Octoooooober - Pre-Halloween

Is it just me, or is October the longest month ever?  I guess it gets busier and busier every year as the girls get older and they have more activities.  Our month so far has been packed- there is rarely a day that we have been home- except for Sundays.  In the past month we have had cheer practice every Tuesday and Thursday night, had gymnastics every Wednesday, the girls performed in the Cabaret with the high school cheerleaders, spent countless hours painting and prepping for the homecoming float, rode in the homecoming parade, school pictures, cheered every Saturday at the Y (2 of the games I was the substitute coach), attended at least 2 birthday parties every Saturday, business trip to New Orleans, Red Ribbon week, painted pumpkins- 1 specifically for Joey's school storybook project, completed a diorama of the Alamo for Shelby's class project, visited with my grandparents visiting from CA (and also two of my sisters), cheer pictures, Fright Fest at Six Flags, pumpkin patch, trunk or treat, fun run for school fundraiser, Shelby got braces, weekly RS presidency meetings, working more than 40 hours each week, pumpkin carving, weenie roast, daddy/daughter camp out...I feel like there is more in there that I am forgetting, but I. Am. Pooped.  Anyway, I figured I might as well post pics of all of that now before tomorrow, since I am sure I will have lots of pictures from the HOA party and trick or treating.

Friday Night Lights!

One of the girls' friends from church talked us into signing the girls up for cheer at the Y.  It was a tough decision because it meant they had to give up Singers Company, which they enjoyed, but we limit how many activities they are involved in.  Of course I love that they wanted to sign up for cheer, but this has been a huge learning experience for us all. 

In September, the girls had an opportunity to cheer at a high school game with the high school girls they attended a clinic with over the summer.  It. Was. So. Cute.  The girls got to do their cheer they had learned in front of everyone before the game, and then the high school girls each took one of the girls by the hand and had them stand next to them and cheer for the whole first half of the game.  Shelby and Joey ATE IT UP.  Oh my goodness, the look of awe on Joey's face when she saw and heard the crowd cheering was priceless.  I think they've been bitten by the cheer bug.

Goodbye, Wilma!

A couple weeks after school started, I had thyroid surgery.  It was the only way to know for sure whether or not Wilma (my nodule) was cancerous.  They start by removing half of your thyroid. They test it while you are under, and if it comes back cancerous, they go ahead and remove the whole thing. If it doesn't, they leave the other half. But there is still a chance a second test could come back cancerous a few days later, at which point you would have to get the other half removed.  Thankfully, they only had to remove half of my thyroid, and the second test came back fine.  I am now on a low dose of thyroid medicine and the scar is healing up well. It is still a little difficult to swallow- I have to look down.  It's a weird feeling-almost like your neck is really tight.  I think it may just be scar tissue, but at my next appointment I believe they will start massaging that, so hopefully that will help.  Energy-wise I am feeling ok- no more tired than I normally am at this time of year!  Just thankful to have all of that behind me at this point!

End of Summer

Even though it is still 1,000,000 degrees outside, school has been back in session for almost a month, and Fall sports officially started today, so maybe if we pretend like summer is over, the Fall temps will get here sooner. 

With all the bad things that happened, this really seemed like a bummer summer.  Last summer we spent so much time in the pool, got to take an awesome whirlwind trip to NYC, and took the girls on a last minute vacay to FL.  This summer we dealt with the death of Jeremy's dad, my thyroid issues, wisdom teeth removal, etc.  BUT, at the beginning of summer we made a bucket list and even though we didn't get to everything on our list, it was super helpful to pull it out and try to focus on all of the fun things we did get to do.

I definitely added things throughout the summer, because sometimes things came up that we hadn't thought about putting on there before.  And sometimes it was something kind've insignificant, like going to the dentist, but it helped us remember that we stayed busy, even if we didn't really go on trips. Here are a few random pictures I don't think I have posted yet.

Poor Lucy has the worst reactions to mosquitoes.

Babe

Who doesn't love an old timey soda shop?!

The best is when your kids and your friends' kids become friends.

So maybe it was a little warm for the fire pit.  Worth it for s'mores!

Finally made it back to the childrens museum in Commerce.  Joey was thrilled!

I think we were all a bit ready for school to start back.  The girls could barely contain their excitement at Meet the Teacher.  We had a relaxing Sunday (day before school) going to church and then coming home for a spa day to get ready.  We are also trying something new this year with this over-the-door shoe organizer for lunches.  So far it has worked really well and helps in the mornings when we're all in a rush.

As I went back and looked at First Day of School Pics from years prior, I realized that pink/blue seem to be a favorite combo to wear on the first day of school.  They are wearing it in every single picture!