Waiting at the school to pick kids up.
Emma didn't ride on my lap - I just let her sit there while we were parked 'cause she was sad.
The pick up/drop off routine is a big part of our day and a bit complicated this year.
Every school year brings with it a new weekly routine. It's different every year. Since my kids have started school they have attended six different elementary schools, so figuring out the different procedures for each school and different time schedule is part of that. Transportation to and from school is always different. In Colorado we drove and walked. In Illinois the kids took the bus. In Utah we mostly walked (it was only a block away but I did drive sometimes). And here we do a combination of driving and bus riding.
Then there are after school activities, homework, and the schedules of the non-school attending children. We're figuring out our new routine. The house is not totally unpacked but things are in good shape in general. Except for the garage. Don't look in there. Our backyard landscaping is supposed to start in a week or so.
And then there's me and my stuff. Since we moved in Scott has been waking up at 4:30am every morning so he can leave the house by 5:30 getting to work by 6:30. After several weeks of this I found myself waking up on my own at 4:30 before his alarm even went off. Because I have also been struggling to find any extra time during the busy day (especially after spending an hour and a half exercising after I get the kids to school each morning), I decided to try just getting out of bed when Scott does and running at 4:30am. It has been working out amazingly well. Which is unbelievable since I have never been a morning person. AT ALL. But I still wake up at about 4:25 each day (before the alarm) and hop on the treadmill once Scott gets up. I get my run done and have time to shower before the kids even get out of bed. It is great. I know I may not stay with this schedule forever, but for now I actually like it. We'll see if it lasts...
Because I've been getting up early to run, I have time to make muffins for breakfast before school. It's so great. Another benefit is I have no trouble going to sleep at night. I'm too exhausted.
One such morning (after my early morning run) I missed the curb while bringing in the garbage cans and twisted my ankle. That was several weeks ago, but I was able to run again after a few days off. It still hurts if little people sit on it. Which surprisingly happens a lot. Ouch!
Scott has every other Friday off work and I love when he has the day off. We usually go running together on his day off. Scott pushes the two little ones in the double jogger stroller we have. It's nice to run with someone else. I usually run alone, often on a treadmill. One day we tried to go on a run/bike ride with the whole family. Matthew and Anna are good bike riders. John and Emma can be pushed in the jogger stroller. And that leaves 5 year old Grant. He has recently started riding a bike with training wheels. But in spite of his endless little boy energy, he doesn't seem to enjoy riding a two wheel bike that much. He says he would rather run. We know
he is capable of running three miles, but I think he should probably not run that far regularly. I also think he might want to be carried after running half way. So we've been trying to encourage him to ride his bike. On this day we went to a park about 1.5 miles away. Scott and I ran, Matthew and Anna biked, Emma and John rode in the stroller. And Grant reluctantly rode his bike. We played at the park for a while and then ran/rode home. Grant ran a lot of the way home so we had to push the bike while running. Not that fun or easy. We're trying to get him to like bike riding more.
At the park, mid-run.
I've been spending lots of time at parks lately with the kids.
Another day on the trail.
Grant does like to run. And he has lots of "wiggles" to get out.
Grant is getting lots of his energy out each day at school (and after). He got a treat for getting his jammies on fast, but he didn't get to enjoy it before he fell asleep.
Grant is in kindergarten and he has a lot of homework each day. I need to sit with him to do most of it. It takes us 30 - 45 minutes. It seems like a lot for kindergarten, but its good. He was using some candy as "counters" for part of his homework.
When the older kids are doing their homework Emma cries to do homework as well. We give her a coloring book and crayons. Sometimes I give her a coloring page with alphabet letters on it. She is happy with that and practices her coloring.
John will once in a while ask to do homework, but he mostly likes to run around making noise and harassing Grant. I have sent him upstairs to play a lot during homework time.
During the day, John, Emma and I do "mommy school." Here's John practicing writing his name. He knows the letters and sounds, but writing them is a challenge.
Anna likes to have "Anna school" after school as well.
Waiting for the bus
Most days Anna and Grant still ride the bus.
Waiting for the bus we could see smoke from the Loma fire in the Santa Cruz mountains.
It's fire season in California.
We have a few after school activities now, but its not too crazy.
Matthew is participating in the school play and he has play practice a few days each week after school. Here's Anna after attending her very first Activity Girl's activity (or whatever we're supposed to call it - 8-11 year old girl's church activity). She had a good time and enjoyed making these fruit bouquets. Matthew also has scouts.
Anna also has soccer. She likes it so far.
This is her first year playing on an all-girl's team. And I think it's giving her more chances to show what she can do. She is one of the shortest on the team, but has great running endurance.
She always wants to play goalie but she's been doing great as a midfielder and forward as well. We've been working on drop kicks (something a goalie needs to know how to do, but no one else)
Matthew opted out of soccer this year. So did Grant. John has been telling me wants to play, so I'll sign him up next year. And I would like to get Grant into soccer. I think he would like it. Matthew will probably start a sport after the play is done. He's been angling for tennis.
Scott isn't home from work yet when Anna has soccer, so we all go and play at the park while she practices. Grant fell off the swing one of the days and got a nasty scrape. :(
One hectic afternoon Grant looked at me very seriously and said, "mom, it's like you're our maid." He did volunteer to vacuum for me after that which made me less annoyed with him. Then John and Emma had to have a crying fight about who would vacuum. I must figure out a way to use this to my advantage.
And eventually each night, Scott gets home from work. He is the interim CFO of his organization since his boss left, so he is very busy doing two jobs. The kids are always very happy to see him. This was after he changed out of work clothes.
Halloween is on the horizon, so, of course, that means costume prep.
Grant wants to be a ninja. And, now, so does John.
So things are going well as we get used to our new routine.
We can do this!
Congratulations if you made it to the end of this long post. Here's an extra large photo for you.
Happy October!!
