Keeping up with...Family (Weekly Wrap 8/17 - 8/23)

Friday (8/17) I woke up still not feeling well today but I managed to help Adrian get AJ on the bus and then get the other two kids to school.  I cancelled my whole day and stayed home and rested.  I played a lot of Candy Crush, watched a lot of Housewives and Beverly Hills 90210 reruns and slept some more.  By the time it was time to get the kids from school I was feeling a little bit better so I'm hoping I'm on the upswing and will be fine after another good night of sleep.  The boys had another great day at school and the year seems to be off to a great start!  AJ got his trombone today at school and brought his music stand home so he can use it to practice.  Thankfully no one has homework this weekend so we can enjoy a little more free time before things pick up a little next week.

After the boys told me about their days, they headed upstairs to play video games for a while.  I rested some more, caught up on some emails and made the meatball subs we were supposed to have yesterday for dinner.  After enjoying dinner, we cleaned up and settled in for AJ's movie pick for the week "How to Train Your Dragon 2."  It was a little slow getting started but the end was really good.  Zak got sad at the end and he curled up in my lap which was super cute!  After the movie was over, we put the boys to bed and then watched a little TV before heading to bed ourselves.  I'm still not 100% and am really hoping for a good night of sleep tonight so I wake up feeling better in the morning!

Saturday (8/18) We had a very rare Saturday with nothing going on in the morning so we took advantage and slept in.  We had a lazy start with lots of TV, donuts and relaxing before we finally got ready to head out to our afternoon event.  We decided to try to keep some of the fun going during the school year and still pick activities.  Instead of everyone picking something every week, we are doing one person per weekend.  That person will pick our Friday night movie and our weekend activity.  This week was AJ's pick and he picked to see Madagascar Jr at the local children's theater.  We had free tickets from our library reading program and had one extra so AJ invited his buddy David to join us.  We all enjoyed the show, it was cute and funny and all of the kids in the show did a great job!

The show was short (about an hour) so since we had a lot of the afternoon left, David came over to "hang" with my boys for a while in the afternoon.  Adrian and I spent the afternoon trying to get some stuff done around the house to catch up after vacation and school starting.  The afternoon passed quickly and after David left, we made homemade pizza for dinner and had a nice family dinner.  We talked about our plans for the upcoming weekends and made some decisions as a family about what we're doing.  After dinner the boys played a little and we started watching the Cowboys game while we digested way too much pizza.  Then we did some clean up, got the boys to bed and headed to bed ourselves.  We were all exhausted tonight!

Sunday (8/19) Daniel and Zak were up early this morning and wanted an adult downstairs with them so they woke me up too.  I'm glad AJ and Adrian got some extra sleep because they both needed it.  We had a lazy morning watching TV and drinking coffee before getting ready and heading to second service of church.  I served in childcare while Adrian went to service and they boys went to their classes.  We all had a nice morning worshiping and learning with our church family!  After service, we ran home for a quick lunch of leftover pizza and then I headed back to the church to work for the afternoon as a facilities rep.

It was a busy afternoon at the church and I worked hard getting things settled there.  While I was there Adrian and the boys worked and played around the house.  I got home just in time to help them head out to Martial Arts class.  Adrian took them there while I stayed home and got a few things done and got dinner ready.  The boys were excited to be back to Martial Arts after a few weeks off and super excited to get shirts to wear for classes instead of only wearing their uniform.  After class, we had dinner, talked about our week and finished up a few things.  Adrian went on a bike ride with the boys and helped Zak learn to ride a two wheeler.  We played a quick game of Machi Koro while AJ watched a show before the boys all headed to bed for the night.  Adrian and I finished up what we needed to do and then watched the end of the Cowboys preseason game.  Ready for our first full week of school!


Monday (8/20) It was an early start for us but it will be like that for the whole school year.  Adrian and I got AJ up and on the bus before he headed to work.  Then I got the other boys up and ready for school.  I volunteered this morning so I went in with them for the first hour of the day to help kids find their classrooms.  When I was done there, I got started on my giant shopping list to restock the house since I didn't shop much this summer.  I went to Costco, Kroger, Giant Eagle, Dollar Tree and Aldi before I decided I was exhausted and needed to come home and unload what I had and get my lunch.  Before I knew it, it was time to pick up the boys from school and get ready for our evening.

I got them started on their homework and then headed out to teach my afternoon Zumba class.  It's been a while since I taught and I struggled a little but we still had fun and were moving.  When I got home, I helped Adrian and AJ head out to Boy Scouts and then put away the rest of the groceries while they were there.  When they got home, we got the boys down to bed and then made snacks and started watching the "Psych" movie from Christmas.  It will take us a few nights to get thru the whole movie because we were exhausted so it was an early bedtime for us too! 

Tuesday (8/21) Another early morning made even earlier by Zak waking up around 5am, just a few minutes before our alarms go off anyway.  Adrian got up and hung out with him and then we both got AJ ready for the bus.  After AJ and Adrian were off for the day, I got the other three of us ready and dropped the boys off at school.  Then I headed to Harcum to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  We had fun and worked hard and are all excited for some new schedule changes starting next month.  When class was over, I ran the last two errands I had to run and then headed home to get ready for a busy night.

I picked everyone up from school and then made dinner so everyone could eat whenever they had time.  Then I got Daniel ready for soccer and Adrian took him there for his first practice which he said was great.  I headed to the church to work as a facilities rep for the evening.  I enjoyed seeing some friends there and also getting a little time to myself to finish up a few things.  When we all got home, we did clean up and got the boys down for bed.  Then we watched another segment of the "Psych" movie and headed to bed too.

Wednesday (8/22) We all got a good night of sleep and got up and moving quickly this morning.  Adrian and I got AJ on the bus and then he headed to work.  I got the other two boys ready for school and then we decided to walk up to school since it was so nice outside this morning.  After I got them there, I headed to the church for a few meetings about taking over some more responsibilities there.  I will be teaching Zumba classes and helping out with the facilities rep scheduling starting in Sept and while I'm a little overwhelmed, I could not be happier to take these things on!  I also got an application to be a sub in the preschool there.  I won't have a lot of times that I can help but I am happy to help out when I can.

After all of those meetings, I headed home and got a few things done around the house including cooking dinner since we have such a busy night ahead of us.  Then I headed into Zak's class to volunteer for about an hour at the end of the day.  I did sight words with most of the kids in his class.  It was so fun to be back in as a volunteer!  When school was over, I picked up the boys and we headed home to meet AJ.  Then I got ready and headed to the Y for my Zumba class while they stayed home and worked on their homework and then played video games.

After my class, I ran home and changed again to get ready for a pool party with AJ.  It was for the youth group at our church and was his first activity with them.  He enjoyed playing the pool and jumping on the trampoline with the other kids.  We also had fun sitting around the bonfire chatting and enjoying roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.  AJ said it was a great time and he can't wait to do more with the youth group starting this fall.  While we were there, Adrian hung out at home with the other boys playing games and riding bikes.  When we all got back home, we got the boys to bed, finished the "Psych" movie and headed to bed too.  The movie was just OK, not as good as we were hoping it would be.  But still nice to see the characters that we know and love.

Thursday (8/23) The day started a little earlier than I would like when Daniel had a bad dream and woke me up.  Thankfully we were able to go back to sleep for a bit before I had to get up to help get AJ out to school.  Adrian and I got AJ on the bus then he headed to work and I got the other boys ready for school.  Then I walked them up and headed in to the Harcum Center to teach my two Silver Sneakers classes.  We had two great classes and lots of feedback about the upcoming changes to the schedule.  We are all excited about the new classes I'll be adding in September!

After I got home from work, I worked around the house for a while and before I knew it, it was time to pick up the boys from school.  We finished our homework while I made dinner and got everyone ready for a busy night.  Adrian got home and had a quick dinner before heading out with Daniel and Zak for soccer practice.  They are at different fields so he ran them back and forth while I went to work at the church for a few hours as a facility rep.  I worked on the schedule for next month while I was there and enjoyed catching up with a few friends as well.  AJ stayed home and relaxed and watched YouTube videos while we were all running around.  When we all got home, we got the boys to bed, finished cleaning up from dinner and watched this week's episode of "Younger."  We are officially all caught up on everything on both DVRs so I'm not sure what we'll watch each night going forward, probably something on Netflix.  We headed to bed early because these early mornings are rough if we don't!