and the fog rolls in

This is what happens here even at the end of a sunny day ~

{wordless Wednesday} linky

wordless Wednesday LINKY party directory

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{the paper mama}

I know that I posted these pictures before this month, but I just love them.

I am entering the first one in The Paper Mama photo challenge this week --
since it is {okay, one of} my Favorite photos from August

that didn't take long

Three of the four kids are now in school full time. Three different schools.
Three different sets of GERMS

How is it that the only one not in school, got the first cold of the school year?

Pretty sure it was Paige's fault.
She said she wasn't feeling well for a couple of days, but I thought she was just tired from going back to school.
(so I sort of ignored her)
Besides, Paige has this crazy immune system where she throws off colds and such in a couple of days -- where say DJ will have the same cold for two weeks and end up with pneumonia... No joke.
(I seriously think it's because she nursed for so long)

Well, you know I caught it from the baby.
{sneeze}
I feel yucky.

I am trying to keep it away from the other kids, but as usual, my main goal is to keep it away from Mike. I'd rather have a cold for twice as long than for him to catch it --

and if he ends up getting it,
this will be all of us for the next week:

Wish me luck!

{this moment} linky

A single photo (or three)

~ no words, capturing a moment from the week

a simple, 

special, 

extraordinary moment

a moment I want to pause, 

savor 

and remember

(oh, and yes -- he did!)

please

link up your
{moment}

and even join in

where it all started

Soule Mama

{just me and my camera}

Pretty red flowers we saw

while walking to pick Kelly up from school. 

Paige's eye! Hehe (you know I have an eye thing) 

and a strange shaped eggplant that Matt brought over 

from his garden ~

and now she is a Big Kid

We celebrate Half Birthdays around here.

We just sing Happy Birthday and have cake -- I usually make one, but since it is the 2nd week of school, I have been a little busy.
{yawn}
So I picked up a cheesecake at Costco and made buttercream frosting and put flowers on the top.

So (as of the 22nd)
Kelly is now officially 5 1/2!

{wordless Wednesday} linky

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{in the garden}

just
playing around
with the camera

I don't care if it makes him mad

A couple of days ago on Twitter @randomosityblog sent out a tweet from
Freckleberry Finds about
How rear-facing can save your kids life and it included this short video.

Lori over at The Gnomes Mom also talked about it that day.

Honestly, I was a bit freaked out. I always thought I knew what all the recommendations were for car seats. I mean, I don't even let my kids unstrap when we are double parked in the line of cars waiting at school. (what if someone bumps us?)
But I switched my last three to forward facing when their feet were squished --
I sent the video to my sister in law and made
my husband
and father in law watch the video.

We are switching Mikey back to rear facing. 

You can read more about the reason why on
Cyndi's blog La Familia Hendrickson (yes, I stole her name..) since she has all the best info posted, like:

From the AAP :"All infants and toddlers should ride in a Rear-Facing Car Safety Seat until they are 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car safety seat’s manufacturer." 

Thank you to everyone for sharing your information!

my red hair

I was supposed to be born a redhead.
My brother and both of my cousins on my mom's side are blonde. I'm not. My grandmother had red hair, so something got switched around, messed up or something.

Well, when I was around 15, my mom was touching up my grandma's hair for her and they had left over color....
I was hooked!

I think I have been every shade of red  imaginable --

but I think this was my favorite haircut and color. I wish I had a picture of  the back -- it was super cute and especially when my hair was blown out straight.

The cute boy was a friend

 that I worked with. His name is Per and he is from Sweden.

I was Red until I was pregnant with Kelly. I didn't live close to any of hairdresser friends and it was too much of a hassle to try and do it myself with keeping it off my scalp. Up until then, I was crazy about being Red. Wanted to be as bright as possible and worried about it fading --

Well you have know, when The Little Mermaid first came out, I LOVED it!
She was the first Disney Princess with
Red hair ~

I even had the soundtrack on tape and listened to it all the time. Three different people gave me the movie the day it came out on video.
Yes, video.



When Paige was little, her
movie to watch was Homeward Bound (over and over and over and over and over and over and over again)
DJ wasn't really into any one movie,
and Kelly, after a short Mulan  stint, now loves MY movie!

the boy is a Nerd

When you think of DJ, especially  when he was a baby, the first word that came to mind was 'sweet'. He was so cute, with his big giant head, short little legs and man hair --

DJ was very needy compared to Paige. I had to hold him all the time. He was a big boy and heavy!
(I even herniated a disk in my back)

But he was always, so sweet --
smiled and laughed all the time.
Woke me up every morning at 6am,
happy as can be, with a
"Good Morning Mama!"








And the boy couldn't wait to go to school! When Paige started Kindergarten he would pitch a fit, wiggle out of my arms and throw himself to the ground because he wanted to stay.
So, I never let him out of the stroller.

DJ was awesome like that -- once I had him strapped in, (to the car seat too) 

he never realized he could get out. 

I ended up enrolling him in Preschool earlier
and leaving him in it longer than the others, because he loved it.
When Paige came home from school, I had to set him up so he could "do homework" with her.
He practically told Mike and I to Get Out when we brought him to his first day of Kindergarten ~

DJ has always been challenged with his fine/gross motor skills and in the early days of school this was a huge concern for us. Fortunately, DJ is a sweet boy and has never been discouraged by this.
The boy has heart.

Now my Little Man is a 6th grader.
6th grader.
Girls like him -- but he has no clue that that is what is going on.
No clue.
He reads all the time. Finishes novels like they are magazines. Reads when he is in the car -- when we are trying to talk to him. Reads the table -- before we make him stop. Reads under the covers with a flashlight -- which we let him think he is getting away with
(sometimes)
He likes listening to old AC/DC and is amazed (...every time!) when Dad and I can sing the lyrics.
He loves having a blog, but never has time to write in it. Thinks he is so cool because he has a Twitter account, but then forgets to tweet.

The couple of weeks that he had off between his Summer Program and school were making him antsy. So he was driving everyone to distraction -- and making me crazy!
This last week, since school has started,
has been the happiest I have seen this guy in a month.
He is giddy.
Animated.
Talking about his new teachers, telling us that the girl that follows him everywhere is "good", signing up for Track Tryouts.
But his biggest goal right now which is causing him the most anxiety excitement is getting on the
Principle's Honor Roll (straight A's)
again 
because now in 6th grade he can earn a LOCKER.

So I think it is official. My Sweet Boy, my Little Man -- has become
a huge
Nerd.

{the paper mama}

This weeks photo challenge from
The Paper Mama is
Furry Friend

{this moment}

A single photo

~ no words, capturing a moment from the week

a simple, 

special, 

extraordinary moment

a moment I want to pause, 

savor 

and remember

please

leave me your link in the comments

and even join in

where it all started

Soule Mama

rule the school

My youngest girl is in Kindergarten now.
{sigh}

Pretty sure she was just born...

or it seems like it anyway.

Kelly is a very self confident girl. Likes people and makes friends easily.
She didn't go to preschool for very long, but they LOVED her there. The kids. The teachers.
I know it sounds like I am bragging (maybe just a little)
but her behavior made other kids behave better (probably why the teachers loved her so much) She always includes other kids when she plays with someone and goes out of her way to be friendly and kind.
She had a bit of a problem with one of the girls telling her "I am not going to be your friend" every time Kelly would play with someone else.
It would make her cry.

The night before the first day of Kindergarten Kelly was nervous! She was anxious about what to expect. She even told me she was worried that she would not make friends
and that kids might be mean to her --
(so un-Kelly like)
She can't fall asleep. She woke up with a nightmare at 4am.
She wanted Dad to walk her to the potty at 5am.

About a month ago there was a Kindergarten Playdate. There she met her new BFF "ever". Unfortunately, her new friend is not in the same class.
Kelly says it's alright though, they'll play at recess.
Then she told me on the morning of the first day of school,
"Maybe it is a good thing that *B* and I don't have the same teacher. That way we won't annoy her with all of our talking."

This was after she tried to get me to let her wear eye make up --
After explaining to her that she has to at least be in 7th grade to wear eyeliner, she lets me know, "But that will be just too long for me to wait".

Even after talking about everything, on that first morning she was still pretty nervous. I could see it on her face.
She held it together.

(even I held it together)

By the end of the first day, she thinks it "might be too long a day"
away from me --
I think by the end of the week she'll be fine.

So it ends up, that she is not as enthusiastic about school as her
Big Brother was (is...) but she is not a shy little thing like her
Big Sister either.

I know that for me, this week is crawling by at a snails pace. There is a million things for me to do -- but I can't seem to get anything done.
It seems like I am just waiting around until it's time to pick her up.