September Roundup

1) Madame Lacey Bones

This will never get old. The children have found her sleeping in their unmade beds, switching sour laundry to the dryer, and practicing piano, among many other things, and now they take turns moving her around the house. It's the best $40 I've ever not wasted.  

2) Quick dinners

Autumn life in full swing means we have zero afternoons this week with nothing on the calendar. This means I'm prepping a lot of quick and easy dinners that can be sent in a bowl with children on their way off to practice or church or scouts or an appointment or babysitting gig. This is a one dish family favorite and takes less than 3 minutes of prep time.

Roasted sausage, carrots, and potatoes

Slice carrots into 1 inch chunks 

Peel and cut up 2 sweet potatoes into 1 inch chunks 

Quarter a yellow onion

Slice 2 sausages into 1 inch chunks. I usually do a beef link and a Polska Kielbasa. (Shown above) but sometimes I will use fun sausages from sams club like the beef habanero or chicken spinach and asiago links. Everything is good. 

Toss all ingredients in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and some kosher salt. 

Spread out in a single layer on a large jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper. 

Sprinkle with a little seasoning salt. 

Roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring once so the sausage doesn't burn. 

Yum. 

3) Corbin's First Pack Meeting

We've got the greatest of the greats leading these boys. Corbin's first pack meeting was a cowboy theme complete with bandanas for all the kids, stick horse relays, cowboy comedy poetry, popcorn, cotton candy, and awards on papers with burned edges. 

Corbin received a twilight camp patch, and earned belt slides for digging in the past, running with the pack, and paws of skill. He just finished up his bobcat this week and receive the pin st the next pack meeting. 

4) Tween Hair

Hair suddenly matters to Reese and she asks me to style it for her almost daily.  I have a few friends who have this skill. I'm...still learning. Apparently, "half up with the top Dutch braided back into a top knot bun ad the bottom half curled" is the style. 

5) mini Ardis. 

The kids all commented that Sloane looked just like our friend, Ardis, last Sunday, with her new hair cut (I trimmed the mullet), denim cuffed sleeves, and flip flops. I agree! They are both so cute.  Sloane had a little nursery friend tell her she needed to wear church shoes, lol. Getting any kind of shoes on Sloane at all is a battle I don't always have the energy to fight. Corbin's old rubber flip flops were her choice. Sometimes, she wears a ski cap and American girl doll sunglasses and I'm ok with that too.  

6) Mrs BHS pageant 

I took Quincy on a date to support one of my YW participating in the Mrs BHS pageant. I just knew Q would love the talent performances, and I was right.

A few thoughts:

-Quincy asked "So what...is this like a...a leadership competition?" 

-Emily is graceful, stunningly beautiful, and her answer to the interview question was honest and thoughtful and showcased her drive and ambition. Her musical performance was great! She received first runner up. 

-the Emcee mentioned no less than 6 times that she did not win Mrs BHS during her pageant days. We found this to be hilarious and abbot of a game by the end of the night. But wow could she sing. We actually came home and downloaded one of the songs she sang because we liked her performance so much. 

-these girls LOVE Jesus. They are loud and proud about their Christianity and several of the talent performances we monologues and poetry/songabout Christlike love, showing kindness, and how much Jesus loves you.  They are bold about their faith and I admire that they recognize that all of their gifts come from God. 

7) Soren on the Big Bike

It didn't take long for Soren to realize he could move much faster on a bike with bigger wheels. So he helped himself to Corbin's old 16 inch bike and now he zooms all over the cul de sac and island. A few times a week all the moms of preschool boys gather out front and the kids play and play and play. 

8) photo shoot. 

My friend, Elizabeth, owns a clothing boutique in her home. She asked me to model some dresses, leggings, and sweaters for her website. It was 100 degrees outside, but we had fun and I ended up buying one of the dresses because it was just so comfortable. It was fun to model so many clothes I normally wouldn't have tried on, and Elizabeth is so good at making me feel wonderful and not like the tired and non-stylish mom I realistically am. 

9) BUNCO! 

Primrose Lane is the greatest. These ladies are a hoot. We play and eat and laugh until we're crying. I won for most bunco dad and got a cute lazy Susan that Mary picked out. 

10) story time

A few years ago, a dozen moms from church would all meet up for story time once or twice a week. I think I might be the only one of those women who still has children at home during the day. Now they are working, running, kayaking, taking classes, and volunteering in the school and community. I sometimes (daily) find myself missing the simplicity and slower pace of the days when I only had very young children. I really thrived in that zone, and am really struggling to keep up with the hours of homework needs to be everywhere phase. Last week at the library was a gift of a reminder that while I have things like practice schedules and performances and teacher conferences and which internet filters to use and teaching children to budget wisely and hours of helping study for tests and reading math instructions out loud so the assignment can be understood, and advising/listening to solutions and reactions friend drama, and the hustle to work out transportation to and from school each day (breathe), I still get to go to story time at the library, and have someone to push on the swings at the park. Oh I am so very lucky and thankful to still have a place in this phase. 


11) um let's talk about how much more fun it is to watch soccer on the big fields! I feel like it's a reward for the years of cute little dog piles and "no buddy, our goal is that way!"  

Ok. Watching the U5 players is still a total blast. They're just too cute.  Soren loves soccer, and has an aggressive drive that we did not see coming! He is not afraid to go after that ball and take it. 

The U-9 big field really wowed me the first time Aaron and I switched kids and I got to watch Corbin play. Finally! Positions! Refs! Goalies! Now we're cookin' with gas! 

12) ENT and Audiology follow up 

Q has a new audiologist at the ENT office and her bi-annual tests shows some improvement in her low frequency hearing. Hooray! Her ENT wants to remove her T tubes in about 3 months. I'm praying this is the last set she will need and that the holes will close and heal well. 

13) Sscripture Time

I felt a lot of love for my family the other night in this moment, so I snapped a pic. 

14) Sunday was our last day (we think) with baby W.  I know we did something immeasurable good for this precious child, but our hearts ache and we're grieving. Reese is taking this particularly hard and cried for several hours before church on Sunday morning. I cried with the kids too, but saved my super ugly cries to spill in solace. On Monday, I packed up Sloanie and went for a long bike ride with her in the trailer. We did some laps at the lake, passing Bella vista and Metfield ward stroller groups and speed walking groups and then the runners on wishing spring trail. We rode along McKissick creek up to Crystal Bridges and wandered around the new fly dome. I think I ended up riding between 9 and 10 miles. We got out at the dome to explore and at the park to play. The weather was amazing and the peace was good. Being with my Sloane was fun. She was delightful and surprisingly loved the bike trailer. 

14) new calling 

I was released from Young Women Personal Progress Leader and assistant advisor two weeks ago and I have to say I actually begged to not be released. I loved that calling and I loved serving the young women of the sugar creek ward. They are full of life and goodness. I love them. All of them. 

I accepted a new calling in Sunday school. I've never served as a Sunday school teacher before, so it will be a learning experience for me. The kids though... well I already have a heart for them, as all of the girls were my Beehives in YW, and the boys were with me in primary. We're an incomplete group in the pic below, but these youth are great!  Two of them shared testimonies to our sacrament meeting congregation this Sunday and I was moved by their determination to do good, persevere,  by their bravery to share their experiences at a microphone to 200 people, and by the presence of the Spirit, brought by their words. Just wonderful! I think this bright group will teach me many things. 

15) music in the house

Violin practice is currently a chore to Reese, but I hope she discovers a new level of joy and fulfillment in playing an instrument and sticking with a commitment.  I love hearing her play. 

16) music in the house II

To satisfy a nagging request from Aaron, that I put off all last year to save myself transportation headaches, I grabbed up the last two open spots for piano lessons with Liz McCash.  Her personality and teaching style are very different from what my children have had previously, and the girls are still very intimidated by the formality of their lessons and progression in the books. I do enjoy hearing tiny fingers work scales over and over and over again and I think it serves both girls well by satisfying Reese's technical brain and balancing and challenging Quincy's creative brain. 

Currently, neither of the girls put up a fight to practice piano. Reese lacks time between homework and reading assignments, but gets it done. She plays carefully and timidly until she has something perfected. 

Quincy plays loud and confidently, but dislikes correction. She dislikes repetition and wants to move through the books faster than her skills are currently building. 

I think both girls are wonderful musicians. 

I hope to get Corbin into lessons after soccer season ends, if a spot opens up. 

17) Tween Party

Reese invited several kids over for a bonfire/hot dog roast on the island, and outdoor movie in my parents' backyard on Friday evening. It was so hot outside, the kids opted to play games indoors while Aaron grilled the hot dogs, then have a quick fire, just long enough to make s'mores and wait for the sun to set. Once it was dark, they watched Napoleon Dynamite  and had cookies and root beer floats. This was such a mellow and kind group. Emma F, Finley S, Bradley A, Sam M, and Reese. 

18) Kids Who Care Service Club

Quincy's friends have a service club and she joins them each year to help host a charity carnival. This year, they are raising funds (goal is $2,000) for Nothing Down About It to create welcome baskets to give in the hospital to parents welcoming infants with Down Syndrome. The humanitarian hearts of these children are remarkable. They do good for the world and it's inspiring and hope restoring. 

19) Chicken Cordib Bleu 

The other day I felt adventurous and made chicken Corbin bleu from scratch. They sliced beautifully and the children called them "chicken spirals". 

20) Annual Foster Home ReEvaluation

We passed. I'm glad it's over. So many hours gave been  invested in collecting paperwork. It's a necessary thing, but it's a pain and a time suck. Packet after packet of "please list and describe the personality of each child (including bio's) placed in your home this year." Repeated a zillion times with "please list all extra curricular activities, interests, and hobbies of each, challenges of each, strengths of each, etc...", provide a physical and DHS paperwork and immunization records for each person in the home, 

Taxes, pay stubs, fire drill time stamps and Med logs, Home and auto insurance, and more. 

But we are now open again fair another year, so it's very worth it. The shortage of available foster homes in Arkansas is desperate. This work is...a lot of work and has proved to be emotionally and physically challenging for me. But the concept is really so simple. Some of Heavenly Father's most precious children need help, and I have he means to help them. So many times I've received a call just needing a bed and a shower for a child or teen for one night or two while their aunt or grandparent gets approved/background check for foster kinship care.  A bed, a few meals, a shower, a bedtime story, maybe a lice treatment, and someone to remind them they are of great worth.  

Even if we only stay open for emergency placements like these, the children are important and so is the work. 

The paperwork is the worst. 

Loving the children is so very easy. 

Ok, there's a dent in our September happenings! More to come!