Come out, come out, wherever you are!

Aubrey is VERY good at hide and seek, so good, in fact, that she has made my heart race a few different times in the last week. The first time we discovered her 19-month-old talent at this game was right after dinner one evening last week. Greg was working on something out in the garage. Kari and Joel were out in the garage and playing out front, and I was inside cleaning up dinner with Aubrey inside with me. I realized at one point that the house had gotten really quiet, and any parent of little ones knows that's not usually a good sign. I looked around and didn't see her. I started calling her name--no response. I looked in all the rooms--nothing. Huh, strange. I went out to the garage and asked Greg if Aubrey had somehow made her way out there with them. Nope. Greg searched the front yard and then the back. Panic started setting in. We came inside, still calling her name, looking in all the nooks and crannies and favorite hiding spots. More panic. Could she have gone outside somehow without anyone knowing? Then finally, I looked again in the bathroom off our room and saw two little legs peeking out from behind a towel hanging on wall.

"Aubrey!" I said, relieved. "There you are!" Still not a peep, didn't move a muscle.

"Greg!" I called, "I found her!"

She still had not moved or made a sound. The panic was subsiding and the hilarity of the situation was rising. We stood there laughing, and she stood there completely still behind the towel, unwilling to reveal herself. I discovered the reason when I lifted the towel and saw my eyeliner drawn all over her guilty, serious little face.

The second time she hid I was able to find her quickly, but the third time caused some panic. We were getting ready to leave my parents' house after Blake birthday celebration, and we couldn't find Aubrey. Their house is a lot bigger than ours with many more places to hide. We were searching all over the house, once again calling her name over and over with no response. We hadn't been outside much, so we didn't really think she could have gotten out. Because she'd done this twice earlier in the week, I was fairly certain she was just hiding somewhere in the house, but when you've been searching for a few minutes, you start to consider all the possibilities. After running up and down stairs and looking in every corner, we finally found her. Blake spotted her crouching under Grandma's big desk in the family room, hiding behind the chair. She'd been watching us look for her and listening to us call her name the whole time without saying a word. Crazy girl! This time she wasn't really doing anything bad--just trying, unsuccessfully, to do her "business" in private, I think.

I know Kari and Joel were never that good at hiding (still aren't), so it makes me wonder what we're in for with this one! Oh boy!

Adjustments

This is what I've been witnessing every day after Kari gets home from school.

She runs inside, hangs up her backpack, and then she and Joel run outside and swing and talk until I call them in for lunch. It's so cute. Today was Kari's long day (normally she's done at 11am, but every other Wednesday she stays until 1:15pm), and Joel kept asking when we were going to pick her up. Kari seems to be enjoying her class and her teacher, and we're really thankful for that. We're still not quite adjusted to this new school schedule, but I'm sure we'll all be "in the groove" and settled into our routines soon.

Last days of summer

Took some photos of the kids playing outside earlier this week. I guess it's officially fall now (even though it's 85 degrees out), but it was officially summer at the time.

For the record

I caught a cold a few weeks ago that, for the first time in years, did NOT turn into a sinus infection! Wha-hoo! I'm finally seeing the benefits of that miserable surgery 6 months ago.

Catch up

When I wrote that title I couldn't help but think of the latest joke the kids think is SO funny:
"What did the mustard say to the hot dog during the race? Try to ketch-up!"

Besides telling silly and stupid jokes that often don't make any sense, this is what the kids have been up to lately.

• Kari played in the soccer Jamboree. She came off the sidelines at one point because she was hot and tired and wanted to be done (it was a hot day, I'll give her that), but once I told her that only kids who play in the game get an after-game snack, she went back and finished the game. So far there is no competitive soccer drive in Kari, but she says she likes it and does seem to enjoy herself, as long as it's not 90 degrees out.
• My carpets have been cleaner this week now that Kari is tall enough and strong enough to use our vacuum. She begs me to let her vacuum. :)
• We've been doing some reading. I love the sight of all the kids reading with Daddy, and it was so cute to see Joel reading with Aubrey in the rocker in her room this morning.
• Kari and Joel have been working hard on mud pie soup (in the wheelbarrow). The nice weather is allowing them to enjoy the backyard a little longer than usual.
• The last day before Kari went to school we took a trip to the zoo to visit the new lions. We brought my friend and old OSU roommate, Kelly, with us which was fun. She's a kid magnet, and even though it had been a long time since we'd seen her, they loved her and all wanted her attention, even Aubrey.

First day

Here is our proud kindergartener.

And one with her brother and sister. Had to be quick to get Aubrey in there.

Kari was ready bright and early, excited for her first day. And I was teary. I realized last night as I was reading the school's parent handbook that wasn't going to be able to walk her into her classroom, and that upset me. Because of parking/bus logistics, the school asks parents to just pull up to the curb, drop kids off, and pull on out (heartless, don't you think?). When I pulled up, the principal was standing there waiting to greet students and send them to where they need to go, so it wasn't as if I was just leaving her standing on the sidewalk alone, but it still just didn't feel right. Kari hopped out, and after a cheerful wave and a happy"good-bye, Mom!" I pulled away from the school and sobbed all the way home--a blubbering mess. Had to have a quick recovery, though, because we had an important mission to accomplish. We had to find a new backpack for Kari. This morning we discovered a huge gaping hole near the bottom (not sure how that happened but very inconvenient on the first day of school). I safety pinned it with a promise to remedy the situation while she was gone. What could have been an impossible mission (have you seen the stores this week? No more back-to-school. It's all about Halloween now.) turned out to be not so bad. We didn't find a princess backpack like she requested, but we did find a pretty blue one that Joel said Kari would like. And it was on clearance--even better! Kari was just as happy when we picked her up as she had been when we dropped her off. She had a great morning and can't wait to go back. Oh, and she loves the new backpack.

Today was all about Kari, but I'm really looking forward to having some time with just Joel and Aubrey at home. I promised them we wouldn't run errands all morning like we did today. They did great, but it wasn't exactly the fun, special morning I intended it to be.

I think it's gonna be ok

Kari and I went to her new school this morning for a preliminary screening and to meet her teacher. I have been anxious about this visit, considering the last time we were at her school (last spring for kindergarten round-up), Kari hated it and sobbed for 45 minutes after we got home because she didn't want to go to kindergarten. We've worked hard trying to prepare Kari for this new experience and have talked a lot about her new school, trying to change her mind and help her not be so scared. Today's visit went very well, even better than I expected. Kari responded to their questions and did what was asked of her. She got to see her classroom and the cubby where she'll put her backpack and jacket. She let the teacher hold her hand and show her the different areas of the room. The teacher talked with her for a while and at the end gave her a "special delivery" envelope to tote to and from school (kind of a message/mail system for communication between parents and teacher), and after I'd talked with the teacher, too, we came home. No trauma, no tears. Yeah!

This afternoon I pulled all the papers out of the envelope to sort through them, and I found this:

I remembered hearing Kari ask where her scissors were right after we got home and saw her working on something but didn't think much about it. She's always busy working on some little project these days. She wrote this little note and slipped it into the envelope without a word to me about it. You see, the teacher had told Kari when she gave her the envelope that she really likes it when students draw pictures and write letters at home and bring them in the envelope for her. I think our little kindergartener is getting excited to go to school. I'm so glad. And I think she already likes her teacher. We'll see how Tuesday goes--for me and for her!

Update on the state of things around here

I want to say thanks to those of you who prayed for us, thought about us, and wrote words of encouragement in the last few weeks since the miscarriage. We are doing better. I'm feeling good once again, and emotionally, I'm feeling much more stable. We are so thankful for the friends and family God's given us and for our church. You have all been so supportive and caring, and I have truly felt the arms of God surrounding me. Thanks for your love and care for our family.

I'm grateful those weeks are behind us, and that I have some things to look forward to:

• Fall (my favorite season)--leaves changing, apple-picking, the pumpkin patch, soup, cozy fires...
• Soccer games (lots of them)--her first official game is next Saturday
• Kari starts kindergarten next Tuesday (we meet her teacher tomorrow morning). We are entering the exciting world of school.

Things are getting busy--but busy in a good way.

Fishers of trout

The kids caught their first fish when we went to the trout farm this weekend. They practiced casting earlier this summer when we were at the coast, but this time they actually caught fish. It's pretty much impossible not to catch fish at this place. Those fish are just waiting to take your bait and hook.

Kari holding "Gloria" (that's what she named her fish). You should have seen Kari's face and heard her gasp of shock as she watched "Gloria" get sliced open and gutted.


Joel holding "fish-of-many-names" (he kept changing the name--Kenneth, Daddy, Sam...). He was pretty excited to hold his fish once it was in the net.

They drew pictures of their rainbow trout later that day, and we ate them last night. There sure are a lot of bones in those tiny little fish! Joel liked his trout ok, but Kari took one taste of "Gloria" and decided fish wasn't her favorite.

Soccer Practice

I remembered the camera this week, but I discovered two things. One, that I need more practice with sports photography. All my photos of Kari are blurry and out of focus. Two, I can't snap photos and watch my other two children at the same time. Aubrey kept running out into the field with all the big kids, and Joel ran off to the bathroom (port-a-potty) without my knowing and was all the way across the field before I noticed. So, with the safety of my children in mind, I may have to limit my photography. We'll see if I can get better at multi-tasking.
We only have one more practice before the jamboree (still not sure what that means, but I think they do some scrimmaging, which means they need to sort of know what they're doing), so we'll see how much Coach Greg and Coach Mike can accomplish in one little 45 minute practice. These kids are NOT ready to play a real game. It's going to be hilarious.

This how Joel entertained himself for a while this week during soccer practice. Joel, Aubrey, and I don't have to go, but it's kind of fun with the nice weather and all. Once it gets rainy we'll probably just go to the games and be cold and wet once a week instead of twice a week. (BTW, for those who have asked, we still don't have a game schedule, but we do know the games are on Saturday mornings)

Blurry Kari running (her friend Ellie is in the yellow shirt)

Miss run-out-in-the-field-every-chance-I-get Aubrey

Working on some skills