On overload

Sorry, it's been pretty crazy around here, so I haven't been on the computer much. I haven't picked up the camera ever since we were demo-ing, so no more pictures to update. It's coming along pretty smoothly except the tile for the master bath has been a pain in my rear end. We'll probably start physically moving in two weeks and be fully in by 3 weeks. I promise pictures of the progress...soon! We were able to catch a lot of the olympics, my favorites are swimming, gymnastics and track. Beach volleyball was pretty cool too. And there's NO way all those Chinese gymnasts are 16. Hmmm, I wonder why all their ID's checked out???????
Mia started 1st grade yesterday-I couldn't even remember my camera for that. She's in a 1st/2nd grade split class which I was a little nervous about, but she doesn't seem too concerned. I talked to the principal (who is totally awesome by the way) and she said that because Meadow Heights is a smaller school ALL the kids have a turn in a split class one year or another. I won't bore you with anymore details, but she did a good job reassuring me. Mia also had her first day of soccer with her new team yesterday. I was hoping for a more "girly" color since she is my only girl and she ended up with an electric green jersey. And instead of at least having a cutesy name like "the lucky charms" or "the peppermint patties" the girls voted on "The Stinging Serpents" I was amazed. All the girls on the team are just 6-8, I thought the world was still all about unicorns and rainbows, not serpents. Whatever. GO Serpents!!
Another thing that has been keeping me busy is I was offered a job with my previous employer who I taught preschool for. I am going to be teaching a 3-4 year old class Mon-Thur. mornings. Kai will be in the Mon/Wed. class with me. I'll be done early enough to pick Mia up from school even on her minimum day. It's only about 12 hours in the classroom and then around 2-3 hours of prep work a week. The prep work for the first day of school is killing me right now. The program has gotten a lot more polished and professional than the more Park and Rec"ish" program I left five and half years ago. Anyway, I still have so many calendars, sign ups and parent letters to do and school starts on Tuesday.
There is just too much going on right now!

$$CHA-CHING$$

I'm sure Aaron knows money doesn't grow on trees, but he keeps coming up with more projects (that cost money) for the new house. Every time I turn around we've spent another $1000 on this house, and I'm starting to hyperventilate!

Can you really be surprised?

It's moving time again for the Shong Clan. Hey, we've been in this house for 3 years, that's one more year than we usually hang out for in our past residences. We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to move into a home that has been in Aaron's family for 54 years. The home is in a great neighborhood and the best thing is that Mia's school is down the street! The home was designed by Aaron's grandmother and built in 1954. We have our work cut out for us too because we have to bring the home up to the 21st century. Most of the work will be in the bathrooms and in the front and back yards. We're also doing lots of updating with paint and new light fixtures throughout the house. While we've been having fun doing demo, it's stressful trying to get it all done so we can be all the way in the house by October 1. That may seem a long way off to some, but we know it's going to be here in a flash. All this work means we're canceling on our Bass Lake vacation :( Here's some before and after's so far...

Mia's room
BEFORE:


AFTER (or "during" still waiting for patching and painting):



Master bath-
BEFORE:



DURING DEMO:

Kidz Newz

Where did my babies go???????

MIA: Well two weeks ago this little 6 year old couldn't ice skate, nor ride a bike and had all her teeth. Now she's lost her first tooth with a second one about to fall our any day. She can also ice skate and ride a two wheeler! She got to go to an ice skating camp for a week and it turned out to be her favorite of the 5 different camps she went to over this summer. Not only do they teach the kids to skate, but they let them paint the ice and another day they scraped the ice into piles of "snow" so they got to build snowmen, and have snowball fights. One day her instructor mentioned to me that she had especially good balance that day so I thought "hmmm, maybe I'll go home and have her try out her bike." Mia was all for it so with Aaron holding the seat they began their lessons down the street. I went inside to get the video camera and when I came back out she was riding down the street all by herself. I was shocked. I figured it was going to take all day and maybe even the next day. I was wrong, I don't think she ever thought she couldn't do it so she just took off. And now to make her feel really grown up to Aaron and me she is going to be a first grader in less than 3 weeks. Say whaaaaaaaaaat, she's an actual "grader" now. Gone are the days of being an "er"-toddler, preschooler, kindergartener.


KAI: Well besides just turning 3 Kai has recently achieved a major milestone that makes his mom VERY happy. This one bit of news is as exciting to me as all Mia's bits put together. He is potty trained!!! We began a month ago and it took him two weeks to get into the groove. He's doing great, he even stays dry through naps, he does wear a pull up at night though. After a year and a half of two kids in diapers I'm back down to only changing diapers on one. WOO HOO. Good job little buddy. Now he can go to preschool in September. I have begun noticing how much Kai loves babies. He is so sweet and tender and interested in any little baby we meet. I feel bad that he won't get to experience any more little babies in our household because his mom is Done with a capital D, don't you know?!


NOAH: He is officially one and a half and can go to church nursery, so the first time in three years I can go to my meetings childless. He has been walking for two months and is still trying to keep up with his older brother and sister. He has just recently learned how to climb up his sister's bunk bed ladder much to my chagrin. I didn't believe Mia when she told me and then I saw him do it yesterday all on his own. On another note, he is my only child that has ever had a "lovie" or something he's attached to. He loves this Smokey the Bear pillowcase that was Aaron's when he was a little boy. He walks around with it around his shoulders. He's our most verbal baby yet. Many of his words aren't the actual word, for instance a pillow is a "lolo" but he's very good at communicating with us and knows more words than Mia or Kai did at this point. I still call him my baby, and probably always will, but he really is getting big.



Big changes are happening all the time between 3 kids and we love it. Our family dynamic is great and my favorite moments of the day are watching my kids playing together completely oblivious to my presence, making each other laugh, and building their sibling bonds that will last forever.