Another update

Since I lasted posted on here, Fred ran into a traffic cone and flipped over his bike, landing rather abruptly on the pavement. The abrupt landing caused a break in his collarbone, which required surgery. When I went back to get him I got tickled because this was written on his left collarbone. It just made me laugh. 

Two weeks after surgery he is sling free and feeling pretty good. He still can't lift anything heavier than a coffee cup or ride a bike (outside), but he's making progress. 

During his surgery, Grandma Beulah and Renee sat in the waiting room with me. Grandma Beulah came prepared with 1/2 or so of muffins from Perkins. She's the best. 

Andrew and I try to read each afternoon together. Dash will not be left out. He typically sits right in between us or on top of us. 

 The other thing I do in the afternoon is carpool, carpool, carpool. With three boys in three different schools and three different sports, we keep the road hopping. I'm typically running from one thing to another for about 3 hours each afternoon.

 Here we are at a soccer game. The theme of our life right now is hurry out the door and wait. I mean, I love these middle and high school coaches that invest in my boys, but you know what I'm going to invest in for them of Christmas?? A watch. ;-)

Jack doesn't have much free time these days, but while Fred was down recovering from surgery, he was a big help. This particular day HE ASKED me if he could mop the kitchen. He asked me. I told him under no uncertain terms that he was always free to mop the kitchen floor. 

 Jack did not have practice one day and we found a little time to run together. It was so precious. He talked my ear off the entire time and encouraged me to run faster. He even said, "I bet I can can beat you to the house." To which I responded, "I bet you can too!"

It has been rather humid here these "fall" days. This is what my hair looks like when I go on a run with these temperatures. Nice, huh?? I think I could start a new trend. 

We have a sweet friend at church that plays football. One Friday night we headed to Arlington to watch him play. It was a great game and a good night for football. It's always a good night for football. 

Over fall break I did a little freezer cooking for our freezer swap. There are six of us that get together once a month and swap meals. Everyone leaves with six meals to store in their freezer for the month. It is delightful!

I made Meatball Subs. So one day I rolled about what seemed like 2,000 meatballs. It really only took me about 30 minutes. I also made chocolate chip cookies for everyone. 

Also over fall break we headed to Jack to spend a little time with my parents. We had a blast and ended up going to the Farmer's Market to get a donut, because that seems like the right thing to get at a Farmer's Market when people are selling fresh fruits and vegetables. It was the best donut I've ever eaten. It was also as big as my head. I was only about to eat about 1/3 of it. 

On Sunday our sweet friends from Paris surprised us at church. I had a difficult time maintaining my composure when I looked over and saw them. Man, I love these people. I also can't believe how much all of our children have grown. 

Jack came down the Monday after fall break dressed like this...with his sweatshirt on backwards. He did not even notice it until I pointed it out. Bless him. 

My mom and I had our annual shopping trip. The boys were at Camp-o-Ree so we just stayed at my house. Friday we shopped so long that we were exhausted Saturday. We did a little bit Saturday, but mainly just watched some football and hung out. 

 Jack has been playing, practicing, talking about, dreaming about basketball. The first home game was two weeks ago and it just happened to be Andrew's birthday. Andrew requested waffles for his birthday breakfast. For all the home games, Jack's coach has them dress up. Not wanting to mess up these dress clothes, I had just wear an apron. He went along with it thankfully and no syrup was drizzled on him.

 Sweet boy all dressed up...

 Sitting with the team.

 Dressed and ready for his first JV game. They lost. Jack does not like to lose.

One morning Jack had to wear his tie and Fred was working out so Clayton helped him. Bless my heart it was about the sweetest thing ever. 

Clayton has been living and breathing soccer. His rec season just finished up and now he's headed to conditioning with the high school team. He's been working all summer at him running times. On the first day of conditioning he ran his mile in a little over 6 minutes. That's fast people. 

Andrew has been playing flag football. It was FREEZING last Saturday, which is fitting since today it is 75 degrees outside. 

I mentioned Andrew's birthday a few sentences above. He turned 8 on Thursday, October 26. I can not believe he's 8! We went to Jumping World with a few friends, had a fine dining experience at McDonalds and then feasted on an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. 

 On Friday we took him with us and the senior adults from our church on the General Jackson. He had a fun day in Nashville for his present from us. We had fun being with just him...when you are the youngest of three boys it's pretty rare that you get a captive audience for an entire day with your parents.

We had a Fall Festival at church. Clayton dressed as a referee. The plan was for Jack to dress as a basketball player, but basketball practice ran a little late and we ran out of time. 

 Andrew was a ninja and Fred was a traffic barrell.

It's been a good month. We are now gearing up for the holidays and a few other fun things.