7 ... 6... 5 ... 4 ...

The countdown is on! One week from today is the first day of school, and just like in the years past we got our class assignments in the mail today, exactly one week before the first day of school.



Ben will be in Mrs. Owen's 2nd Grade class this year. He is very excited! Being his third year at Charlotte Latin he knows most of the students in his class and even has some really good buddies with him again this year. Harrison, one of Ben's best friends, is in his class for the third time. This is a good thing, a very good thing!

Katie was so happily surprised she ended up in Mrs. Cook's class that she cried tears of joy. (Really, she did.) Ben had Mrs. Cook last year, and Katie was really hoping she would have her too. We love Mrs. Cook in this house, she is a really fantastic teacher. But I KNOW she fought to have Katie this year which worries me just a little. See, Mrs. Cook fell in love with Ben last year (her words not mine) and told me she would lobby for Katie just so she could still be involved in Ben's life. That's just about the sweetest thing ever, but Katie is VERY different from Ben. Both in personality and in learning style. I'm bracing myself for the first parent/teacher conference when Mrs. Cook looks at us and exclaims "Are you SURE they are siblings?!" It should be an interesting year to say the least. Mrs. Cook is also pregnant with her first child (due in December). I suspect we'll be having a different teacher after Christmas break. But maybe that's a good thing.

And look who's using the potty! Our days of diapers are numbered. Camryn started using the potty full time this past weekend and has done surprisingly well. Today she pooped in the potty which is a HUGE step! My kids are notorious for being 'potty trained' but still insisting on pooping in a diaper. I don't get it either, but we've always gone along with it and they eventually start using the potty for all their waste products. It appears as though Camryn might skip this issue all together. You go girl!

So the day has come. I no longer have a child in diapers. It has been exactly 8 years 2 months and 4 days that I have changed diapers non-stop. As of today we are down to only nap time and night time diapers. It won't be long until those are gone to. Bittersweet. It's all so bittersweet.
But maybe, just maybe, with the money I'll be saving I can start having my eyebrows waxed again. It's the little things in life that keep me going.

Visitors

Logan, Ella Rae and Kristine came to visit us the other day. We haven't seen them since June and as always it was nice to catch up. The kids have a blast together. Here are the almost FOUR year old boys.

Logan and Camryn trading Silly Bandz. Our world has been taken over by Silly Bandz. I'm over the whole Silly Bandz frenzie, but the kids love them. It could be worse. I think.

Camryn loves when Ella Rae comes to play. Not only is Ella as cute as can be, she is also younger than Cam so Cam gets to boss her around and 'take care of her.' And by taking care of her I mean smothering to death.

Oh shoot! I meant to turn this before uploading it. Aren't they so cute!? You'd never know Camryn was 18 months older than Ella. I think Camryn is going to be small.

Ella Rea and Kristine. What beautiful smiles!

Here's the crew enjoying a treat on a very hot day. It's been one heck of a hot and humid summer around here. Tomorrow the high is supposed to only hit 88 ... ahhh, a very nice break from the 100 plus degree days we've been having.

Look who's also visiting! It's Uncle Keg, as Camryn calls him. She also refers to him as "Ma's baby." Craig is here training with Black Fin Restaurant. They are opening one in Jacksonville, FL,where he lives, and they have offered him a management position there. They brought him here to the Charlotte restaurant to train for a couple weeks. The apartment they put him in is right around the corner from us!

Auntie Anna joined us for a few days too! She was in Greensboro introducing a new drug to the neonatal nurses up there. She drove down to spend a few days with us. (Those are Ma's puppies in the pictures). It was great to see her and hang out for a bit!

Craig and Anna with the Big Green Egg behind them. We have yet to try that baby out. Can't wait to though.

Ma and her baby boy. One day maybe I'll get a picture of me and my baby brother. But that would mean some one else would have to take the picture.

The toothfairy also paid us a visit this week. This is Katie's third tooth she's lost, but the first one that really makes her look different. I'm still not used to it! She's just getting too big, too fast!

Welcome ...

to Lego Town.


No. Not this. This is how the older three try to keep Camryn out of their way while they build and play in Lego Town. Above is Camryn town. Below is Lego Town.

Lego Town takes up one pretty good size room in the 3rd floor playroom. That rug that Lego town is on is an 8x10 area rug. Lego Town started in our last house and occupied most of the upper foyer (which was huge). The kids were sad when they had to take it apart to move it to this house. Rebuilding has been half the fun though and they will spend HOURS up here, building, rebuilding, planning, playing and just have a great time. Their building ability has long impressed me. The train tracks they come up with blow my mind. They definately got the building gene from Jon. And while I am always impressed with the physical structures they put together, I am totally in awe of the community they have created.

This is a picture of Sculpture World in Lego Town. Just one of the many things to do and see in this very special community. In this town Katie runs the bank, grocery store and police station. She also has a farm and a farm stand. Will owns a Target (gotta love the third child) and controls most of the trains. Ben is in charge of all the public spaces (and charges entrances to them); the pool, Sculpture World, all the parks, and the airport. Keep in mind they came up with ALL of this ALL by themselves. Granted there are no schools or government offices (other than the police). But they do have their own currentcy and bank accounts. And parks and art!!

Here's Kate gathering more materials for her house that's currently under construction. She tells me she can never decide what type of house she likes best so she keeps changing it. (Hmmm ... wonder how that relates to her real life???). She also says that she decided to run the both bank and the police station so they could work together to catch bad guys. But in order to make money she decided to plant a garden and run a farm to sell her goods to the other members of the town.

As you can see Lego Town is much more than Legos. It's Geotrax, a couple wooden train sets and Legos combined. But really it's an extenstion of three minds imagining and creating and working together to make something they can all be a part of. I don't know about you, but I am super impressed.

Genetics

As a lover of all things science, genetics is just plain cool to me. And with four kids I get to see just how strong genes can be. For example I can roll my tongue, Jon cannot. Ben can, but Katie and Will cannot. (Jury is still out on who Camryn takes after in that genetic driven talent, she's a little young to ask to roll her tongue. She will be happy to stick it out AT you though).

Camryn is the only one with Jon's eye color. Not really brown, but not green either. And I wouldn't call them hazel. They are kind of a mix of all three. I love them. Plus Camryn is just plain cute. (I am totally objective when it comes to my kids' looks). Oddly enough, none of the kids carry my eye color. Not that I know what it is. Every time I ask someone I get a different answer. Are they blue? Or green? Hazel? As Kate says "Your eyes change color all the time mom. Kinda like the sky." I'll take that. My eyes are the color of the sky. (Note to self, watch out for Katie sweet talking her way out of trouble as she gets older. Like tomorrow.)

Both Ben and Will have chocolate brown eyes. That melt my heart. Almost everyone in my family growing up has blue eyes, so to me blue isn't really special. It's big brown eyes that get me every time.

My girls have the least in common when it comes to coloring, but look at those 'cheese' smiles. Pretty darn close don't ya think?

Will and Camryn look the most alike to me. This picture makes it look like their hair is the same color too but it really isn't. (Camera colors can be thrown off in sunlight, well any light really). Camryn's hair is much darker than Will's. Interesting observation: Will has the darkest skin of all four kids.

Ben and Camryn have the same hair color. You can see those same light caramel brown highlights in Ben if you look close. They also have the same skin tone. I would put these two as the closest when it comes to coloring.

Kate and Will also have the SAME exact hair color. Yet, Katie is the fairest of all four (although still pretty brown skinned) and is the only one with blue eyes. Beautiful blue eyes at that. When she was a baby they almost glowed they were so blue. People were constantly commenting on them. Kate also had beautiful golden locks when she was little, even curlier than Camryn's. Those curls never came back after her first haircut at 2 1/2.

It can be really interesting and fun for an analytical person like myself to watch my kids grown and change and compare all their genetic similarities and differences. In more ways than not they are all alike and so very different at the same time. One thing will never change though. They each hold title to the same amount of my heart.

Pros and Cons of Moving

Pro: Running in a new neighborhood. Having new streets, new houses, a golf course all help to make the run more enjoyable.

Con: Running in a new neighborhood. That's FULL of big hills. Finding yourself 5 miles into your run at the bottom of a very large hill and there is only one way home. Up. And it's 100 degrees out and you're tired and hot. But you won't walk it because you're me and you refuse to walk up hills.

Pro: Going through all your stuff, giving away what you don't need or want any more and organizing the rest so that when you unpack everything is where it should be.

Con: Not being able to find your underwear.


Pro: Having neighbors with kids the same age as your own kids.

Con: Having neighbors with kids the same ages as your own kids. Who your kids are constantly asking to play with. Constantly.

Pro: Moving into a house where they left their basketball hoop and bringing your own so you now have two hoops and can show your kids how you can school your 6'3'' husband on the court.

Con: Moving into a house where they also left their trampoline causing visions of broken bones and head injuries to haunt your dreams.

Getting Settled

We are almost done unpacking! Yahoo!! Here are a few shots of 'home' for the next few years. After all the packing and unpacking I hope we can just stay here. Forever. But I know Jon will be itching to build again soon so I better not get too comfortable.

This is the family room in the back of the house. I still have a few pictures to put up here. The kitchen is off to the left and there's a screen porch to the right. Pool is located right behind here.

Here's the kitchen. I'm not crazy about the color but I'm not going to do anything about it any time soon. We need to get a couple of bar stools for the island bar, but otherwise it's 'done'. There is a desk to the left and our kitchen table to the right.

Now to the front of the house. This is the foyer. It's big and bright. That pile of pictures and mirrors on the floor is Jon's 'to-do' list.

The dining room. The colors of this house are the same as our house on Skipaway, so everything 'goes'. I have bought nothing, it's great!!

And the formal living room. This room and the dining room are open to each other and the foyer . It's a nice space. And the best part? It's done!! Not a thing to buy, paint, decorate or put up on the walls.

The rest of the house is coming along too. Kids' rooms are pretty much complete and the third floor playroom is FULL of toys. I will post more pictures soon. But I guess I better go do the only thing left to do around here ~ laundry. Lots and lots of laundry.

Hot Enough For Ya?

I think we picked the hottest week in ten years to move. It's been hot. And humid. And down right miserable. The day we moved in the heat index was 118. The movers were exhausted after hauling all our crap up a VERY steep driveway and then carrying most of the boxes to the 3rd floor playroom. I don't think they will agree to move us ever again.

We've been trying to stay cool in the pool at this house. It's very nice! But since the temperature was 100 degrees yesterday (and that's without the heat index), the water feels more like bath water.

The pool here is not nearly as big as our old one, but it's much nicer. The backyard in general is just beautiful. This is right outside the kitchen and family room so even while I'm unpacking box after box. After box. After box. I get to gaze at this scene. I must say I am really enjoying it.

And looking forward to being outside more once the temps calm down a bit. But for now it's keeping our little fish busy. Meanwhile we are getting settled in nicely. This is the first house we've ever lived in that we haven't built ourselves. It feel a little bit like a vacation house. And who wouldn't like to feel like they're on vacation every day when they wake up?