In honor of my 500th post, I thought I’d share my employment predictions for my children.  For my firstborn, I’m thinking the world’s first reality TV exterminator.  Last night Ethan was in the bathroom getting ready for bed when I heard him say (while slightly gritting his teeth), “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”  And then he squashed a bug on the first swipe.

As for Rachel, I see professional choreography in her future.  As evident in this video, she’s been channeling her inner Paula Abdul lately.

Lots of fun things going on right now.  Rachel and I (unbeknownst to her) are soaking up as much fun as we can with Ethan before we wake up one morning and he’s off to kindergarten.  Speaking of Ethan…the other night I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and he said, “Mommy, do you need some help?  It would be my pleasure to help you!”  Not only did it melt my heart, but I also had a glimpse into his future as a Chick-fil-A employee.  This is the same kid who told Clay he was having some in-the-chest-ion (aka indegestion) the other night.  Kindergarten roundup is tomorrow night so excuse for me for feeling a bit nostalgic or proud or whatever these feelings are.  I honestly don’t know how to feel right now because I’m so ready for him to have school experiences and meet new friends and to be challenged in a different way.  And at the same time I just want to lock our doors and throw away every clock and calendar we have and keep things just the way they are right now.  I’m sure the next few months will be a whirlwind…better put a hat on and hold on tight!

Dressed for cowboy day at school

Hanging by the hotel pool in the Holy Land, I mean, College Station

Taking a rest on the quad at A&M

At the Dad’s breakfast at school

R on Clay’s iphone and E on his leapster

Didn’t quite make it out of our pajamas before lunch this day

A couple of months ago I read an article in a magazine about a mom who hired a photographer to follow her family around for an entire day to capture a true day in the life for their family.  While I’m pretty sure that I don’t want a stranger following me around for an entire day with a camera (especially not into my laundry room or a couple of closets around here), I do think the idea is interesting.  I think it would be fun now to look at pictures of a day in the life when I was five years old.  I really don’t remember anything about being five years old except that I tortured my poor mother by insisting that I ride the bus on the first day of kindergarten (and every day after that) and kept waving at her from the back of the bus while she followed us to school in her car (if either of my children do this I think I will crawl in a hole and stay there for a very, very long time – mom, I really am sorry about that!).  Anyway, I’m thinking I’ll start trying to capture some more day in the life-type moments around here, and unfortunately, you’re going to be subjected to them! 

So, here’s a look into a typical Sunday afternoon around here:

Clay and Ethan spend it doing boy things like watching episodes of the 1965 Batman tv show on the computer after they’ve played a few levels of Lego Batman on the PS3

I spend a chunk of my Sunday afternoon clipping coupons from the paper

And Rachel spends part of her Sunday afternoon recovering from her 5:30 a.m. wakeup that she feels is necessary after the time change

Last week we were playing outside and I heard screaming coming from the car.  Only Rachel would find the Bumbo, put it in the car, sit in it, buckle the seatbelt and then scream because she couldn’t get out.  I really love this kid.

I guess this would explain why I had to use kleenex today…you never know around here.

The grandparents will be very sad about the lack of pictures in this post (fine, you can go ahead and stop reading now), but the camera is in my car and that seems like a really long way from the comfort of this chair.  In the past few days we’ve been to the zoo, had a garage sale, put Ethan in bunk beds and Rachel in Ethan’s twin bed, sold the crib which made me tear up just a bit, had dinner at a friend’s house, hosted lots of teenagers at our house for a devotional, started Ethan’s swim lessons, and played at a new park.  And now I’m enjoying being in a clean and quiet house for another 30 minutes.

It is 10:58 a.m. and this child has already pooped 4 times.

…when you have to put 9 of the 10 kids in your preschool class in time out…and when you lock BOTH sets of keys in your car while it’s in the garage.