Monday Musings

• I am so thankful that it's Labor Day and Daddy has an extra day off with us!  Yay!  The kids LOVE spending time with Daddy. 
• We FINALLY made it to Sunday School yesterday!  Another yay!  I've been wanting to get back to Sunday School for a long time, and finally I think we figured out how best to do it.  I got ready early and took the twins to Sunday School.  Dustin and Henry met us at church because neither one of them likes going to Sunday School.  I keep hoping one day Dustin will join the adults class.  I am in a young women's class which I love.  Henry would be in the same class as the twins, and he cries when I leave him.  I hate having to leave him twice (for Sunday School and church), so I think we'll try this way till he matures a bit more.  I had volunteered for nursery today, which was quite an adventure!  I had 6 kids and it got a bit wild, but we made it!  :-)   I ended up covered with cupcake icing before I left, but a good time was had by all the kids (I think!). 
• I ordered the kids' swing set.  I am really excited about it and can't wait to get it put together.  We also ordered the fire pole, and a telescope and ship wheel for Henry to have mounted at the bottom.  Dustin prompted me to go ahead and order it after Emilynn begged to go to a playground yesterday and play.  I think it will be a great addition to our yard!  :-)  I guess I'll have to fire up the grill and have an all-day gathering of all hands on deck to put it together.  I want to get it put together BEFORE hunting season starts or there will be no hope for it until January! 
• We went to eat Mexican after church, and I have to say, Henry is adorable eating his own chips & salsa now!  He's so funny, he will dip his chips and look so proud of himself!  He may also eat scoops of just salsa....the boy is ours for sure!   The "chip guy" knows to bring an extra cup of salsa so Henry can have his own.  I'm the only family member willing to share with him.  He also eats an order of beans, on his own.  Let's just say his church clothes immediately go in the wash when we get home each week.  I love our little family traditions!  I hope when our Mexican Restaurant that burned down re-opens soon kids can still eat free on Sundays, that will make me happy too!  :-)  I miss those cheap meals!  Oh well, the other restaurant has $3.95 lunch specials, which is what the kids get anyway.  I guess it all evens out. 
• I also ordered Henry a Puddle Jumper to try at the Y.  Have I mentioned how much we LOVE Puddle Jumpers?  They are THE best kids' flotation device ever.  I'm pretty sure my sister Alyssa used to have one, that's about when they started.  They are Coast Guard approved when they are actually on the child.  You can't just have them on the boat, but if they are wearing them, it's cool.  I like knowing they are an approved life saving device, and not inflatable like the water wings.  My kids play rough and those could potentially pop or lose air I imagine.  Anyway, Amazon has some great deals on Puddle Jumpers right now, I got Henry's for just $17.  The cheapest one I saw was $15.95 (after I ordered the $17 one!).  The price depends on the designs.   I paid much more for Carson & Emilynn's- like $25-$30 each in Bass Pro Shop and Target, so Amazon's prices are great!   Check them out!  :-)  Oh, and since we're talking saving money, Walmart has their beach towels on sale too.  We got a couple new ones because the kids wanted character ones.  They were only $7 for Jake and the Never Land Pirates and Doc McStuffins.  The generic ones are even cheaper, some as low as $3.  I stocked up last year as well since I knew we'd need them for the beach.  If you swim year round like we do, it's a good buy! 
• We got our soccer schedule over the weekend.  We have games or practice every Saturday until November.  Emilynn's doing great with it.  Carson is hit or miss, as usual.  I told Dustin I wasn't signing him up for anything else!  Not until he asks and is truly interested.  He did ask to play soccer, but once we get there is shy and only goes out there a couple times to kick the ball.  It's frustrating for me, because he enjoys it once he's out there.  It's just getting him out there.  It will be a long two months.  I won't let him quit, since he's already committed himself.  That was always our rule growing up, you don't quit once you start. 
• Dance starts back up this week.  Emilynn's been asking to go and one day told me, "You haven't been taking me to dance!".  She's also asked if dance is still closed.  I think she'll be glad to get back into it!  I am glad it's a later time this year, 6:15-7:15 on Wednesdays.  We used to be Thursdays at 5:15 and it was a big rush to get there.  Now we can hopefully have dinner first.  Also, she has a new teacher this time.  I don't know how Emmy will handle that, she's had the same teacher for two years, so she considers Ms. Robin HER teacher.  Her new teacher is great though, so I'm sure she'll win her over eventually.  At the end of last dance season, Emilynn told me she loved Ms. Robin because she's "sparkly".  I don't know what that meant but I thought it was sweet. 

We are geared up for another busy week!  We have swim lessons, dance class, and our first soccer game!  We are also starting preschool tomorrow- more on that tomorrow!