Us lately. A random update.

Fall is setting in here in Ohio and I couldn't be happier.  

I seriously don't know if I can be talked into EVER moving back to Texas.  It's just so hot there and I am spoiled by these AMAZING temperatures.  This to me is the perfect weather.  High of 72 and low of 50 at night.  I'm in my happy place with these fall temps.

Every now and then a huge group of leaves will fall from the trees in our yard.  I just assumed they would all fall off all at once, but they randomly fall and the kids giggle as the leaves hit their faces. 

Speaking of random....it's been awhile since I've written a random post.  

I'm pretty good at posting our day to day lives, but the random posts take a few extra minutes.  I've been so busy since the start of school and sadly I've put posting to our blog on the back burner.

Monday nights Layla has soccer practice, Tuesday night she takes a tumbling and hip hop class.  Wednesday nights are our free night to relax and catch up.  Thursday night Hayden has soccer practice and Layla practices with the girls traveling soccer team.  Friday nights we usually hang with friends and then the weekend is just whatever. This Sunday we begin fall soccer games.  It seems like we never stop, but we are all happy and loving our schedule.  

Gary is keeping super busy with work.  His travel schedule is about to slow down, but he's been going non-stop.  He is loving his job and it seems to be going great.  He found a position that fits him perfectly and although it is stressful at times he loves it.  I'm so happy he loves what he does.

Hayden is loving kindergarten.  He's learning lots of stuff, including ABC's and 123's.  He is learning how to treat others and hopefully one day he will be able to tell me is friends names.  He can't remember names just like his daddy.  His imagination is certainly growing, as he loves to tell 'tall-tales.'  He can make up some pretty far fetched stories and sometimes I have to wonder what is true and what is imaginary.  His soccer skills are progressing very well.  All summer he practiced his golf swing, and now as often as he can he is outside kicking the soccer ball.

Layla is doing great in Third grade.  She isn't digging math, but loves science, social studies and really loves reading and writing stories. Her spelling skills are awesome.  She takes after Gary when it comes to spelling.  I'm a terrible speller.  She loves dance and I'm shocked by her drive for soccer.  As I mentioned earlier, she was asked to practice with the girls travel team.  I think she was blown away by how good some of the girls are.  I thought she'd be intimidated by them, heck, I was.  She wants to get better and she loves to learn.  After just one practice we could tell a difference in her skills.  I hope she decides to stick with it, but I'm not forcing her to do anything she doesn't want to.  We might gently nudge her, but I want her to be happy and do soccer because she really wants to.

I am adjusting to having both kids in school.  I felt like I'd have so much time to just sit around and eat bon-bons, but I don't.  I'm busier than ever.  If my people would just stop wearing clothes my job would be 50 times easier.  I'm drowning in laundry 85 percent of the time.  I'm trying to go to Zumba/Boot Camp three mornings a week.  It puts me in a great mood and I'm so happy to be able to go.  Also this fall I've finally gotten things done for me, doctor, dentist and hair appointments...you know just stuff us moms sometimes put off in the summertime.  

Daisy and Lily are loving this weather.  They run and play and wrestle in the backyard.  The cooler weather makes them frisky.  Lily has escaped from our yard many times lately.  She is letting the PetSafe in-ground fence shock her and then she busts through it to chase squirrels.  She's run away too many times lately.  She is literally in the dog house.  She ran into a wooded area behind our house on Monday and scraped her paw pretty badly.  That slowed her down for a day or two, but now she is ready to explore again.  I went to Lowe's and got the 'stubborn dog' collar and now she is a little easier to keep around.  I hate to make her wear it, but seriously, we live right beside a road.  She will get hurt really bad if she gets too far away from home.

After living here almost a year, I think we are all over the initial shock of living in a new town.  We are all thriving and loving small town life.  We defiantly like the house we are living in much better than our house downtown.  Sometimes I miss walking to school with some of our downtown buddies, but all in all we are much happier having a big yard to run and play in.

Sadly our house in Texas still hasn't sold.  It is under contract and we where thrilled to be signing on the dotted line to sell it for good this next week....UNTIL...the inspector didn't turn the water BACK off after the buyers inspection.  A vacant house shouldn't have water turned on in my opinion.  The refrigerator malfunctioned/leaked and water damaged the entire house.  The mistake wasn't caught for about 10 days.  You can imagine water leaking into a hot house in Texas for that long.  

So yea, we are dealing with that crap.  It's a hot mess.  I'm so over the homeowner experience; it is not the American dream in my opinion.  UGH!  One of these days we will be free from that house.  I'm choosing to stay positive when it comes to that topic.  I can easily cry a river if I let myself.  I just can't believe we have so many memories there, but it is causing us so many problems.  

On a lighter note,

Football season is in full swing and it is so fun to cheer for our Texas teams while watching our friends here cheer for their favorite teams nearby.  Baylor plays West Virginia and that game should be super fun to watch with some of our friends who love WVU.  All my buddies are trying to convert me to Buckeyes fan, but I can't do it.  I can't wear red.

I'm excited for football nights with friends and bonfires roasting marshmallows.  I think burning a pumpkin candle while cooking dinner tonight put me over the edge when it comes to fall.  I'm really enjoying having my windows open here in the house.  Having my windows open in Texas was a favorite thing, but we only got to do it for a few days.  It seems like it was always too hot to open the windows.  Anyway, I'm loving the fresh air and it defiantly puts me in a  great mood.  I love waking up and adding an extra blanket in the middle of the night!

Bring on the chilly weather and all things fall and winter, especially soups and chili!!  Hopefully I'll find time to try some new recipes and post them.  Nothing makes me happier than cooking and taking pictures of my food!!