Caffeine makes the world go 'round...

If there is one thing that you can count is, it's that there is surely going to be some major, stressful change in the lives of those of us whose lives are summarized in these blogposts.  I think sadly we have the genes that need to shake things up from time to time...I'm taking a new job mid-month that I am really excited about, doing something totally different from a subject-matter perspective from what I've done before, but applying a lot of the skills I've learned over the years to better use.  We'll see how it goes...it's a risk but one worth taking at this stage.  S's position and schedule are working out fine, though not much time off anymore with the constant schedule changes and extra overtime work. 

There is still a ton to be done on the home front, but we're whittling down the list.  S finished the beam repair on the back of the house, has burned through all the wood of the mega branches that came down during the spring storms, and is staying on top of the copious amount of leaves/mowing that this yard demands.  We've been to IKEA and each kid has their own dresser, the guest room is now longer strewn with office papers, stacksof books, and outgrown kiddie gear, and the playroom is now my office...all set for working more from home with this new position.  The front room will soon actually be fully converted from a dining room to a sitting room with hopefully a new sofa coming this week.  It's truly never-ending.  Next on deck: stairs down from the back door, paint the sitting room and the kids' room, reno the downstairs bath, art for the kitchen, etc. etc. etc. One day at a time.  

Z&C are settled well into the new school which I am so thankful for, but we've kept in touch with some of the folks from the last one and have playdates from time to time to keep the friendships going.  Caleb's asthma is manageable now and we've only been back in to the doc once, but at least now he knows to ask for his "bubbles" even at night when he's having a hard time (oral steroids via nebulizer).  Zoe says to me as we are redirected from the scene of an accident on the way home last week, as I tried to explain what an accident was, "Is that like when you lose your job in these hard times, or get a spider stuck in your throat?" ... "Er, Zoe, why yes. It's just like that."  Caleb likes to string together the bits and pieces of stories he has heard to make his own and is still keen to pull things apart and put them together.  Z can almost write her name, though usually the Z and E are flipped or the letters are out of order, but not bad for a 3.5 year old.  C loves to ask me, "What's that in French?" for different things we'll see...like, a yellow digger on the side of the road, or how to say "Lighting McQueen" in French.  I need to brush up on my vocab.  He's been asking for soccer, so maybe we'll find a winter league for them.  I can't believe winter (and Christmas!!) are almost upon us again.



Magic noodles are still a hit, as is the challenge of figuring out chopsticks.

I was surprised at his insistence to keep on with the chopsticks...the same tenacity that'll wear down his momma when he asks 300 x for another "leather fruit" (fruit leather) or vegetable juice or saying "Mommy, do you have another snack in the car for me?" when my stash has run dry on the way home from school...which is an 8 minute drive, mind you.

Magic noodles were followed by Maggie Moos ice cream...neon blue cotton candy with choco sprinkles for Z, and cheesecake ice cream with snocaps for C.  We subjected them to over an hour of portraits and picking Christmas card poses, and the follow-on bribe for good behavior was ice cream...a small price to pay for the angels they were at the photo shoot!