Summer - Week 13

August 20 - August 26

I'm still calling this a summer post, although some of our fall activities started up this week. So it was kind of a half and half week.

Aiden had his first Cub Scouts meeting of the year, which was really just a kick-off for popcorn sales. They don't charge dues in his troop, so they make a big push at popcorn time to cover the troop's expenses for the year. Fundraising is NOT my favorite thing to do.

Options orientation was also this week. We are going a different direction with Chase this year -- he will be attending a private homeschool program called FACE. We've been involved there for years, but he hasn't taken classes there for the last 3 years. He is extremely interested in culinary arts and they have a program there through Warren Tech. that he can take his Junior year, so we made the switch now.

And with Conner having graduated, that left Brenna and Aiden in Options this year.BUT...we also have a new Kindergartner. Zane is beyond thrilled and has counted down the days all summer until he could attend.

Declan was NOT thrilled to have Zane going off without him. They've been doing pretty much everything together for almost 4 years now. But we tried to convince him it will be fun to be the big brother at home to Liam.

Aiden is beginning 4th grade

Brenna is in 8th grade this year

We did get to go out and enjoy the summer heat one day, at a park with friends.

This is the ONE smile I got; he does not care for the swing and wanted out immediately after I snapped the picture

I got to get out and have some me-time this week. I had my Bible Study one morning, Book Club one evening and scrapbooking another evening. In my book club, we just discussed "The Zookeeper's Wife" by Diane Ackerman. This was not one of my favorite reads and I had to force myself to finish it. Coming on the heels of "Unbroken", I wasn't really in the mood for another book about World War II. And this one wasn't nearly as well-written and engaging. It was interesting to get another perspective from the war. This book was set

in Poland, from the viewpoint of the wife of a zookeeper. They hit many, many Jews during the war. I learned a lot, but still did not enjoy the writing style.

Next we are moving on to a book set here in Colorado, in the early 1900s, so I'm excited about that.

This was Conner's 1st official week of classes at CSU. He had been waitlisted for one class, so he had to do a little switching around of his schedule. That resulted in scrambling to find another textbook, after he'd already ordered and picked up the books for his other classes. But he figured it out and got it taken care of. Just the first of many things he'll need to start doing on his own. Makes me so proud of him, but also a little sad. I can now understand why some mom feel a bit lost when their last child leaves the house. I still have plenty of people to take care of here at home, but it's a strange feeling to let one go and just sit back and wait until you're called on. I think, with homeschooling, I've gotten so used to being involved

in pretty much every aspect of my kids' lives and in helping them make decisions, that it'll take me awhile to get used to this new normal. Don't get me wrong -- it's all good. It's natural and wonderful for him to go and be on his own and learn and grow. But my momma's heart is still a bit sad at the ending of this stage of life.

It helped that Scott had some work in Ft. Collins on Saturday, so he was able to pick Conner up for a late lunch. I made him send me a picture ;)

Thank goodness for Facebook, so we've been able to keep up a little with Conner's life at CSU. He and some other students from his floor dressed in morphsuits in the school's colors and attended a volleyball game. Looks like they had fun.

Conner is the front green guy with yellow hat

Brenna is getting back into her drawing, which I love. She is so talented and I'm excited that her advanced art class is 2 periods long this year, to give her more time to draw. I've been looking for additional outside classes for her to take, but haven't had any luck yet.

Both Brenna and Chase helped with the church's food drive on Sunday morning.

On Sunday afternoon, we attended a BBQ for some of the church youth leaders. Scott has worked in the 2nd/3rd grade room for 4 or 5 years now. The hosts had an extremely large yard, with a pool and trampoline so the kids had a great time.

Summer 2012 - Week 12

August 13 - August 19

This week we worked on state testing. This year 3 of the kids had to take them: Chase, Brenna and Aiden.

We decided to have a nice family dinner before Conner left, so we ate at Cinzzetti's. Here we are waiting for a Table for 9:

Wednesday was the day!! Official move-in day for Conner at CSU. We arrived about 10:00 and started the process. It was very smooth -- the school has it down to a science. He got checked in and received the keys to his room and mailbox. Then the sorority girls helped carry everything to his room.

His hallway has a space theme. This is his door:

We met his roommate, Daniel, and started unpacking and helping him set up his computer, etc.

We had lunch together -- one of the things I love at CSU is that parents eat free with their student. So I hope to pop up there every once in awhile for a quick visit over lunch or dinner.

Then the students began their afternoon schedule -- they kept them busy getting to know one another and the campus. Scott and I headed back home. I only teared up a few times. That day, anyway.

As part of RAMWelcome week, CSU hosted a picnic and carnival for the incoming students and their families on Thursday evening. I loved the chance to take the kids to campus and show them where their big brother would be living for the next year.

Ram pride!

Aiden on the bungee trampoline. He did some great flips

This picture doesn't do justice to how many people were there.

Final goodbyes were said. I know he's only an hour away but it's still hard to realize one of your babies doesn't live at home anymore!

We are so proud of Conner and know he'll have a great year!

Scott and I really try to make it a priority to have date night at least twice a month. I really like to find new-to-us restaurants for us to try. This week we ate at "Fire on the Mountain" -- a wings place. It was very casual and we sat out on the patio, in perfect weather. The wings were delicious, too.

My best friend since 6th grade was in town for a visit (she lives in Florida now), so I got to spend Saturday with her. Yay! It was her birthday weekend, so her husband surprised her with setting up pedicures for us. It was so nice catching up!

On Sunday, we went to a picnic with some of our favorite people. We had good food, fun and volleyball. This is Chase just hanging out: it cracked me up that you could only see his head sticking up.

Liam kept making this face and thought he was so, so funny.

The other thing we did this week is move the boys' rooms around. Chase is getting his own room -- Conner's old room. Zane moved in with Aiden, so Declan and Liam have more space now. They did a great job decluttering and getting rid of things they don't need anymore. If only their rooms would stay as clean as they are now!

Summer 2012 - Week 11

August 6 -August 12

I went into this week knowing it would be Conner's last full week before leaving for college. I started to feel melancholy, but didn't want him to see it, so I tried to keep things business as usual around here. He finished up his last shifts at Chick-fil-A, at least until Christmas break, and had several goodbyes with friends. It was so funny -- he'd leave, saying, "Me, Adrian and Jakob are going on our last hike." Then the next day, "We're having our last breakfast together" and so on. I hope he made some amazing memories.

On Monday evening, we used our coupons from the library reading program for our annual trip to Lakeside. In the past, we've always gone with friends but this year we were on our own. Chase was a good sport and tagged along, even though he didn't want to go on the rides.

This was Liam's first-ever amusement ride

Declan started out super-excited to ride the Frog Hopper:

Once in the air, though, this is what the smile turned into:

I could read his lips, saying, "I want to get off", but he didn't cry and hung in until the end. And didn't ride it again. Ha-ha. I couldn't help laughing during the whole thing.

On Tuesday, we went with a friend and her kids to a new park in Centennial. This park is AMAZING -- it's huge, with water features and tons of fun things for the kids to climb and slide.

Unfortunately, it was packed, so we didn't stay long this time. I hope to return after school starts in the area.

Afterward, we took advantage of IKEA's kids eat free on Tuesdays

On Thursday, I took Chase to the DMV so he could take his driving permit test. We arrived mid-morning, hoping it would be a quieter time. Yeah -- not so much. We were informed other area DMVs had recently closed, so this one had become one of the busiest in the state. So...five hours later....he had his permit. It was an incredibly long wait, but he was very good company and we kept each other amused.

I can't believe I have another driver in the house!

On Friday, Scott and I took Conner shopping for stuff he'd need at college. It was fun to help him pick out his bedding, towels, dishes, etc. Then we had dinner at Red Robin. I enjoyed getting to spend that time with him before he leaves.

Rounding out the week, Chase went to Water World and the movies, Brenna attended an 8th grade girls sleepover through youth group and Scott and I each had our bible studies.