Busy, busy, busy!

It seems like we have had a lot going on lately!!

With all the excitement of traveling to meet the Pender's I didn't mention that Cory and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on August 1st (which was while we were in South Carolina). It really doesn't seem like it has been eleven years (I think I say that every year). I will have to have to say that I have learned a lot about myself, Cory and marriage in general. It is not always easy to learn new things; we don't always like what we learn (and sometimes it means we have to change something about ourselves). But that is all part of God's plan for us. He wants us to become the person He planned us to be. But there is also lots of fun that goes along with all that learning. Cory still makes me laugh and he is fun to be around. I love to watch him with the kids. He is a great daddy and Hayden, Hayley & Alex all adore him (and I do too!!). I will have to say that Cory is my best friend and I really do love him more today than I did the day we got married. There is no one else that I would rather be "learning new things" with.

I love you, Cory and I look forward to what God has for us in the future!!

Then on the 10th we celebrated my birthday. I am officially in my 30's now. I hit the big 3-0 last year but you can use the "I just turned 30" line for just about the whole year. :) This year I am 31.....and I am really OK with that. I don't feel any older and being in my 30's isn't so bad!! We had a pretty normal day except that Cory brought pizza home for lunch and he got a cake too! The kids sang "their version" of "Happy Birthday" to me and I loved it. That evening, Cory and I went out to eat (kid free....woohoo). It was a very nice day and I loved spending it with my family!

Next, we have already started getting ready for school to start. This summer has flown by. We were fortunate enough to get to experience a lot of fun things and but I am ready for school to get started. I never thought I would be this way.....but I am ready for a routine! I am also ready to enjoy my Tuesday's and Thursday's with no kids. Hayley and Alex will be going to the Preschool and Parent's Day Out at our church on those days from 8:30 to 2:30. While I plan on doing a few fun "me" things during that time I also plan to use it to gain some control of my house. I have high hopes of getting all our closets organized (hopefully complete with the closet organizing systems). I will let you know how that goes and maybe even post before and after pictures (that is if I am not too embarrassed to let you all see what they look like now ;) ).

OK....so back to school...I got a little distracted. I have a 2nd grader!! How did that happen? When did Hayden get so big? I am really excited for him to find out who his teacher is (which should be very soon) and who is in his class. He is not all that excited. He told me the other day that school was boring and all you do there is learn stuff. He makes me laugh!! I do hope that he has some good friends in his class and maybe that will help him be a little more excited. We will see!!

Oh, before I go I thought I would update you on how it is going with no TV. The kids have been watching movies so it is not like they aren't watching the TV at all but it is definitely much less than before. With it being only movies we are able to be more selective in what they are watching. So, in general, they really aren't all that affected by it. They are playing with each other more and they might even be fighting with each other less (but that is still a day to day thing). I on the other hand have missed the TV several times. It doesn't really bother me all that often but occasionally there are times when I just want to sit down and do nothing but watch TV. I am working on finding more productive things to do with my time (that is not to include more time on the computer...lol). It really hasn't been all that bad......just seems weird every now and then!! :)