September in Review

 In September, our schedule took shape and we all felt a little less like untethered balloons in our new home.  We did have one last weekend of vacation over Labor Day weekend.  We started it out with a trip to Lanark which is a nature preserve about 10 minutes from our house.  We toured the exhibits and walked a few trails.  As the boys were re-reading The Hobbit around this time, or maybe they weren't, but giant spiders were on my mind, the millions of spider webs we found along the trail elicited many screams and scurries...much to Eric's chagrin.  But, perhaps he shouldn't take sticks and deliberately disturb the webs??? The man took all of our lives in his hands.  We were barely on speaking terms as we left the preserve, but maybe that was because my throat was sore from screaming....

 The week after Labor Day, we fell into schedule which meant we actually had to leave the house multiple times a week.  It is crazy that some people do that EVERY DAY!! 

 We have been thrilled with everything the kids have produced from their art classes. Along with art, we have piano, Boy Scouts, American Heritage Girls, PE, Chess, and various sports related events.  I know, not much compared to others.  And a few are done during the school day hours, so our evenings are pretty free of activities.  Except Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

 As we are out of the house all morning when the kids have art, the afternoons are spent reading until the neighbor kids get home from school.  Molly would like me to talk about this above picture.  I know I had requested Molly to do something in her room...probably tidy it although it looks relatively clean in this snap.  I heard voices and came in to find her and John listening to the reading CD that went along with this book.  Not a great story, but there it is.  I do love catching them reading.  Which you can probably tell from the multitude of pictures I take of that nature.

 One evening there was a free Broadway concert given in a park.  It just so happened, this concert coincided with a drop in temperatures.  We weren't quite prepared for the chillier weather, but we had a nice time all the same.  Especially when the opening measures of The Phantom of the Opera medley started and Will turns to me with a smile and goes: I can tell this is going to be gooooood!
(side note: the orchestral version of Hamilton is just not very good.  Not a surprise, really, but still a bit disappointing)

 Will drew this from a tutorial our art school provided for free. 

 With the children in scouting, patches are unavoidable.  For a brief few days, we thought we would sew them ourselves.  Eric broke out the sewing machine even.  The excitement was a bit short lived when we realized we had no idea what we were doing.  I broke out the needle and thread and spent an hour attempting to sew on a patch straight.  After two failed attempts, we decided to take it to the professionals.  Everyone is much happier.  That said, I should probably try to sew on Molly's joining patch.  Seems a bit silly to take in her vest for just one patch...what's an hour anyway?

 Dom is learning some culinary skills.  Namely, making macaroni and cheese.  As this is the regular lunch on Thursdays...it has come in pretty handy to have him at least get it started.  I should probably get him to wash the dishes after, too.  I really don't like cleaning out the pot after macaroni and cheese...

 Molly is keen to learn how to do her hair as well as her dolls.  I need to look up some youtube videos, though my braid did impress her for a period of time.  I'll take it!

 There was a period of several days where the kids ran sprints.  For fun.  I recorded most of them and it was neat to watch their form improve.  I really wish I had their energy and enthusiasm for running, too.

 A special treat for these two is taking a bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub.  Heck, it is a special treat for me, also.

 A scene from our park. 

 The boys worked on shading in the month of September.

 They really didn't enjoy it, and Dom asked to stop taking art.  However, now that they have moved to paint they are enjoying it a lot more and everyone is taking it next semester.  I was impressed with their shading. 

 Sometimes we take school outside.  Especially when John needs to be outside.

 Molly still would like to host a tea party every week.  It's funny, because it really doesn't take a lot of work.  We threw one together quite quickly after Mass one day just a few weeks ago which everyone enjoyed.  Granted, Molly is now informing me it wasn't quite what she expected.  She expects the Pioneer Woman's version...that's not happening anytime soon! 

 John with my camera...again.

 These pictures are a bit out of order, over Labor Day, we went back to Florida to attend a friend's wedding.  We farmed our kids out to three families who at least said they were thrilled to host them for the night.  And we had a lovely time at a beach wedding.  With other KU grads no less.  Though, they are slightly younger than us.  Something Eric probably should have thought of before attempting to strike up a conversation with them.  Ah well, we still borrowed their flag for a quick picture.

 I borrowed Dom's sweatshirt for that concert in the park.  Until he needed it.  Then, I probably borrowed John's body heat. 

 John wearing an old shirt of Eric's.  Handsome devil! 

And finally, mid-September, Eric and I attended the Air Force Ball.  We had a great time even if our table was situated in such a way that we couldn't see or understand the main speakers.  And we cleaned up pretty good, too!

Phew! I think that is all of our Fall.  Now, I need to get Eric to upload his pictures we I can share our SNOW DAY!!!!!