Busy Busy and a Pain in the Neck

I have the most annoying weak sauce neck.  It got all out of whack the night that we made a big push to get the laundry room/mud room up and running for the first day of school.  It took a few days and a few trips to the chiropractor before I could turn my head to the right and sleep comfortably.  Then, I went to the Husky game. We sit down toward the end zone, so I spent the whole game looking left (while trying to keep my hips neutral center).  Sunday morning my neck hurt a little and by Monday morning I was in AGONY.  Couldn't turn my head left.  Even to walk hurt.  Sleeping was h-e-double hockey sticks.  The knot at the base of my neck was so intense that Mon and Tues trips to the Chiro still didn't help resolve the pain.  I scheduled a massage for Friday, but knew I needed to do something to help myself on Thursday or I would go insane.  So I went to the spa.  Soaking in the pools and relaxing in the heated rooms was so meditative and amazing.  My neck started loosening up right away.  I made it through the day and got a good adjustment and massage on Friday.  Yesterday I angered it again a little working on a project for Leanne's wedding, but I got good sleep the last two nights and I'm feeling much better.  And more hopeful.  About everything, including my hip.  My doctor wasn't concerned that I still have some pain.  He said my range of motion is good.  I'm going to heal.  His hope gives me hope.  This too shall pass!  He said I could start foam rolling again, which I think was really good for my neck too.  Hooray.

So amid the neck pain we were trying to get into a routine with school.  I was also trying to get used to a rental car while my van gets repaired after its little incident with Derek's truck.  (Seriously, you don't realize how used to your car you get until you have to deal with things like car seats not fitting, one kid having to get into the 3rd row seating through the back, no automatic doors, none of your kids' favorite CDs, and worst of all, no automatic climate control.  How did I ever live without that.)

Our after school schedule is looking like this:  Monday, gymnasitcs.  Tuesday, nothing, Wednesday, Sarah dance (and soon Libby drama), Thursday, Piano, Friday, tutoring.  Sarah tried out for the Nutcracker yesterday, so she will soon start Saturday rehearsals.  I'm so happy to have my kids involved in lots of thing.  And so tired from managing it all--and I realized this is just the beginning.

I remember well when I almost punched many a woman who stopped me in the grocery store when I was trying to handle 2 or 3 little squirmy kids to say, "Oh honey, it only gets harder."  I'm sure they could see the disbelief in my eyes.  Now, I see what they were getting at.

Right after school started there was finally a Mariners game that Jen and I could go to and surprise Derek.  It was so fun!  

Not everyone gets to go on a date to see their husband where he is getting paid to work :)

One of the things that dominates most of our mornings is getting Libby out of bed.  She takes melatonin at night or else she can't get to sleep.  But then she doesn't want to get up!  She takes after her daddy and her aunt Rachel.  And, lately, her mom is a bit like this too! 

Curriculum night was--frustrating as usual.  Because they run all the K-3 at the same time.  So we had to split up.  So I didn't get a good feel for what is going on in Libby's classroom.  But Sarah's is going to be great.  (Libby did get the same teacher she had for 1st grade, so we do know her.  And she is already working on helping Libby focus.  She puts a timer on Libby's desk when she should be working and there is a reward at the end of each day when Libby stays on task.  So far so good!)

The laundry room flooring isn't in yet (not until Oct. 5th or 6th probably), but I have already shifted gears into wedding DECOR!  Leanne and Josh are getting married here in just a few short weeks.  I am pretty excited about the decor ideas that I have going.  

This is Ben's buddy Oliver.  They are having a playdate every Tues and Thurs after preschool.  One day at Oliver's and one day here.  That way I get one whole kid free day!

Libby finally realized she can piggy back BEN!  This is the outfit, btw, that she wanted to wear on picture day.  I made her wear something nicer, so she made sure to wear this the very next day.  Clash, what?

Our piano teacher has a full on band set up in her basement.  Ben rocked the drums after lessons on Thursday.  

Back to School, FINALLY!

I am not sure if I will ever get used to the Washington school schedule.  We are in school until late June.  Then we don't start until early Sept.  My internal clock is done with school in late May/early June.  My internal clock is done with summer in late Aug.  I need to adapt because those conflicting weeks seem REALLY long.  But, even though it came about 2 weeks too late for me, we finally started school.  And it was a pretty successful start.

Sarah drew her sign.  She is heading into 1rst grade.  Love her spelling.  And the peace signs.  She wore her cute new Hannah Anderson outfit and it ended up being about 30 degrees too warm for the outfit.  But she was stylin'.  (And I got an earful on the way home for letting her wear something so HOT.)  She is excited about her teacher and about being in the Highly Capable Program.  The other day she said she was excited to go back to school so she could help out the kids in her class again, we told her the kids around her might not need as much help this year, LOL.    

Libby was pretty excited for her first day.  She rolled out of bed and put on a old Husky t-shirt and one of her older pairs of pants.  I was going to let it slide, but Derek made her change into one of her new school outfits.  Hand-me-down jeans from her friend (that look awesome on her) and a cheesy OLAF love shirt from Target that I didn't want to buy her.  Sigh.  She is really upset that she got the same teacher from 1st grade instead of the other 3rd grade teacher, who happens to be a wrestling mom she has known "since she was born."  But she is getting over the disappointment I think.  Her main comment about the 1st day was that she only got 2 minutes of recess.  We can tell what she cares about most at school.  

This is Ben's first day of school, the girls' 2nd day.  He was so excited that I couldn't get him to stop and take a picture.  

Sarah's second day outfit....STRIPES!

Ben's choice for a school shirt.  Later GATOR!  And he was off into his classroom with a kiss and a hug and no crying.  

His HULK backpack.  

And he got lunch at McDonald's after his first day.  Lucky duck.  Here was his comment after the first day..."I'm getting dumber.  They treated us just like babies and sang stupid songs."  Oh my.  This is going to be a long 2  years.  

Farewell to Summer

I am a girl who like to make goals.  I am working on introducing my kids to the concept too.
So we made summer goals for our family.  And we did a pretty good job at achieving them!

Our Spiritual Goals:
Get to page 200 in the Book of Mormon.  Check.
Memorize up to the 8th Article of Faith.  Check.
Have Libby's Baptism.  Check.

Our Fun Goals:
Go to the Science Center.  no check.
Go to the Aquarium.  Check.
Go to the Beach.  Overachieving Check (Richmond beach, Edmonds beach, Padilla Bay)
Go to a Park at least 1x a week.  Check (Sunset, Cromwell, a couple in Centerville, but this year it was mostly Cromwell due to my surgery)
Camping.  no check :(.  (Ward campout was cancelled due to weather)
Mariner's game.  Check.
Bubble Run.  Check
Train for the Bubble Run.  no check--next year, I want to get my kids running!

Read 20 minutes daily.  Check (pretty much).
Play outside at least 1 hour a day.  Basically a check.  Once Cora and Caitlin moved in they did so much fun playing--dancing, making up plays, etc.  I haven't even had to worry about too much screen time.
Practice Piano 10 min a day.  Mostly a Check.
Cooking Club for the girls.  no check.  Next year!
Neighborhood playdate.  I wanted to invite kids from school to play.  A few came a couple of times.  I am really bad at arranging playdates.  But I tried.  Next year.  We did go to a great neighborhood BBQ.  That sort of counts.

Then somewhere around mid-August, I realized that we put a piano where the backpacks and coats hang.  Oops.  Needed to fix that before school started.  So I've been working WAY too hard (my hip is telling me) to try and turn the laundry room into a truly awesome space that is functional and beautiful.  I am SO close to done.  Just one teaser pic at the bottom...It'll be a few weeks before the flooring is in.

My kids love the Randall Family Traditional Back to School Fashion Show.  Caitlin and Cora joined in this year.  We got 2 outfits from everyone but Ben...who only got one out fit since he has so many Hulk Tshirts.  He is stocked.  

Another Randall Tradition.  The Last Hurrah.  Usually it was a trip or something more fun.  But hey, Menchie's is fun, right?  I was busy dragging them to stores yesterday so I could move forward with the laundry room project.  

Libby:  Dulce de Leche with Caramel sauce and cookie dough chunks.  

Sarah:  3 flavors including vanilla, ice cream sandwich and something else + chocolate sauce, cookie dough chunks and whoppers.  

Ben:  Keeping it simple.  Vanilla with Marshmellow creme sauce.  

And HUGE thanks to Shawn, the laundry/mud room is ready for the first day.