September in Pictures

I cannot believe that today is the last day of September! This year has really flown by! We are mostly into the groove of a new school year. The kids are enjoying their classes and teachers. I've got a great new crops of student workers to supervise and they are proving to be very capable. Ken is still home from work with his shoulder injury, but it looks like he'll be starting physical therapy next week, which puts him one step closer to going back to work. With all this busy-ness going on, I thought a picture recap from the month might be a good way to sum things up lately.

 

We moved Frances upstairs to her own room. She's enjoying it quite a bit so far. She disappears up there right after school and hangs out until I call her down for dinner. I'm not sure what she's doing, but I honestly think she's just enjoying the fact that she finally has her own space. As you can see from the photo, though, she is usually just fine with letting her brothers come up and visit.

 

My Julie became a Jamberry consultant and I've been having fun trying out new combinations. This is a pretty overlay that is meant to enhance your own polish underneath. I just put the lace on my thumbs, and it was just the pretty "pop" I was looking for!

One of my students from last semester moved home over the summer and left her desk chair with us for safekeeping. She's got a hatchback and didn't really want to haul it to NJ and back if she didn't need to. The kids really enjoyed "riding" the chair around in circles in the living room all summer. Then, one sad evening, she came to collect it. Henry sat in it on the porch with me while we waited for her to come get it. It was a good time for some silly selfies!

Julie and her husband went to a wedding and we kept the kids for the afternoon. They got along pretty well and at one point, I stepped outside to find this "concert in the park." Frances on violin and L and D on recorders. It's a beautiful picture to look at, but you'll be grateful that I didn't take any video!!

After the concert, Frances and D decided to get married. Benjamin was the "ring boy" and Henry was the "flower boy." L was the director of ceremonies and I tried to provide musical accompaniment until I discovered that I couldn't play music on my phone and take pictures at the same time!

Benjamin is having a blast in Kindergarten. he loves his teacher and takes everything she says very seriously. He's been raising his hand at dinner instead of interrupting, and really focusing on the "homework" he gets from school and from his after-school program.

 Just me being silly. No other explanation needed, right?

While I am sad that Ken hurt himself, I will admit that it's been nice having him home. We've eaten dinner together as a family more often, spent time together on the weekends without having plans, and really tried to make the most of a tough situation.

I have some good friends who have season passes to the JMU football games. Two weeks ago was her birthday and they had other plans, so they gave us their tickets and the kids all got to see their first JMU football game. The weather was gorgeous and the seats were awesome. They had an amazing time. And they also learned that if Mommy hashtags her photos right, they'll show up on the Jumbo-tron in the middle of the game!

Henry bought this cute little cat with his own money at a craft fair at church. Then when he got it home he asked me to "put it on the fireplace {mantel} until tomorrow." I complied and then asked him what would happen tomorrow. He explained that he wanted this cat to move around the house and watch us "just like the ELF!!" Then I was stuck in the position of figuring out how to explain that I don't have time for that sort of thing, while simultaneously trying to discern how much he knows about the Elf on the Shelf. (Note: He's been moving it himself all over the house!)

This salamander was on my front sidewalk yesterday. We've had quite a bit of rain lately and I think he was trying to catch a quick breath. He stayed remarkably still while the kids came out to look at him and then he posed for this picture!

What's your highlight for the month of September?