The new normal

The last post announced the first day of school. I had two weeks from that day until I started work. I can't remember what I did for those two weeks, but I was busy! And when the time to work rolled around, I wished I'd had another two weeks.
I haven't been to work in five years. And although I only work three days a week for six hours a day, it's been a huge adjustment. I now have two days in which to grocery shop, clean house, run errands, etc. Saturdays I try to spend with the kids, and we have small group on Sundays now, so that day is "out" so to speak. So, this isn't going to be such a wonderful, witty, look-what-the-kids-did post, but more of just a glimpse into our every day, which is still pretty wonderful. (And I lost all the pictures from the end of August and beginning of September when I installed the new iOS on my phone a week ago.)

 Three days a week I get up an extra 15 minutes early and get ready to go to work. I usually spend that morning feeding Ryan his first breakfast, then kiss my sleeping daughter and husband before leaving the house at 7:20.

Gotta love driving past soybean fields on my way to work on a hazy morning!

This is where I work! It feels fancy: they play music outside the building, and the lobby is all 1990's green marble and a fountain, although that's being redone in the next few months.

This is my desk. I spend my time between 5,314 websites looking up information and submitting applications for IRA's, annuities, and other stuff that I really don't understand. At least I have the pretty painting to look at that my boss's mother-in-law did.

 And the rest of my time is filled with stuff like this:

Here's what our calendar looks like: balancing karate class with AHG, keeping track of what days the kids have library or PE and need things before school, Joshua's days off, and then random other events. Whew!

Packing lunches for three of us!

This is a "light" day! I usually just wait til Saturday and wash everything at once.

Lots of homework. This time, the kids are doing it in their jammies! Both kids have a homework packet every week, so there is something for them to do Monday through Thursday. I usually let one play on the computer while I'm working with the other one, because if they work together, they distract each other. However, since we were doing homework at about 8:00 at night, they did it together. This is a perfect shot: this is usually Bella's attitude toward homework (bored) and Ryan's (excited).

Part of Ryan's homework was to tie his shoes. There were tears. There were fits. There was some yelling, but he finally got it and thinks it's so cool that he can tie his own shoes!

And lots of time spent here: the karate dojo. We usually make it twice a week, and sometimes three times. The kids are doing very well and go for their belt testing next week to move up to the next level!

 And on the weekends, I try not to spend the whole day cleaning, although the kids do have to clean their rooms and their bathroom. When that's done, we get to do fun stuff like this! Last week the DNR hosted a two-day event featuring all things outdoorsy. I took the kids on Saturday and they liked it so much we went back on Sunday.

Ryan takes his turn with the bow and arrow.

Bella's a professional, apparently. She actually bought a set like this at the farmer's market a few months ago, but has only played with it a time or two.

 We checked out campers-the only way I would actually consider camping! Although completely out of our price range, they were fun to walk through.

 No camping is complete without s'mores! These folks were smart enough to provide chocolate chip cookies instead of fooling around with graham crackers and chocolate bars. Personally, I think it's a stroke of genius.

Even better, they had double chocolate gluten-free cookies, so I got to enjoy a s'more too!

This was a penned-up version of dodge ball.

I had to "force" Ryan to take a pony ride, but once he did, he wanted to do it again.

Bella, of course, couldn't wait to get on her horse!

 A group called Animalia had all sorts of-you guessed it-animals including a cockatoo, some ferrets, a snake (which Bella pet and I forced myself to do the same), and this giant tortoise, who is actually a "toddler" and will grow to twice this size before it's all said and done.

Bella, of course, not only pet the tortoise but asked if she could pick it up. If she doesn't end up as a vet, I will be shocked.

This is about as close as Ryan wanted to get.

Bella is like a moth to a flame around animals.

 We took a hay ride, which we haven't done in quite a while. And we made funny faces while we were on it!

The kids couldn't resist taking a ton of pictures of this mule, which I had to delete from my phone. Who needs 10 pictures of this thing?

 September 24th was the "Longevity Ceremony" for the IMPD officers, which sounds like something you'd celebrate at a nursing home and not the police department. Regardless, we hung out in the Mayor's Conference Room and that was cool. 

What a view! And what a beautiful day!

That's my man with the Chief of Police, who complimented Joshua's hairstyle (or lack thereof), and gave a wonderful speech thanking the men and women for their service.

We decided to skip the (probably nasty) sheet cake in lieu of a lunch date at The Cheesecake Factory. My Godiva chocolate cheesecake was gluten-free! I think we made a much better choice!

Later on, we went to Clay Terrace. I love our family.

 Joshua took the "bricks" (I'm sure I'm using the wrong word here) that lined our tree and built a fire pit in the back yard. I'm not sure who was more excited-Joshua or the kids! Regardless, it made for a fantastic end to a beautiful day.

Bella shares her excitement in a weird pose.

Ryan feels that roasting one marshmallow is not an effective use of his time!

 Two pictures miraculously made it through the photo-destroying debacle and I love them both.

Ryan used his allowance to buy a bubble mower at the neighbor's garage sale. He chased Joshua around the yard "cutting" the grass.

These are my kids. I can't put groceries in the cart because they both wanted to ride in it and read their books. I LOVE that they are readers, but given the fact that I've read to them before bed almost every night of their lives, it doesn't surprise me. 

 And speaking of reading, here's Ryan reading "Gossie and Gertie" almost completely by himself!