handsful

Randy left last Sunday for a sales meeting in Las Vegas and BOY did I miss him.  Lots of people say to me, being a homeschooling mom of 5, “I don’t know HOW you do it!”.  Well, I’ll say that to all the single moms out there.  Being the only ringmaster is hard work and has to be lonely at times.  Maybe having total control of the remote makes all that hard work worth it?  (grin) Seriously, if you’re a single mom and you’re reading this…know that I am in awe of how YOU do it all. 

While he was in Vegas, my Poker-loving guy just HAD to play a few card games.  He entered 3 poker tournaments at Caesar’s Palace during his stay, with each having about 50 players at the start.  Randy WON the first one, placed 12th at the next, and placed 6th at the last.  He had a fantastic time and brought home a nice chunk of change.  I’m thrilled he was able to play (even if it did mean he got very little sleep!) and do so well.  He’s my Poker Stud.  ;)

A shot of Lainey enjoying her decorated cookie at our homeschool co-op.  We have co-op every Friday from 8:30-12.  The big kids each have 3 classes with an assembly between the 2nd and 3rd class.  Lainey stays with me during the first hour while I get her classroom ready, I help teach her class of 2’s and 3’s during the second hour and I have free time during the third (L stays in her class with a new set of teachers).  We LOVE co-op, it is a huge blessing to be able to have access to such great teaching and wonderful friends to do it with.  Most of the classes are mom or dad taught, with some (guitar, composition, art, etc.) taught by outside teachers who are paid by the parents of the children taking the class.  We especially love the composition class that MPE are taking.  It is intensive, very well structured, and the teacher has years of experience teaching writing to middleschool and older kids.  The guitar class has given Ethan, and now Abbey, a love for the instrument…I could go on and on about co-op…don’t worry.  I won’t.  :)  Suffice it to say we dig it.   

I don’t think I posted this pic of Payton in his Napoleon Dynamite costume.  He has the “look” down pat!  And, yes, I made the design with a permanent marker.  I could have ordered it, but I waited too long…at least I saved the money. 

Rinsing her own hair.  Lainey is all about doing things herself these days.  Her favorite thing to tell me is “Lainey’s a big girl” – she says/signs it.  “A-eee uh Nay gull”  Not sure how “big” is coming out “nay”, but she’s being stubborn about changing it! 

Her favorites right now…soup, doing “airplane” tricks with Abbey, going ANYWHERE, lollipops, cookies, wasabi peas, cutting paper, and running!  She’s also decided to do a little testing lately, and now says “ohh ay” which means “no it’s not”.  She’s quite persistent, and will continue asking you OVER and over for the thing that you’ve already said “no” to OVER and over again.  Ahhh, the threes.  Who said two was hard?? 

Oops.  Back to co-op.  Today was Support your Sport day, so everyone showed their team spirit.  I had my Steelers shirt on, too.  Of course!  Abbey has Randy’s Rothlisberger Steelers jersey, EJ has his Braves, Payton has the Polumalu Steelers jersey, Marley has her mix of Steelers and Wolfpack on, and Lainey is also supporting daddy’s college.  There was a lot of orange and blue for the Gators…blech. 

Cupcake anyone?  A new cupcake bakery opened up a while back, so we stopped by tonight.  Looks good, huh?  I had the chocolate pecan caramel one, far right.  I hope I get a bite of that bottom left one…Creme Brulee’. 

Well, dad’s home and all is well.  This weekend, we’re catching up on yardwork, teaching the kids how to mow the lawn with a push mower, and going to EJ’s baseball game.  Church and Real Life Groups on Sunday.  Happy Weekend :)