September Recap

It's October already.  September flew by in a flurry of football practices, piano lessons, art classes, orchestra, and back to school nights.

Football is definitely a big part of our lives in the fall.  Ben practices three nights a week and then has games on Saturday.  Sometimes the games are quite a distance away, so it is an all-day affair.  But Ben loves it, and always looks forward to both practices and games.  And David loves it too, so he takes him to most things.  

Ben was super excited when he scored the first touchdown in the first game of the season.  Way to go Ben!

 Look at how much bigger that boy is than Ben.  Yikes! 

 Ben's team was the home team.  It was a great victory!

Another exciting event in September was Sarah getting her long-awaited drivers license.  We are all happy about this!  It took a bit longer than expected, but I decided it is like potty training--it works best when they are ready.  And Sarah finally was ready.  Now we are in the midst of car shopping for a third car....

Kate is playing soccer again this fall.  It has been a bit of a rough season for her since most of her teammates from last year moved up to the premier league.  We weren't ready for that kind of commitment, so that meant that Kate had to play on a different team, with all new teammates that she didn't know.  Since Kate is such a social girl, she has mostly played soccer to hang out with her friends.  Normally Kate has no trouble making friends, so a new team didn't scare her terribly, but some of the girls have been less than nice to Kate, which has made for some tears and hard times.  But she is sticking with it, and I am proud of her for how she has handled herself and treated others, even when they are unkind to her. 

 

One night we hosted 16 teenagers for appetizers as part of the progressive dinner the kids had before Sadie Hawkins dance.  They were a fun group and I enjoyed making yummy appetizers that I don't normally get a chance to fix. 

I also did a Relief Society "Back-to-School" night for an Enrichment.  All the women came and got a schedule of classes, and then rotated through 8 mini classes.  We had History (history of our town), English (journaling), PE (starting an exercise program), Science (natural cleaning products), Technology (indexing and family history), Home Ec (cooking with vegetables), Social Studies (goal setting with children), Math (statistics of online missionary work).  All the classes turned out so great and we had such great teachers!  We had a little school lunch half way through served by "lunch ladies" wearing hair nets and aprons.  They were so cute!  We decorated all the tables with school supplies.  The whole night turned out really great!

September really did fly by.  I went to four different back to school events, a parent meeting for band, a parent meeting for debate, an orchestra orientation, dealt with electricians trying to fix our septic tank who kept not showing up, an appliance repair man who told me my washer is dying and fixing it would cost more than a new one, plus the regular schedule of driving to piano lessons, flute lessons, preschool, school, orchestra, violin lessons, football practice, soccer practice, soccer skills clinic, dance class, art class, and activity days.  Also, everyone took a turn being sick.  David got put into the bishopric this month, so he has been very busy with his new calling.  He spent a week in Idaho with his mom, who spent some time in the hospital.  It has been a busy, busy month.

There were days when it was too much for me.  Days that I decided I had more kids than I could manage.  Days that we were lucky to get fed.  Days when the driving and the laundry and the cooking and the keeping track of everyone's schedule was too much for my brain.  So many days that I was very tired from waking up at 5:30 a.m. to make breakfast for the girls before seminary, and then staying up late to proofread a paper or finally getting to the dishes.  I think about how I can streamline my schedule, or what we can cut out.  I debate all the time if the kids are doing too much and what activity that should we eliminate. 

I don't know for sure if we are doing it right.  But I do know that we are so blessed.  And I love being a mom and having each one of these kids in my life.  I am lucky that I get to stay home with them and be an integral part of their daily lives.  This weekend we all sat together and watched General Conference.  It was so great to be all together and escape from the demands of our busy lives.  The talks were inspiring, and I once again feel renewed and ready to start a new week.  Life is good.  We are blessed.