School and the fall season are well under way here in the Land of the Pines. My kids are loving school so far, which makes me a very happy mama! While the new, earlier schedule (we leave the house by 7:15 a.m. every morning) has been the biggest adjustment for Lucy and Zach so far, bigger by far has been the adjustment Leah has had to make of being home alone with just mommy all day! Admittedly, I am not nearly as much fun to play with as Lucy and Zach. The kids are all SO excited to see each other when they finally get home; it's very sweet!
Lucy and Zach got invited to play over at Josh and Luke's house one Saturday afternoon, and to their delight their mom invited them to stay for lunch. She texted me this cute picture of them. It is SO convenient and nice to have friends live right next door!
The other night I was making black bean soup to take for dinner to my visiting teachee, who'd just had her second baby. I was supposed to have it there by 4:30 p.m., which is kind of early for us since the kids don't get home until about 3:15 p.m., and she lives about 25 minutes away. Anyway, I'd doubled the recipe so we'd have some too, and was pureeing the soup in batches in my new blender. I finished one batch and lifted the pitcher off the blender and the bottom part that screws on, completely FELL OFF. Boiling hot soup dumped all over me, the counter, the cupboards, the floor, my iPad, and worst of all Leah who was standing right next to me!! The splatter even reached to the living room! It was CrAzY. The picture just doesn't do it justice. I had to change my clothes as well as Leah's, quickly mop up the floor enough so I didn't keep sliding in it, finish making dinner with the leftover soup, pack it up, and get out the door. Needless to say, we did not make it by 4:30 p.m. but got there sometime around 5 p.m., and it was one of those laugh-or-cry moments. I was so glad I'd doubled it! It took me about an hour to finish scrubbing off all that dried, stuck-on soup when we got back home, and the greatest irony of all was after all that mess I didn't even want to eat it!
We've had a family of deer walk through our backyard the last couple of nights right around twilight. It's been so cool because there are two babies and a mom and a dad, and they just graze along the back part of the yard, which isn't fenced in. I tried to get a picture of all four of them, but spooked the babies and they're hiding behind that tree to the left.
Recently our dryer stopped working, which is kind of a big deal when you do laundry for five people. Our rental agreement was such that the owners would leave their personal washer and dryer (which were both very old but worked fine) for us to have, but if at any point they stopped working, they wouldn't replace or fix them. So, for the first time in our 10 year marriage, we had to purchase a new washer and dryer! And I LOVE them! They've been a ridiculously entertaining purchase for me, made possible by the money Jon's been making at his moonlighting gig (which has been a total answer to prayers). Yet another unexpected expense that job has helped us bounce back from!
The last couple of weekends has found us heading north to Cary, which is a suburb of Raleigh about 45 minutes away. I love Cary. I think we would have lived in Cary had I known more about this area 4 years ago, but hind-sight is 20/20. Regardless, it's a great family friendly area with tons of shopping and restaurants-- including the "Jasmin Bistro," which is where we've discovered an authentic chicken shawarma joint. So good!
We then checked out REI and Old Navy, and headed over to Waverly Place, which is a brand new shopping center with a playground and splash pad.
There are tons of restaurants and shops, and tons of families with kids (Whoa! You never see that in Pinehurst!) and it was super pretty all lit up at night.
Lucy hanging out at the splash pad and by the big water fountains.
We capped the night off by stopping at Gigi's for some pretty tasty cupcakes. They offer a hefty military discount which makes them only cost about a $1 per cupcake, so it's an even sweeter reason to indulge!
We got the Strawberry Banana Sundae cupcake, Salted Caramel Turtle, Kentucky Bourbon, Flourless Chocolate, Cookie Dough, and Pretty Princess.
Yesterday at Costco we bought Zach-O this $15 Optimus Prime costume. He was SO super excited! Leah wasn't sure what to think--she kept trying to take off his gloves--but I thought he looked kind of scary. He can't wait for October and Halloween and has a list of about 10 things he wants to dress up as. And with the way September is flying by, it'll be October before you know it!
