New Blog Format

So...this summer I was taking pictures, and then posting the pictures with short explanations...and that was that. Now, things are a little different. I no longer take many pictures throughout our day at home, because we aren't home as much. I have a different camera now, that doesn't fit in my pocket very easily, so I don't carry it around as I used to do. And, even when we are home, the kids don't do anything very interesting- most of our home time is spent changing clothes, putting away lunchboxes and backpacks, practicing spelling words...then it's dinner and bedtime.

That being said, I do still want to post and keep everyone updated on our life. I think I'll try the "seven quick takes" style and just post a few random thoughts/happenings every time I have a chance. There won't be a single topic for each post, just some random things. That's what my brain can handle this year! I won't have a specific number of thoughts, either- just as many as I can think of or have time for.

Here's what I've got today:

-Jane has a LOT of energy today after school. Usually she heads right up to take a bath, but today she asked if she could walk down the sidewalk a bit and come back. Then she started jumping off our wall, about 20 times. Then we had to go in, and she got out a stool and started jumping off, about another 20 times. Now she's finally settled down...:)

-We are getting overwhelmed with birthday party invitations! Being in school now, each of my kids has the potential to be invited to 15-25 birthday parties, depending on the number of children in their class. And it seems like all children's parties now include ALL class members. Gene had two parties this past weekend, Lucy has skipped one and has another coming up at the end of the month. Jane has one in early November. The other funny thing is, since they are including so many kids, not a single party takes place at the birthday child's home. We've been invited to a bowling alley, the Hands On Museum, two jumping/bounce houses, and Jungle Java. They are not the personal, intimate parties that I remember from my childhood, where we invited only our close friends (or our parents close friends) and had a simple house party. Now, we have Gene and Lucy's birthdays coming up very soon, and we can't compete at all! Gene is having a few boys over to play a football game (he was very insistent) and we'll have a family party as well. I'm not sure what we'll do for Lucy yet, but something small as well.

-Halloween is coming up...Lucy will be Little Red Riding Hood (with a red cape made by Grandma Patti), Jane will be a pumpkin (she wanted to be a pumpkin, and we happened to see a costume in her size at Goodwill one day...so there we go). Gene wants to be a Revolutionary War soldier, and is all excited about it, but now I think that costume is going to be tricky...we're going to try to convince him to be Johnny Appleseed...we'll see.

-We made applesauce all day on Saturday (after a birthday party, actually) and came up with close to 50 quarts. Enough to last the year, hopefully.

-I haven't been out to my garden since September, except to pull up a few green onions. I should declare it a disaster zone, if I could ever get out there to assess the damage the weeds are doing. I was pretty good all summer, but school started and I've been swamped with other work. So much for a "weedless garden"...(I've based the last 3 years' gardens on a book called Weedless Gardening...really works, if you have the time!)

Okay, that's all for now. Gotta put some stuff away and wash all the apple gunk off my kitchen floor before we pick up Gene and Lucy.