handsful

Her name is Lainey.  Sometimes she’s a boy kitty, and sometimes she’s a girl, depending on her mood.  She loves to be held, and makes lovely meowing noises. 

You can find her walking around on all fours, purring against your leg, or curled up in her favorite chair for a nap.  Sometimes she tries to lick you…watch out for that one. 

We think she makes a great addition to the family.  The dog isn’t so sure.

What are these boys so deliriously happy about?  See the box behind them?  It held a magic machine…

…called a PUSH MOWER!  Randy has been telling the boys for a while that he would get one (we have a riding lawn mower and a steep back yard which ends in a pond.  ‘Nuf said…).  We bought this one last night and the boys were really anxious to get that thing cranked and cutting!  Randy walked them through all the ins and outs of how to care for it, how to add fluids, check air filters, etc.  They listened intently…

Finally!  Time to crank it.  Even with the two of them working together, dad eventually had to help out.  Once they had mowed for a while, they were each able to crank it easily.  They turned the mower off as often as they could, just so they COULD crank it again.  Boys. 

EJ is working hard!  Randy bought a nice, but “standard” mower.  No self-propelled nonsense here.  Just boy propelled. 

Working around the palm, learning how to overlap so you don’t miss grass…so much to learn. 

They made me take this picture.  They’re holding grass that THEY cut.  They were so proud.  And, happy.  And, tired!  They ended up cutting about half of the yard, each taking turns.  The boys weren’t the only ones happy.  I LOVE a freshly mown lawn.  Just hearing the lawn mower rev up makes me grin (one of the weird things about me).  Now, I have THREE guys to do it!  Happy day!

Randy left last Sunday for a sales meeting in Las Vegas and BOY did I miss him.  Lots of people say to me, being a homeschooling mom of 5, “I don’t know HOW you do it!”.  Well, I’ll say that to all the single moms out there.  Being the only ringmaster is hard work and has to be lonely at times.  Maybe having total control of the remote makes all that hard work worth it?  (grin) Seriously, if you’re a single mom and you’re reading this…know that I am in awe of how YOU do it all. 

While he was in Vegas, my Poker-loving guy just HAD to play a few card games.  He entered 3 poker tournaments at Caesar’s Palace during his stay, with each having about 50 players at the start.  Randy WON the first one, placed 12th at the next, and placed 6th at the last.  He had a fantastic time and brought home a nice chunk of change.  I’m thrilled he was able to play (even if it did mean he got very little sleep!) and do so well.  He’s my Poker Stud.  ;)

A shot of Lainey enjoying her decorated cookie at our homeschool co-op.  We have co-op every Friday from 8:30-12.  The big kids each have 3 classes with an assembly between the 2nd and 3rd class.  Lainey stays with me during the first hour while I get her classroom ready, I help teach her class of 2’s and 3’s during the second hour and I have free time during the third (L stays in her class with a new set of teachers).  We LOVE co-op, it is a huge blessing to be able to have access to such great teaching and wonderful friends to do it with.  Most of the classes are mom or dad taught, with some (guitar, composition, art, etc.) taught by outside teachers who are paid by the parents of the children taking the class.  We especially love the composition class that MPE are taking.  It is intensive, very well structured, and the teacher has years of experience teaching writing to middleschool and older kids.  The guitar class has given Ethan, and now Abbey, a love for the instrument…I could go on and on about co-op…don’t worry.  I won’t.  :)  Suffice it to say we dig it.   

I don’t think I posted this pic of Payton in his Napoleon Dynamite costume.  He has the “look” down pat!  And, yes, I made the design with a permanent marker.  I could have ordered it, but I waited too long…at least I saved the money. 

Rinsing her own hair.  Lainey is all about doing things herself these days.  Her favorite thing to tell me is “Lainey’s a big girl” – she says/signs it.  “A-eee uh Nay gull”  Not sure how “big” is coming out “nay”, but she’s being stubborn about changing it! 

Her favorites right now…soup, doing “airplane” tricks with Abbey, going ANYWHERE, lollipops, cookies, wasabi peas, cutting paper, and running!  She’s also decided to do a little testing lately, and now says “ohh ay” which means “no it’s not”.  She’s quite persistent, and will continue asking you OVER and over for the thing that you’ve already said “no” to OVER and over again.  Ahhh, the threes.  Who said two was hard?? 

Oops.  Back to co-op.  Today was Support your Sport day, so everyone showed their team spirit.  I had my Steelers shirt on, too.  Of course!  Abbey has Randy’s Rothlisberger Steelers jersey, EJ has his Braves, Payton has the Polumalu Steelers jersey, Marley has her mix of Steelers and Wolfpack on, and Lainey is also supporting daddy’s college.  There was a lot of orange and blue for the Gators…blech. 

Cupcake anyone?  A new cupcake bakery opened up a while back, so we stopped by tonight.  Looks good, huh?  I had the chocolate pecan caramel one, far right.  I hope I get a bite of that bottom left one…Creme Brulee’. 

Well, dad’s home and all is well.  This weekend, we’re catching up on yardwork, teaching the kids how to mow the lawn with a push mower, and going to EJ’s baseball game.  Church and Real Life Groups on Sunday.  Happy Weekend :)

First dress up time…L to R, werewolf boy, flashy three-year-old (no costume needed), punk rock girl, Ms. Waldo, and mohawk boy.  On their way to a friend’s party last week. 

Last night…L to R Napoleon Dynamite, punk rock girl, Philip Rivers, Jaquar football player (the kid’s friend, Nate), werewolf boy, and a little pink fairy.  Right before they all headed out for candy! 

More pics from last night…

Celebrating our morning with Starbucks hot chocolate :)

I enjoy finding deals.  I head to the clearance end caps first when I go to Target.  I love using a coupon on TOP of a sale.  And, stumbling across a REALLY good yardsale?  Well, that makes me positively giggle like a school girl. 

I love going to yardsales, but rarely do.  Two reasons…Lainey and I like my sleep on Saturdays.  But, a very nice and very large neighborhood near us was having their annual neighborhood yardsale this weekend.  And, a gal in our homeschool co-op was having one of them, and rumor had it there would be lots of girl clothes, all sizes.  We headed there first and spent an HOUR at that house alone.  We walked away with arm loads and, as we drove off, we giggled and screamed for joy.  (see, I really do giggle…)

The next few sales gave us some great items, too.  Some the girls are saving for Christmas presents (shhh…).  Marley probably found the best bargain of the day. 

Marley has been needing a new bike for a while.  Her hand-me-down from Abbey almost has her knees in her chin when she rides it!  We found this bike today, she gave it a test drive, and it was a go.  Best part?  It was $7.  Cha-ching!

It’s that time…time to pose in front of gorgeous orange and brown colors!  I love fall!

Abbey took it upon herself to guide Lainey in her 2nd pumpkin picking outing. 

Could this be the one??

There were really weird pumpkins there this year!  White ones, greenish ones, some covered in creepy bumps and wrinkles!  This one made Randy curiously hungry. 

Marley found hers right away.  Last year, she took FOREVER…like she was picking her next puppy. 

Picking pumpkins gives Lainey the giggles. 

Payton found one just like him – unique!

Heave.  Ho.  Yep…this is it. 

Lainey found hers, too.  Abbey also found one.  We already had 2 on the porch prior to our visit to the patch.  There’s a lot of orange on our front porch!  I love fall colors.

Ethan has moved up to the 11-12 league, so some of these players tower over him.  The pitcher on the other team was 5’9″!  He doesn’t seem daunted. 

And, he’s been on the Red Sox for the last couple of years.  Now, he’s an Indian. 

Last weekend’s game was blistering hot.  People (including us) even brought their easy-up tents to provide a little shade.  It’s supposed to be in the 60’s for tomorrow’s game.  Nice. 

Even as hot as it was, our good friends the Orton’s came to watch Ethan play.  Here is Nate getting a squeeze from Lainey.  Lainey likes Nate.  A lot. 

Go Ethan!!!