Fall

This year it's been so different getting into our fall schedule for a few different reasons. One, it's the first time all three kids are in school. Two, it's the first time they're all playing soccer (which means soccer practices five days a week and three games on Saturday!), and I started subbing at the kids' school on Fridays. 

For the past couple of years I had started to think about what I wanted to do when the kids were all in school. One of Joey's substitutes in third grade was the mom of a girl in his class. I thought that would be a fun way to get back in the classroom on a very part-time basis. When I ran the idea by the kids, they were thrilled with the idea! I figured I would start subbing when Ellie was in first grade since she only has kindergarten for half a day, but the kids were SO enthusiastic about the idea, I asked my mom if she could pick up Ellie for me on Fridays and she agreed! Honestly, it was harder than I expected to be back in the classroom after ten years, especially as a substitute, but I'm getting into the swing of things and really starting to enjoy it. So far I've subbed at every grade level K-5th. The best part is how much the kids love when I'm at school subbing. I'm really not sure why they love it so much, but it's their favorite day of the week.

Other than that, here's what else is going on around here...

We've had some cooler days this fall which have been lovely since September and October are often two of our hottest months. If it's cold out, but you still want a popsicle, just put on a robe!

A few weeks ago, my friend and her husband went out of town for the weekend and split up their three kids among friends and family. We were super fortunate to have this little lovebug with us all weekend. We kept saying that we got the best one!

Soccer continues to go well. Ellie even scored her first goal!

Ellie is a little different from the other kids in that she never really wants to go to practice (she hates having to stop playing with her neighborhood friends), but she always has so much fun when she's there. She says that soccer is her favorite sport.

 My father-in-law took this picture of Joey at his game. He's looking so old! I will say, ten has been such a wonderful year for him. I keep telling him that it's my favorite year yet. He's been so sweet, responsible, fun, funny, and loving. If this is what him getting older is like, bring on the teenage years! 

Apparently every year during the soccer season, there are free soccer clinics on Friday nights. For some reason we've never taken advantage of them until this year. It makes our Fridays a little crazy because that's the day I work all day, Hannah has regular practice at 4:00 and then soccer clinics are at 5:30 for Ellie and 6:30 for the older two, but it's actually been a really fun way to end our week. I pack dinner for Joey and Hannah to eat during Ellie's clinic, and we just sit, relax and watch kids play soccer. Andy meets us there after work on Friday and then one of us takes Ellie home while the other one stays with the older kids until their clinic is done at 7:45. 

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Sarah invited us to go to an SDSU football game with her and her husband. My parents came over to watch the kids and we had a fun adult night out.

And what fun adult night is complete without a picture with Disney princesses?! They had a bunch of free family activities outside of the stadium, and I couldn't resist getting a picture for the girls. Ellie was thrilled that her favorite princess Moana was there, and Hannah though it was really random that there were princesses at a football game. So true.

Coming as a shock to no one, Ellie absolutely loves school. Other than all of her new best friends, her favorite part of kindergarten is getting to go to the treasure box! She was thrilled with these clip-on earrings she got.

This year October 4th was "Walk to School Day." These are all the kids from our carpool, so we all walked to school together. The kids don't love when we walk to school because a mile of it is straight up this really big hill, but it was a fun challenge, and we all made it!