Spiders, Glue Sticks, and Mr. T

It's hard to believe that it's already October. I sure miss the Fall in Utah. Leaves changing colors, temperatures cooling off, long sleeved shirts, hot chocolate, and the smell of the furnace kicking on for the first time. Instead, we have cooled off from 95 to 92. We are still running the air conditioner 24/7 and worst of all, there's no such thing as a break from yardwork around here! (No wonder so many people have landscapers!) One good thing about October in Texas is that there is no need for Halloween decorations. The freakishly large spiders here spin huge webs that go from tree to tree, making everything outside look naturally spooky. One such spider made its way into our house this past week and I discovered that when it comes to spiders, Wally is a sissy. If you ask him about the account, he will refer to himself as the "dragon slayer." But I don't think maiming a spider with a fly swatter and sucking it up with the vacuum cleaner really qualifies as slaying.

We've had a couple of busy weeks here. It was my turn to teach preschool this past week, and while we had a lot of fun, boy was I tired after they all went home! It didn't help that Jackson ended up getting sick on Monday (he's not a very easy sick person!) But Chloe was the biggest challenge to teaching. She wanted to be held and bounced and entertained every minute. At one point I decided to put her down in her crib and continue on with the lesson like nothing was wrong. Nothing gets past those preschoolers, though, and they all took turns pointing out to me "Your baby is screaming!"

Kelsie had to take two trips to the school nurse this past week. Once for a nose bleed and another time for a glue-stick injury. (Yes, that's right, a glue stick injury!) Apparently she snapped the lid onto the glue stick a little too close to her skin and actually cut herself! Poor thing-- it looked like it hurt, but when she told me how it happened, all I could do was laugh! I may have to become a lobbyist for tougher regulations in the glue stick industry!

Jackson's soccer games continue to be entertaining. At the last game I overheard one mom telling her son "You don't have to say 'Excuse me' when you want to get past the other kids." Jackson is out on the field purely for social reasons. He likes to hang out with his buddies and run around. Every once in a while the ball hits him, but other than that, he doesn't make much contact with the ball. But the good thing is he's having fun!

Chloe has started sleeping better now that we have finished re-painting her nursery and she doesn't have to room with us. She rolls all over the place and is trying to scoot now. She is definitely an independent little thing and growls at us when she doesn't get her way or wants more attention. She is starting to grow one little patch of hair on the top of her head and another patch of hair at the base of her head. Wally calls it the "Mr. T" look. Unfortunately, she no longer allows me to put a bow on her (she just eats it!).

Wally has started studying for the CPA exam and I am just trying to keep up with everything. Good thing the kids keep life so exciting and fun!