John Mayer concert...

Andrew managed to get some tickets the same day of the concert so the kids ended up skipping ballet, scouts and youth and we disappeared off to the concert.....

It was kinda surreal to arrive to this outdoor ampitheater and find it is exactly the same as the new one in Alpharetta....a little de ja vu to be in a familiar place at a John Mayer concert again.....made me miss Alpharetta all over again.....the de ja vu feeling wore off as the temperature stayed just below 100 degrees ALL NIGHT.....

First on was Owl City....although fireflies was the only song I recognized or liked - their other songs were a little techno-ey.....and then on came John Mayer....by this time it was around 9pm and dark.......

He played tons more songs that we knew at this concert (or perhaps we just know tons more of his songs than we did two years ago...??) which was fun....it was also fun to be able to lay on the lawn on a big blanket.......ok until everyone stood up anyway so we had to stand up too if we wanted to see:) We made it through to about 10.30pm and then couldn't hack the heat anymore....we were both kinda sweaty so no more contact/snuggling anyway......:)

Good music, cute date, fun to do something different.....but next time we won't do an ampitheater in Arizona in August:)

Fun Night

We had a really fun night this week with a couple of Andrew's friends from work who were over from Brazil (Chris and Raphael). Lisa and Tonya came too with their kids and we spent the night playing piano, guitar and singing....ok so some of us sang and played while everyone else listened in awe:) Andrew only got a short video clip of Cristiano serenading  us.......

 

and somehow we didn't get any video of McKenna's amazing talent - she'll just  have to do it again for us:)

School....

So the first day of school yesterday - Daniel started 8th Grade, Jordan started 6th, Abbie started 3rd and Amelia started Pre-K (ok so she had just an hour today; "orientation" or something??? )

But for just an hour, I was all alone.....I mean not even Andrew was home (he's actually away for work right now)....and it was really weird. I thought I was going to really relish and enjoy the moment, but it was just strange and still and quiet,.....I realized its the first time I've been without a baby/kid or working from home husband in a LOT of years and I almost didn't know what to do with myself (ok so in that hour, I probably browsed facebook and put the dishes away...yay!) I'm sure I will figure it out - but for that one hour I actually missed my kids and I was glad when the hour was over and I could go and pick up Amelia (now by the evening when I'd had to feed, get to scouts/youth, then get into bed with teeth brushed, and deal with a few minor arguments in between,..... I was over it!)

Back to School....

School starts tomorrow - Daniel is going into 8th grade, Jordan into 6th, Abbie into 3rd and Amelia is in Pre-K......so it's been the usual rush of school supplies, backpacks, shoes, clothes, schedules, open houses and haircuts..... I hope tomorrow goes smoothly:)

Abbie wanted to go short and for the first time I let her do it (even though I could have puked right there and then when the lady chopped off the first chunk of her hair!)....she looks sooooooo cute but I was really nervous that she would hate it and cry when she realised her hair was actually gone....but so far she really loves it too so we are happy:)






















Amelia wanted to get her hair cut the same as Abbie's but I'm not so willing and ready to let her start to grow up and look old and mature.....so we went with a couple of inches off...
























And the boys got their hair cut (even though it still looks like it is in their eyes...) I wonder if they will ever change their minds about having longer hair and go with a short hair style??? I wonder if they will look back on their hair when they are adults and laugh about it...or if they'll always think it looks cool!

Kids thoughts....

by Amelia

by Abbie

by Jordan

by Daniel

Advice....

Read this today and thought it was great advice - now if only I could remember to use it in the moment:)

"That boy is going to be the death of me. He never listens. I tell him and I tell him, but do you think he cares what I say? No! Not in the least. I don't know how he is going to learn if he never listens."

We've all heard the parent who talks like this,....

How old were you when you learned to shut out your parents' lectures? Lectures didn't work for our parents and they seldom work for us. They don't even bring out the best in our spouses.

The best rule of thumb is:
Keep it short.
Keep it polite.
Make it a question.

"Oh, Darla, I noticed that you were being a bit snippy with your friends when we were in the car. Do you ever worry about losing their friendship because of that?"

It's possible you might get a snippy answer like, "No, besides it's none of your business."

Instead of lecturing, stick with your polite questions. "Oh, sweetie, that might be true, but if not, do you have a plan? Good luck."