Starting this one tonight ...

I finally finished The Wedding last night, which in true Nicholas Sparks fashion had a twist at the end I didn't see coming that made the whole book better.

Tonight I am starting Gillian Flynn's Dark Places. I enjoyed Gone Girl so much this summer, I thought I'd give another one of hers a try. Will let you know what I think.

Sock Sorter

Quiet Day

Today was a nice, quiet day. We were homebodies all day, only venturing as far as the back yard to enjoy the cooler temperature this morning. We also watched the FSU v. Boston College game and the girls got a kick out of me jumping up and down and cheering when we got a touchdown.

Naughty Boy

This one is lucky he was let back in the house after what he did in my closet this evening. I was not amused.

Guess which "apple"is Evelyn's ...

I stopped at Evie's school this evening for our first parent-teacher conference and while I was waiting in the hall, I noticed that her apple was the only yellow one. Seemed fitting to me as little Evie is a unique little girl!

Show and Tell

Evie is famous for stuffing random toys into her little purses. Tonight it was a little chair from her doll house and a moose finger puppet. Never did get why she picked that particular combo, but she sure did enjoy telling me about them!

Tucked In

Darcy loves to "tuck in" her various stuffed animals, which basically means covering them up with a blanket. It really is very sweet.

Password

Evie likes to play this game after bath where she pulls the shower curtain closed and asks for the password (which she gives to you if you ask). Tonight's password was "Flap your wings."

Mommy's Little Helpers

Evie and Darcy "helped" me change the sheets today, which ended with them pretending my pillows were sleeping bags and they were camping.

Stickers

I love it when Disney and Highlights send marketing stuff as they always include stickers. I let the girls use up the whole sheet since they are free.

Woot

Just received our copies of the fall issue. Woot is an understatement after what we went through to get this issue finished. So proud of the final product though!

Follow Up

You can tell how busy things have been lately by the photo above. I took this photo yesterday morning intending to post about Darcy's follow-up appointment with her ENT specialist and had completely forgotten about it by the time I got around to posting last night.

In any case, her visit went fine. All her blood work and her CT scan came back totally normal so the doctor did not recommend any further treatments or surgeries. She did say to call them should she get another sinus infection and they would call in a two-week course of Augmentin as that seems to work for Darcy. If she continues to get them back-to-back, we'll meet again to discuss "exposure," which basically means pulling her out of a day care center.

On the one hand I was relieved she didn't need more surgery, etc., but on the other hand I kind of feel like we're back where we started. With cold and flu season fast approaching, I'm hoping that she has an easier go of it this year than the last two!

Fives

Evie's math homework tonight included practicing writing the number five. It was a little rough going at first (she kept wanting to make the curve a complete circle), but she got the hang of it by the end!

Sweet Susie

Poor sweet Susie is getting so fat that she has to do like 20 hops to get up on the couch or the bed. It is both sad and amusing to watch!

Turtle Power

The girls have a thing for the "Inja Turtles," so Grammy got them each Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles PJs. So cute.

Rainy Evening Meal

A storm rolled in late this afternoon which put the girls and I in the mood for soup and crackers (and pears) for dinner. The power flickered on and off a few times and our cable and Internet are down. Looks like it will be a good night to curl up with a book!

"It's a bus!"

Friday Night Bike Ride

Friday evenings are always so much more relaxed without the pressure to get homework done and lunches made and the kids to bed right on time. Tonight we celebrated the weekend with a little bike ride before dinner.

Homework

Giving a Kindergartner homework is basically giving their parents homework. Sigh.

A Good Day

Today was a long, busy day, but a good one nonetheless. First Darcy had her CT scan this morning and did awesome. She held very still and didn't freak out at the weird noises or anything. We were in and out in 10 minutes. We'll get the results from that in the next week.

At work, we finally sent the fall issue of the UTJournal to the printer. We always post the spreads up on the wall to see how the issue looks as a whole and it is always exciting to see it in its entirety up there. Makes me appreciate how much work we've done!

The icing on the cake was Evie getting good reports from both her Kindergarten teacher and her after care teacher (we've been struggling with that lately). She was great throughout the evening as well so that was nice.

Now I'm off to bed as tomorrow we get to do it all over again, starting at 5:45!

Toddler Bed Update

In case you were wondering, Darcy has done remarkably well in her toddler bed. She has yet to get out of it by herself before I come up to get her. She even still calls for me to come and get her. My dad likened it to a bear who has been in captivity its whole life and when it is set free keeps to an area the same size as its cage. Makes sense, but I have a feeling these days are numbered. 

Ballerina Girls

Thanks to Grammy for these adorable PJs. The girls insisted on wearing the tutu part to bed.

Tucking Baby Giraffe In

Goodbye Crib, Hello Toddler Bed

I put it off as long as I could, partly because I didn't want to admit my baby is no longer a baby, but we finally busted out the toddler bed for Darcy today. She was very excited to be getting a big girl bed and went down tonight without a hitch. We'll see how this transition goes ...

Errands

Running errands with my pop and these two sweeties.

I got nothin'.

Today was quite possibly the most stressful day I've had at work since starting my job at UT. Top that off with Evie getting two blue sad faces at school, an entirely new, invented just for her category, and I am spent. So please forgive the cat pic. (He is pretty cute though, right?)

Pillow

Evie has been sleeping with her little day care pillow on top of her own pillow ever since it was retired due to her starting Kindergarten. She's also been sleeping with Baby Giraffe as Kitty has been living at school the last couple of weeks until Evie can share him for Show and Tell. She was okay with this for a few nights, but is starting to miss him now. Maybe tomorrow he will come home ...

On My Nightstand

I generally love Nicholas Sparks' novels, but the jury is still out on this one. Kinda slow going. Will keep you posted once I've finished it.

Reunited

The girls were very happy to see each other today after several days apart. It warms my heart to see how much they love each other and miss each other when they are separated.

We Heart CB

No road trip is complete without a stop at Cracker Barrel!

Squeaky Clean