Yesterday was the big day! I voluntarily drug myself out of bed (with the help of my husbands pushing) at 4:10am. Why you might ask…well, the only reason that I can really give for that is solely because I am out of my mind! You see yesterday was preschool sign up day. After months of talks and negotiations in our home we settled on a preschool and decided this was the year to start. The preschool has ages 2-4 and sister will be three when she starts in the fall. Wednesday was actually the first day of registration but it was only for those people who had already been in the program so those with siblings who are already in the program or those returning to the program. Thursday was the day for newbies. Calling the day before we (a friend and I trekked through this craziness together) found out that there were only three spots left for the 3 year old classes which meant we needed a plan! Registration started at 8:30am and we knew that we would have to be some of the first people in line to get a spot at all so thus the early rise. We were headed to the line by 4:30am. It is really really dark and cold at 4:30am and people are still in their cozy beds and nothing in the world is open at this hour (that would have something yummy and warm to drink that is). Upon our arrival we discovered we were the first ones there so after a little celebratory dance we settled in for the wait. People actually started to arrive shortly after we did. We are not alone in being totally out of our minds!!! A little before 6am we were able to get into the building so that was really exciting to be able to warm up a bit. We passed the time by sitting and chatting. My mom generously brought us beverages and my friends husband brought us breakfast bars (the brain was not working at 4am or we could of thought to bring these things for ourselves). We were able to have a bit of uninterrupted conversation which is pretty rare and fun but mainly the conversation was about how totally and completely out of our minds we really are. The funny thing is that neither one of us would of been devastated if we had to go on the waiting list. Maybe it was the thrill of being first or maybe it was just the fun of doing something totally crazy together, I don’t know. 8:30am finally came and not a moment too soon as that early rise was starting to hit me again. With a quick filling in of a form and a handing over of a check it was all over. No balloon no sticker just okay, you are all signed up. We decided that we needed to celebrate so we hit Panera for breakfast and chatted more about how truly crazy we are and the hope that we had that someday our kids would be so excited that we had camped out to get them into preschool. Now that sister is all signed up for preschool I feel a little out of my mind that I on my own free will signed up my child to go off into the big world. Wow! I am glad that it does not start until August.

Stumbled upon these wonderful fabrics during my weekly visit to Joann’s this week. Is it a bad thing that several of the workers at Joann’s know my kids by name? Hmmm! There were a few other prints that went with this little group and it was calling out for a quilt to be made but I just could not justify it with a few other quilts already under construction. It was a struggle and always so hard to break up a family of fabrics but I persevered! Instead of a quilt these shall become little ruffle pants for sister or a ruffle skirt…decisions!

Brad and I have grown addicted to Settlers of Catan over the past few years and this year for Christmas I gave him the new version of the game. Over Christmas we were able to play with Brad’s sister and her husband as well as some close friends. Last night our friends came over and we actually played twice! Brad won the first round a little too quickly so I talked everyone into a second game even though it was pretty late (this is not an uncommon phenomenon…late night Catan playing). By about 1:00am I had won (see all the orange on the board? That is me)!!! Woo Hoo! I also have to share that I won even without a Metropolis! I was so proud of that little accomplishment!

One of our favorite purple socks is missing. I am sure that it just missed its turn in the laundry with its mate or it is hanging out inside of someones shirt or pants or it is possible that it even ran away to join the circus…I am just not sure where it is. When you want your purple socks though you just want your purple socks and you will do what it takes to wear the one purple sock that is not missing thus the combo of the one pink sock and one purple sock is born. It was all my idea as the need for the purple sock fell upon a particularly hard day for my little one (turns out we are allergic to peanut butter). I was prepared to do whatever it took to keep a smile on that little breathing easily (now) body. Charis thinks that it is pretty funny and the best thing in the world that she has her two favorite color socks on. I was able to talk her into white socks while we went out to bible study this morning promising her that when we came back home she could replace the boring white with one pink and one purple sock. I must admit that the little girl in me even giggles as I put the socks on her feet! It is really fun to just wear what you like and really not care what others think…hmmm, I think that there is a lesson in here somewhere for mom. At any rate we will probably be wearing this color combo around the home front for a few days…weeks…even months!

Little hands place things in the oddest of places! Here are a few pictures from this week of where little things have landed from little hands…

Bracelet was found on the knob for the tub (pay no attention to the fact that I need to clean)…

Decorative Pumpkin found on top of the t.v. remote (note the Indians and Pilgrims lined up in the back ground…more handy work)…

Hair bands found on top of Charis’s shampoo, lotion and hair detangler bottles (have also been found on many a closet door)…

I have some potted plants out on the back porch and soon after I had planted them I noticed that something had taken to one of the pots. I was not sure if it was a squirrel or chipmunk but whatever it was I was not to happy about it. The plant eventually recovered with a little love only to totally disappear one day leaving a large hole. The odd thing about this disappearance was that there was another plant on the other side of the back porch that went untouched! Well I eventually saw the perpetrator which happened to be a squirrel who was just looking for a good place to store his winter stock (why a flower pot seems logical I am not sure). I caught him in the act of burying something and a few days later I had a lovely weed where once had stood a lovely flower. Well the saga continued as the squirrel returned to eat the weed that he had grown. While standing at the kitchen window I saw him rolling around and playing in the dirt while eating his tasty weed. I caught this little picture of him just before I scared the living daylights out of him. I do not think that he will be back anytime soon.

What a morning! I knew that we would have to hit the ground running this morning but I ended up amazing myself with all that could be accomplished in a morning with a few surprises thrown in. We had to drop Brad’s car off last night to have it serviced as the air conditioner has been on the blitz. Yes, it is fall in some parts but not in this part with temperatures still in the 80’s it can be very hot in a car that has cooked in the sun all day (or so I hear). The kiddos and I had the great pleasure of taking Daddy to work this morning. Normal mornings that is no problem but I walk with a friend regularly and knew that I needed to meet her at 8:15. I prepared last night and had a breakfast bagged up for Charis and ready to go. I got Cai up fed and dressed then it was Charis’s turn. We were all in the car and backing out of the driveway by 7:45 which I thought was pretty amazing for getting up at 7:00! Let me tell you that I had forgotten all about morning traffic! Wow, I am not really sure how I had forgotten about it as it is awful but I did! I usually use back roads a lot but to get Brad to work there are no back roads there is just traffic! It doesn’t help that they are tearing up a perfectly good road to relay the road that does not need to be relayed down the street from our house. Anyways, there are a lot of people out there who just do not care to abide by the traffic laws (or what I consider traffic laws that boil down to just using common since). Lots of traffic and a school zone later we delivered Daddy to work and although it is just about 15 minutes away I was so stressed and I still needed to make it to walk (good thing to have a stress reliever lined up after morning traffic). We made it to walk a little late but that was okay as my friend was running behind as well. We had our walk which was wonderful and then the kiddos and I headed home to feed Cai. I have to pause in the morning story here because if I left this part out Charis would be devastated…We got to drive side by side with a digger and the digger driver waved at us! That is right, he waved at us and he had a scoop and he was yellow! Way to cool!!!…back to the story now. We made it home Charis had a snack and watched a part of Sesame Street while I fed Cai and caught up with a friend that I had been playing phone tag with (multitasking is the way to go). I then proceeded to pack everyone back up and head to Sam’s Club because we were out of many things that we use very regularly. Why you ask did I not go while I was out? Well, they were not open yet of course. We made it to Sam’s and got our essentials there…another side note…Sam’s had up there Halloween stuff (lots of huge blow up things etc.) and it just made me so sad that Charis had to see that yucky scary stuff. I don’t mind them dressing up etc. but I just so want to protect her heart and eyes from the really dark and scary stuff that is out there. She would ask me what a lot of things were and just look at them with a fear in her eyes and it broke my heart for her. It brings me to my knees to continually pray for her and her heart that she would know light and the Give of Life…back to the morning. We finished up at Sam’s and headed home again. We had just gotten all the items in when I noticed the next door neighbors dog across the street. Charlie is a great dog who is spoken about a lot at our house. He is quite the barker and Charis LOVES every minute of it. Charlie though is not supposed to be outside of the fence but sometimes escapes. Charis would be devastated if something happened to him so I donned my dog catcher cape that looks remarkable like a super mom cape (so many capes to wear) and Charis and I called lovingly to Charlie. He is known for not coming when called so I was so thankful that he came to check Charis out. After a little enticing we had him and delivered him back to his rightful owner. I got the kiddos in the house and we all just crashed! Ahhhh! All in a mornings work!

When Charis finds something that she really likes and is desperate for she will come right up to me and stare with large eyes saying, “I want it Mama”! Well, that is how I feel about this doll by Corolle. I know I know I am pretty old to be wanting a doll but I just fell in love with her. We first met earlier this week at a local toy store. I thought about trying to get Charis to fall in love with her but I knew that there was not much of a chance with stiff competition from Baby Mickey Mouse, Baby Cai Doll and Big Girl (again, we are so creative with names at our house). I do not have any use for this little doll but she just seems like a doll that you could tell many a story to (it is my inner child speaking) and experience many firsts together . I do love her outfit as well. She seems to have a funky style but yet oh so cozy as well. I just wanted to share her with those of you out there that might have a little girl who is looking for the perfect “friend” to tell her secrets to and cuddle with at night.

So I was just answering survey questions on Ariana’s blog and number 22 asked what color of crayon would you be if you could be any color. You know me I had to give a cool answer so I went to check out the colors as I do not remember them from my childhood as I should. Wikipedia has a really cool page on the crayons stating when the colors were added etc. It was pretty interesting. Maybe I was a little bored but I really did find it interesting so I had to share.

This is my favorite shelf in the fridge! Every now and then I just need a good fix of chocolate milk. I do prefer to make my own because I do not like a lot of chocolate in my milk but just the right amount! Picky, I know! Everyone needs a special treat now and then!