so much less stress because now I'm experienced. And she's not a first child, so she's super capable and independent and loves to go do her own thing. Not that first children can't be those things, but there's certainly some traits that seem to develop younger in the kids further down the line. I don't have any pictures, but we've been going hiking together once a week too and she is the best hiking buddy. We have an awesome time.

It's super quiet around here

I sent the three older kids off to school with their dad this morning and headed out for a run with Miss Chloe in my new jogging stroller. It was awesome! She loved it. It's way more of a workout to run with her. I'm sure I'll be sore in weird places tomorrow. But it's so novel to be able to run in the morning. I've been running at night for years, and I love that, but it's so great to have my run out of the way first thing. There's so much more freedom than I've had for years with just one kid at home. It's pretty amazing. Bill is laser-focused on finishing this semester, but it wouldn't break my heart scheduling wise to have Aaron in this fully day preschool all year. It's pretty amazing. I don't know what options will be offered elsewhere. I hardly dare write that though. I'm not in the game of forecasting finish dates anymore. We'll finish when we finish and it will all be good

Bill went to the temple with the youth on Saturday and midday I took all four kids to the lake to go swimming. It was packed with recently returned college students, but we had a great time. This is the lone picture I got of Chloe giving me a sand massage. I guess my leg needed to be exfoliated. 

This is a wonderfully beautiful sight, our new to us washer before we put the dryer back on top of it. I ran a load first to see if the hoses were tight enough and if it all worked. They needed some tape, so we fixed that, and now we're good to go. I didn't particularly appreciate having to get a new washer, but this process went ridiculously smooth. I tried two local thrift stores first to check their selection, then headed towards Greenville and struck out at one place that was closed, but the next place I went not only had a washer in my price range, but they loaded it in my van for me and when I came home I discovered that it was not just similar but exactly the same as the one I previously had, just a bit newer, and so I could switch the lids out and already have clamps setup to attach the dryer back on. I was sure we'd have to buy wood and build a platform for the dryer to sit on because they of course wouldn't match anymore. But we had a Kenmore and this is a Whirlpool and they have the same parent company, so same parts. I like the digital countdown timer too. Otherwise they're about the same, but it's nice to have that timer.

Aaron on his first full day of school. He was so excited and he absolutely loved it. He's already an early riser, so it's not hard to be ready on time, and he is just thrilled to be at the same school as the older two and to be able to ride the bus home. All his 4-year old dreams have come true.

Oh goodness I love my rainbow family. So many different colorings. Though if Chloe were in the picture, she and Spencer look uncannily similar with their piercing blue eyes and blonde hair. Love my clan.

We got Aaron some cleats and shinguards in preparation for his first year of soccer. I told him to strike a pose. Haha! He regularly decks himself out and happily runs around the house kicking his minature ball. Bill is actually going to coach his team, so good times will be had by all.

Chloe was sure we were going to buy her a pair of cleats. Sorry baby, they don't come in baby size 6.

This picture makes me laugh. Genevieve is doing better now, but the first few days of school she looked like the walking dead getting off the bus. She couldn't muster a smile the first day of school when she got home.

And my ever photogenic Aaron taking selfies with me.

Chloe is currently napping and my house is silent. I can't remember it being like this in recent memory. It's a breath of fresh air I needed, time to relax and regroup and be more available and on top of things when my clan comes back home.

First Day of School!

It's story time. Today is the first day of school. Spencer and Genevieve are SO excited. They've been looking forward to it for days. Spencer is in second grade and Genevieve is in first. And not pictured is Aaron, who is devastatingly sad this morning because it's not his first day of school. That will be Wednesday, and it will be a huge day for him because instead of the half-day preschool at a local Baptist church that we originally had him signed up for, Aaron is going to be attending full-day 4K at our elementary school with his older siblings, and he is ecstatic about it. But he wishes it started today. 

This all came about late last week. Thursday night we headed to back to school night. This is our third year at this school and I know and love so many people there. One happens to be the principal. We got to be friends through Spirit Night every month at Chick Fil A. She has a daughter Genevieve's age and a toddler that's close to Chloe's age. Turns out this year her daughter is in Genevieve's class, so we saw each other and started chatting and it came up that a spot had opened up in the 4K class just that afternoon. It didn't take long for Bill and I to decide that it would work GREAT for Aaron. He would jump at the chance to go to the elementary school. I had a glowing recommendation for the program from another friend of mine. And it's a big leap to all-day, but I think he'll thrive. He's so social and he could really use the structure he'll get there. 

So away we went. He qualifies because since we're doing the PhD we qualify for all the government programs. I'll appreciate the day that's not the case, but they don't pay PhD students well! So Friday he got screened and we took him to the school to meet his teachers and got him all signed up for the bus and lunches and registered. It was a whirlwind day, the last day before school started to get this all done. But he's in and excited and in two days he'll start with a half day then go full-day starting Friday. 

And I find myself a bit blown away to go from four kids at home all summer, with plans to have two gone and one where I had to do a drop off and pickup daily, to suddenly having them all gone until 3:25 every day and I decided to let them ride the bus home in the afternoons, so I don't even have school pickup. My schedule is suddenly wide open! Chloe and I can do whatever we want for hours and hours. I bought a jogging stroller off Facebook Marketplace this weekend because suddenly I have the flexibility to run in the mornings. What the what?? I haven't been able to do that since I only had Spencer. Weee! And because suddenly we don't have to pay preschool tuition, now I'm planning to sign the two biggest up for gymnastics and they're delighted. Basically it's an amazing change for us all.

 Chloe just about died when she realized that she couldn't go to school with her siblings. We mentioned first day of school pictures and she bolted to get dressed and her backpack on. Be still my heart! She is growing up too fast.

 Another run/bike in the books. Spencer is getting stronger and faster and every run he needs less help pushing up the hills.

 Sweet Chloe with her babies. She's such a baby lover.

 Library story time. All my kids on one door.

 Chloe usually naps on her brother's bed since he has his own room. But this day she decided she'd have nothing but to sleep on a huge pile of pillows and blankets and stuffies on Genevieve's bed. She's nothing if not opinionated. Haha!