Did I Say I'd Keep Up?

Seriously though, who thought I'd actually follow through with it? No one?

I can put the last few months into just a few words, house packing, soccer, recovering surgery, and more soccer.

With six kids in soccer we were kept very busy. Not only that,  Steve coached two of those teams. He had Jakob's team and Ethan/Heidi's team. It was busy, busy and he's rather relieved to have it done— even though he loved it while it happened. He loves his soccer and he's great with kids.

Ashley did competitive soccer this year and she worked very hard. Two practices a week and a game added into the rest made it fun to get everyone where they needed to be. But we survived. On a Thursday I would drop Steve, Heidi, and Ethan off at the park (usually with Jakob to make sure Heidi behaved), take Ashley to practice and wait until it started, and back to pick up Steve and the kids. I'd take them home and go pick up Ashley.

Tuesdays were almost as crazy but we also added in Jakob's scouts.The games were a lot of fun and I loved being able to see most of the games throughout the season. Unfortunately, Steve's two teams generally played at the exact same time. Sometimes they were both at Nolan Park and other times they were at two different parks.

I learned that I can't sit while I watch Jakob play. He's old enough now that the game goes nonstop and I have to be able to walk around. The others are getting to that point but his is the hardest to sit still for. I never thought I'd be a soccer mom since I didn't grow up with soccer. I'm loving it though.

Also, watching Heidi play soccer is a riot.

School started and the kids have loved it. Ethan constantly asks when it's time to go to school and gets his backpack on an hour before he needs to. He loves his teacher (She's awesome) and he says he has twenty-two friends.

Gavin loves his teacher and has a few friends in his class. He talks constantly about the moon and stars because that it was they're learning right now.

Ashley loves her homework and has it done as soon as she gets home. I love it! Her school report for parent/teacher conference was glowing (as were the other kids' reports). She makes friends easily and loves her new school.

Oh, did I forget to mention new school? We switched the kids to a new school since we'll be moving into the boundaries by the middle of the year...

Anyway, Andy's loving 5th grade. He's in the ALL class and has to work hard but he loves it. We just have to make sure he gets his homework done but he's getting better all the time.

Jakob started jr. high this year and he loves it. He has had a few rough moments on the bus (kid with beer on one bus and being spit on and sworn at for wearing a BYU shirt on the other bus) but he has great friends to hang out with and he's doing very well. He's taking cello this year and I'm ecstatic.

A few weeks back Steve and I went on a date to the temple. It was nice to get away. When we got out, we had several messages from Jakob. He was stressed with the kids' behavior. But then I got to the last message where he was laughing hysterically. He was in the bathroom and Andy was downstairs packing. Heidi came out of my room so excited to show Jakob her hair...

 She had gotten into the office and found my sewing scissors. I've trimmed her bangs a few times so that's what she went for. We found clumps of hair next to the sewing table the next morning.

I didn't know what to do with her hair. I figured we'd have to shave it but I didn't want to. The next morning we went to Great Clips and they did what they could to help her. I love the hair cut now and it's so much easier to deal with... too bad she still doesn't have bangs three weeks later. :)

Ashley saw Heidi's haircut an decided she liked the style. Not the missing bangs, but the back where it was so short. I knew she'd have just enough to donate and suggested it to her. She was THRILLED with the idea. Here is the before:

Here is the after:

That was my first try with layering. I kinda like it, actually. She's had so many people tell her how much they love her hair. One classmate told her she looked weird but otherwise she's loved it. I think it fits her well. Now I just need to send off the hair...

Here are a few silly pictures from the last few weeks.

Heidi's Edith Costume. She's so proud of it!

Ethan and Heidi are such buddies!

Daddy and Ethan doing homework

It amazes me how much these two look alike. Makes me proud since they look like me. 

The other big thing is that I had surgery. Again. It's gone pretty well. Headaches overpowered me for the first few days but even those are pretty much gone. I go tomorrow to get stitches out.

If you want to see pictures of our new house, check out the tab at the top of the page.

My book comes out in just over a month! That information is at jaclynweist.blogspot.com. Book two has been signed up for a contract and will come out in March. I finished book 3 over the last few weeks. I'd send chunks of it every night to my mom and she would edit and send it back. It was fantastic because it kept me writing. And she could enjoy the writing.

We're busy, busy - the best way to be!