Once a month will have to do...

So, it looks like we're in a season where once a month will have to be enough for posting. Yikes. We meet ourselves coming and going. This blog post is actually brought to you by a canceled soccer game. It's not raining. In fact, rain is not even predicted. We have no idea why it was canceled. We are calling it the favor of the Lord resting on the Shackelfords. Here's a little catch up...

With two starting at two new schools, the homework/workload situation is a little intense. My man in the middle has basketball practice everyday after school until 4:30 (He gets out at 2:00.)...okay, closer to 5:00, but who's counting?!? We sit down each evening for a nightly homework session. Sixth grade homework is intense. So is 9th grade homework...Clayton just does most of his online, which is funny because the world wide web was barely around when I was in 9th grade. So, we are basically experiencing the same 9th grade experience except completely opposite. 

You know what's not opposite? Girls leave boys notes in their lockers. Know how I know this? A little girl at Jack's school leaves him notes in his locker multiple times a day. He just rolls his eyes at it. I'm making sure he's being polite, but seriously, make these girls stop.  

The big boys had a party with the youth group at church. It was Jack's first "official" event and he really didn't want Andrew to attend. I get it, so I pitched a fun night with just mom to Andrew and he was all in. Can you tell?

Yes, our fun night included the cousins and Incredible Pizza. Does it get much better?!? We've been in Memphis almost 4 years and I still have to pinch myself that we can meet up with family on a random Sunday night.

 Monday morning, Labor Day, we all headed downtown to run the ChickFilA 5K. Well, I didn't run. There has to be an athletic supporter, carrier of the bags, holder of the phones, parker of the car, etc. in the group. That was me.

 Fred and his mini me were all set to race.

 Fred finishing.

 I think this is Clayton finishing. He came across first for the Shackelford family. I think he ran the 5K in around 23 minutes. Not too shabby.

Andrew had a fun run around the field. He was all business and did well. He's the kid in blue. 

My aunt Christie came to town and we took her to the old Sears building for dinner and just to look around. It is now called the Crosstown Concourse. It has restaurants, retail space, residences, offices...just a generally cool building. We all had a great time. If you're ever in the area, you should stop. We highly recommend Farm Burger and MemPops. 

All the running around that we've been doing has been leaving Dash absolutely exhausted. He even pulled a pillow up to make himself comfortable. 

We had a paint party at church. Painting/crafting is not really my thing. You know who loves it?!? Andrew. And so does his cousin Zachary and his friend Turner. These three precious boys busted up the women's paint party and had a blast! I loved having Andrew there.

The blog that I love, Thriving Home Blog, released their cookbook. It is all about freezer cooking and I absolutely LOVE it! I made Chocolate Zu-Nana Waffles and everyone ate them up. Jack wanted to know what Zu-Nana stood for and when I told him that it stood for zucchini and banana he wrinkled his nose and said, "I knew you would try to do something healthy." But, I'm proud to report that he tried them AND liked them. Five thumbs up from this crew. Now, that's high praise. 

I mentioned Jack playing basketball, but Andrew is playing flag football and Clayton is playing soccer. We stay pretty scheduled between all three sports. Zachary and Eli are graciously joining us each Saturday all the way from Germantown so the cousins can play together. It is such a delight to watch them play. Andrew and Zachary are on a team together. If you asked them their favorite part of the game it would probably be sitting on the sidelines together and eating snacks. Those two loves flow straight from my DNA. 

Fred and Renee had tickets to the Ole Miss game and they asked C and J to go. Having never been to the grove, they decided to give it a try. The Rebels played UT Martin and I'm pretty sure Jack and Clayton cheered for the Skyhawks...unfortunately they did not win. 

The boys were out of school last Friday. I took the opportunity to take them shopping to try on clothes for fall. The days of picking out clothes and bringing them home are long gone for several reasons: 

1. I have no idea what size they wear. 

2. I want them to wear it. 

3. The big boys are now in the men's department. Those clothing prices don't play. 

Jack was indignant about going shopping. In fact, when I told him we were going to shop for fall and winter clothes he said, "What?!? I have four pairs of shorts and two sweatshirts. What more do I need for this winter??" Sweet boy. After much, much discussion, we bought him one pair of joggers and another sweatshirt...oh, and a pair of shoes. The boy loves some tennis shoes. 

We also bought cupcakes...well the kids had cupcakes. I've reached an unfortunate age of certain foods hurting my acid reflux problem so drastically that I have to refrain. If it sounds terrible, you are correct. It's terrible. 

Sweet Jack went into the dressing room at TJ Maxx with 5 items. He walked down the hall, but quickly came back to tell me he couldn't find room 5. I explained to him that the 5 was for the number of items that he was taking back and that there were not assigned rooms. He just giggled. Think he goes shopping much?!?

I'm proud to report that we had a successful shopping trip. I'm also proud to report that it's been 95 since we bought all these clothes. I call that time well spent. {Insert eyeroll over Memphis weather.}