Yes, I suck.  I know it.  The blogging mojo just hasn't come back.  Damn you, Facebook!  Anyway, things have changed mightily since I've last posted.  Foremost, the husband is home!  Yes, he's been home for awhile.  In fact, he was only gone about 2.5 weeks.  Hardly a blink of the eye.  Easy Peasy.  He called me just before I was headed up the mountains before Labor Day and said that they've reorganized the detail and he'd been reorganized to home.  So I headed headed up the mountains with the kids and then surprised them with Daddy upon our return.

Our trip to the mountains was absolutely fantastic.  It's my new favorite place. Well, there aren't any elk but it's so beautiful I can hardly stand it.  Our cabin was very nice and there was plenty of room for my crew and for my sister's family who came up to share it with us.  Jill was so much better behaved then on our last trip, it made life so much more refreshing.  She didn't once ask "for her regular house" which was her unending cry during our family vacation.  It helped that there were tons of cousins there for her to play with.  She got along great with cousins and loved splashing in the icy, icy cold water.  How those kids played in that water, I'll never know.

Here's Katherine just dipping her feet in the water.

Here's a partial view from the beach:

This is a view from the Canyon Vista Overlook:

Here are my lovely boys:

And here's Sam trying to throw Tom off the mountain:

 (never fear, it just a joke!)

And this is a partial group shot of many of the kids on our last day right before we left:(I heart prepositional phrases)  

  It was too hard to get a non-goofy pose.

The other exciting news is that the KIDS ARE BACK IN SCHOOL!!! So far, everything is going well enough.  One child has already forgotten to bring home homework items two nights in a row, but I'm not naming any names.  Another child gave me a 3 page form asking for detailed information about child's learning styles to fill out 7 minutes before the bus was to arrive.  Again, no names, but I wrote that said child needs to work on her responsibility issues.  Sam has moved onto Junior High which has been smooth sailing so far.  Tomorrow night is back to school night for him and Chris and I are going together so we can get a first hand look at whats going on over there.  And our little Jilly will be starting 3 year old preschool on Friday.  Ahh, is that silence I hear?

Hey, did you notice that fancy book widget over there on the sidebar??  Yes, it's the books!  My favorite series of all time!  I've pre ordered and it should arrive next week. Don't expect to hear from me once that hits my doorstep.  Actually, nobody should expect anything from me--no dinners, no stories, no nothing.  Once I dive into these books, I don't come back up until I'm done.  Sorry dear, looks like you'll be doing the single Dad thing until I'm done :-)

Comments

[Tina]

Glad to see you back in action. Looks like a great summer you had. I always love mountains and oceans.. hard to choose.

Enjoy the fall..

Tina