I've been a bad blogger....long overdue update!

This was one of those weekends where we had to be several places at once. Ruby had soccer on Saturday morning. Keithen had a friend's birthday party to go to on Saturday afternoon. Somewhere between the two scheduled events I had to buy a birthday present for the friend and one for Sunday's party for cousin Mitchell.

When the girls and I got home from the store on Saturday, I walked over to the trash can at the top of our driveway to throw something away and almost had a heart attack! There was a full grown opossum "playing possum" in the bottom of our trash can! The kids all came out and got a good look at him. Matt put a lid on the trash can and put it into the van so that when he took Keithen to the party at the park, he could release the animal.

While they were gone, Kaylee the artist got to work! She drew two really great pictures of the opossum being released at the park. She picked up the details of what he looked like right away! This girl is just scarey good when it comes to her artwork. I really need to scan some of her recent stuff to share.

The opossum release went well, but apparently they couldn't find the party at any shelter in the park. On Monday at school Keithen found out that the mom canceled the party since she was afraid it would rain. I'm hoping they reschedule soon since I have two presents sitting beside me for the birthday boy!

On Sunday we were once again supposed to be two places at once. My friend Tara was having a naming ceremony for baby boy #3 and my brother-in-law was having a very belated birthday party for our nephew. We ended up missing Tara's party since the two events were basically at the same time. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and enjoyed a treasure hunt for pirate chests.

Keithen had an eye doctor appointment on Monday. We are going to start putting drops in his right eye to dilate it so that he'll have to use his left eye (the weaker one) more in hopes of improving his vision. He's getting to the age now where they are afraid we won't see much more improvement. He is also going to get new lenses for his glasses again. We're going to try to get the lenses today after school. I don't want to start the eye drops until the weekend though.

Kaylee had a bit of a sad day at school on Monday as it was the first time that they had a substitute teacher. The children were all very glad to see their teacher return on Tuesday. She also brought home her Kindergarten pictures yesterday, which were very cute.

I had an email conversation with Keithen's speech teacher yesterday afternoon. She is very pleased with Keithen's progress and is starting to hear some of what they have worked on carrying over into his every day speech. She gave him high praise, calling him a pleasure to work with, polite and saying that his "giggle is contagious!" We should be getting a progress report from her with his report card in a couple of weeks.

Last night was Keithen's second soccer practice. He did really well and so far I like his new coach. It sounds like they will allow the goalies in his division to use their hands. There was some discussion about this last week and I was a bit concerned about it. They were afraid of a kid taking a ball or a kick to the face. First off, he's used to using his hands and he's good at it! Goalies are supposed to use their hands! Second off, I'd personally be more concerned about him getting hurt if they told them not to use their hands. I'm glad it looks like they are going back to goalies being able to go after the ball with their hands. His coach just told the players to yell "I've got it!" if they are grabbing the ball so they don't get kicked.

Bedtime last night was a bear. I had to put everyone to bed by myself and they were all tired and acting like they were helpless. Kaylee said she had a tummy ache, which has happened a couple of times lately. (I think maye she's going through a growth spurt. She's been eating really well, has taken a couple of naps lately and has complained of a few aches and pains. Her half birthday is next week, so technically she's due for one.) Keithen was complaining of being tired and feeling sick. I think he ate too fast after practice. I practically had to drag him down the hall to bed. Ruby was upset because she wanted my attention as well. Consequently, after I got everyone in bed I fell asleep in the recliner.

I'm being called to watch the "big show" by Ruby who is dancing around in her ballet clothes. She can't wait for ballet class to start up again in a couple of weeks!