Goodbye Summer, Hello Hectic!

I apologize for the lack of updates over the past few months! Ever since we returned from our WI trip, it's been one thing after another... the fair, the hurricane, the start of school. Just when I was starting to feel like we were out of the woods and settling into a comfortable routine, we decided to put the house back up on the market! We don't like being idle, apparently.

We have decided to be more aggressive in terms of selling the house this time around. We dropped the price by $75K from our initial listing and hopefully that will generate some new interest... or revive someone's interest who has previously seen the place. We have about one week to get the place back up in tip-top shape, so every spare minute is going to be spent cleaning and organizing.

Here's a quick update on what else is going on our lives.

School is going very well for Amanda. Every day she comes home and tells me about a new friend she made. I haven't heard much about the learning aspect of school, but she is very detailed about the social aspect!

I have really been enjoying my time with Eva, since it's first time ever that I've gotten to have one-on-one time with her - without any of her siblings around. When Liam goes down for his nap, we often play school, work on reading, writing her letters/numbers, do a craft project or a baking project. I am getting to know her in a completely different way and any behavior problems that she had before seem to have vanished in just a week's time. As I said, it has been an extremely enjoyable week!

Liam is starting to put two words together now, as in "Hi Daddy" or "Mama Pretty." The other day I was kissing him and he said,"No!" I said,"No more kisses?" And he said,"Mama Hug." He's such a sweet, affectionate little boy. (As long as he isn't biting one of his sisters, that is! I've had to start Time Outs with him for that very reason.) Surprisingly, he is starting to show interest in potty training. One day he kept saying,"Potty" and when I looked at him, he was sitting on the floor with his shorts pulled down around his ankles. Another day, he kept bringing me diapers saying "Potty" and pointing to the diaper he was wearing. I have put him on the little potty a few times, which just makes him laugh, and nothing more. But he definitely knows the process, just from watching his sisters. I guess he just wants to do everything they do - - including wearing a pink tutu and a blue headband, twirling to the Barbie "Princess & and the Pauper" Soundtrack. And yes, of course I have that on video.

Dave and his bandmates are making more progress on their upcoming CD. Last night they put lyrics to another song and it sounds great. We'll all be going into the recording studio next Saturday for a full day's session, and I will be making my singing debut! I will be singing back-up vocals on one of my all-time favorites of theirs, "Tuesday." I think they will be including two other tracks that I contributed to, on piano. It is very rewarding and exhilarating to be working with an ensemble again!

Here's a quick photo - my way of saying farewell to the summer. This was taken a few weeks ago at Rexhame Beach with Amanda's best friend, Katelynn.


That will do it for my update, but I hope to get caught up on posts sometime in the near future.