So where have I been?

Well, I'll tell you.  Right here.  Same ol', same ol'.  Except we went without an internet connection for a while.  Which isn't actually a bad thing.  With smart phones, you rarely need a laptop for anything... unless you absolutely MUST print something... or write a blog post.  And since that isn't really a need, nothing really lost, right?

We started another school year last Monday.  We had a three week break this summer, which I totally wish could have been WAY longer, but the down-time seems to make the kids' forget anything I've drilled into their poor little heads, so three weeks is probably about the max time I'll ever be scheduling for a break again!

Here they are looking all cute and shiny on our first day!

They all made their own signs. 

 

 

 

 

 

(I absolutely love/hate that my little guy was able to write his own name for his sign this year.  *sniffle*)

 



We don't actually do any school "work" per se on the first day.  Just make our signs, take pictures, get all our new stuff in our school boxes, and fill out the "About Me" booklets - those are my fav thing about the first day of school!  We started them last year, and it's fun to see what's changed in a year!

Here's our little room the night before we started school!  I still have some stuff that needs laminating, so it will go up when that gets done, but I was pretty excited to get the Sock Monkeys this year.  They're really cute!

As if starting school wasn't enough excitement, we decided to delve back into the world of pet ownership last week.  We've gone back and forth on this for a while, but we've spent the last two years in this apartment.  Life goes on, and our kids are getting older no matter what we hope to do "when we get out of here".  And then this irresistible little darling popped up on Craigslist, so this is another small step toward living the life we hope for someday.

Meet Abby! 

She's an 8 month old miniature boxer with more energy than Little Stinky on sugar.  She's smart and strong-willed, but small enough to be man-handled by myself when necessary, so I'm hoping that things work out better with her that it did with our short-term stint as kitten owners.  We hope to try that again in the near future, too, but one pet at a time.  So far Fuzzy has been the main one in charge of walking her and feeding her, and we think that responsibility will be a really great thing for him.

The Hombre is slamming out playhouses right now, which is always exciting.  He'll have three brand new ones installed by the end of this month, but the most amazing thing he's done maybe EVER is actually sitting in our boys' bedroom right now. 

We still stand in their doorway and gape at it.  The kids think it's the greatest thing ever (and I tend to agree!).

We got it installed the weekend that the kids started their break, so they've had some time to adjust to the novelty, but the girls still like to sleep in the boys' room on the weekends.  You don't have to be loaded to have neat stuff for your kids, just have an incredibly talented playhouse designer/builder for a husband!  When the Hombre tells/shows people what he does in addition to building houses, they often say, "Oh, I bet your kids have something absolutely amazing in your backyard!"  Well, this isn't in the backyard, but at least they do have something amazing now!  We figure we'll get to the girls' in another year or two.

In the three weeks we had off I actually had some time to be all crafty and do some painting.  The kids needed dressers, and IKEA has those great little unfinished wood TROFAST chests.  We bought four, and in two days, I had them all painted. 

 

 

Now the kids each have one and there's a lot less confusion over where clothing is supposed to go, what belongs to who, or where a particular item went.  WIN for everyone!  Including myself, because those three things I just mentioned were enough to make me lose my mind some days!

I'll share my latest paint and crafting adventures later!