Okay, okay

What have we been up to??

Pretty much the same as usual.

Dressing up and playing, playing, playing.

Sports.

Jumping on the trampoline.

Life is going on, busy as always. Becca is now in the midst of cheerleading, two games a week, practice before school (6:45am-ugh!), and having an active social life as well. Neil asked me a few weeks ago if this is normal behavior for a teenager to have sleepovers every weekend. Um, yes, I believe it is.

Evan is playing soccer again this fall. He is playing with a new team this fall that is with the Upwards program. They play four on four, which we were hesitant about at first, but I really like it for him now. He loves it. He is growing as a team player and in his individual skills. Evan started middle school as a sixth grader this fall. He enjoys middle school, but not the school work. He is just not the kind of student who enjoys school, he suffers through it (and sometime we all suffer with him!). Evan has discovered Craigslist, and sells whatever he can on it. He does it all on his own, takes pictures of his stuff, uploads it, writes the description, etc. I am pretty impressed with his skills and it beats having a garage sale!

Spencer started second grade this fall. He enjoys school, does great with math, but is my first child who hates reading. Whaaa??? I do not even know what to do with a child who hates to read! He is a great reader, but it is like pulling teeth to get him to read every day. He loves the guitar and Neil is giving him guitar lessons.

Ava, my Ava. She is still a spitfire. Loves birds, dressing up, and is still as strongwilled as Evan is/was. She decides on what she likes and there is no convincing her otherwise. For example, clothes. She has a pink tie dye skirt, a blue tie dye shirt. No, they do not go together in any way, shape, or form. She want to wear this outfit every day, along with winter boots. Seasons don't matter to Ava, she want to wear this outfit in all of them. Dirty? What's that? She doesn't let a little thing like that keep her from wearing her favorite outfit. I know, this post needs pictures. I will try to make that happen for you. **edited to add pictures**But I have currently hidden the dreaded outfit. She is known to dig these clothes out of the hamper, there is no stopping this child.

{AVA in her favorite outfit}

Neil and I are busy with life. Between kid's games and activities, church & youth group, Neil delivers newspapers every morning (GOD BLESS THAT MAN and what he does for his family!), comes home and sleeps a few hours before getting up and going to work. He is into the fall youth activities, spends a lot of time planning and with his youth leadership team and adult leaders. We are starting a mentoring program this fall which we are very excited about. This week I am starting to mentor two high school girls, we will meet once a week. I am also taking a counseling class at our church that meets every week. Oh, and my friend Tracy and I found a free photography class that we are taking once a week. If that isn't enough, I am also still working at the scrapbook store a couple nights a week while maintaining the store blog, and this fall I started watching a little girl Mon-Friday. Emily is almost five years old, and keeps Ava entertained daily. The cool thing is that watching her has been such a blessing for us.

Does that sound busy enough to you? Because I am exhausted just looking at all that we do. Sheesh.