Ben
Ben learning to read has mostly been a joy, but it has created a few challenges. Most town events are advertised by signs on the Common. Because of the location of our house, we drive by the Common several times a day. Ben has spent the last week reading all the signs. He saw the sign for the Scarecrow Contest and has been asking to go all week. I was hesitant to promise anything due to our crazy schedule – Kaitlyn has a football game (so she and I won’t be available) and Wade has been gone a full week.
I forgot to warn Wade that Ben would ask to go. Ben evidently drew a design and then begged Wade to take him. Wade, being the creative guy that he is, helped make the design a reality. Wade, Teague, and Ben went up to the Common and created a scarecrow. “Poppy” the pop-tart was born!
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This is a very typical Saturday for the Burch household. I dropped Kaitlyn at cheer practice at 8 am. Then I went with Ben to soccer at 9 am. Because all Saturdays are rainy, Ben played in less than desirable weather but we did avoid a downpour.
Because I haven’t figured out how to be in two places at once, Wade picks Kaitlyn up from cheer at the same time that Ben’s soccer ends. Then we have a slight break till Kaitlyn’s soccer in the afternoon. Thankfully the weather improved and it was dry enough that I didn’t have to convince Kaitlyn to play in the rain.
I came home from running errands to find that Ben and Kaitlyn were attempting to create a big leaf pile. They were working so well together and had created a cute little pile. Then Alex heard about it and ran and jumped in their pile. They were so upset that he jumped in it first. Thankfully Alex stayed outside and helped them create a HUGE pile and the three of them had a great time.
Ben reads a couple of books to me each night to practice his reading. Then I say goodnight and go downstairs. Most nights I can hear him upstairs still reading out loud and sounding out new words. It’s adorable. None of my other kids had quite this desire to read everything all the time at this age.
When we got to church this past Sunday, we happened to arrive in the parking lot at the same time as one of our favorite ladies. Miss Janet has been a few rows behind us since we began attending church five years ago.
Sometime this summer, Ben was entertaining himself during the service and wrote a note saying “God is happy. I love you.” After the service was over, he asked me if he could give it to Miss Janet. He did and she loved it. We found out the next Sunday that she had stapled it to her Sunday School bag and carries it with her every week.
Today was the perfect opportunity to get a picture of the two of them and the bag!
Kaitlyn and her friend were thrilled last night when they went to put on pajamas and realized they had matching pjs. This morning they made pumpkin-shaped pancakes and ate them our favorite way – with cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar (hold the syrup). Then it was time for the trip across the street. I looked outside to see that the girls had attempted to dress alike and were driving all the overnight items in the Jeep.
Then Ben and I wanted to introduce Kaitlyn to Mount Watatic and its incredible view. The big boys were adamant that once (see here) was enough and they would rather stay home. Last time we hiked there was no one on the trail. This time we passed quite a few people and the top was almost crowded. Kaitlyn once again started out running and was determined to stay ahead of the rest of us the entire hike. Because the top had so many people, there were lots of people offering to take pictures. I rarely get a picture with all of us on a hike that isn’t a selfie (which means the view is never included).
Ben and I decided to show Kaitlyn the view from the top of Mount Watatic.
Kaitlyn had a packed day today. We started in the morning with a football game in Grafton. Kaitlyn cheered and had a great morning.
We made it home for a quick lunch and then our neighbor came over for a playdate. The girls were so cute and played so well together all afternoon. As the playdate was ending, they begged for a sleepover and we were able to work that out. They ended up cooking dessert, having dinner, and watching a movie with popcorn.
Wade is leaving for a week of mission work in Virginia. He is joining a group of guys that go every year. They left early this morning and won’t return till late next Saturday night and will spend the week doing house projects of all types.
When I got back to the house, three of the kids were up and Ben had a recipe for donuts in his hands and was begging to cook. It’s a holiday weekend and most of the sports this weekend have been cancelled so we have a very relaxed weekend planned. I said yes and we got to cooking.
This fall is one of the busiest we have had. Because we actually wanted to be able to enjoy Korea Day, we pushed our celebration from September 26 to a few days later. We tried to order takeout from our favorite Korean restaurant and were sad to hear that it had recently been sold and was under new management. We tried a new Korean restaurant and some new dishes!
We had horrible rain all day yesterday. Kaitlyn’s soccer game late this afternoon has already been cancelled. Ben’s hour of practice/game continued as scheduled. The fields were muddy but there was no rain. Ben obviously loves soccer, but he was not interested in listening to his coaches. (Especially when they wanted him to take a time out to let another player have time on the field.) He was very focused on trying to get a goal and very disappointed when he personally didn’t get one and when his team didn’t do as well as their opponents.
Ben has had quite the weekend. He had one birthday party yesterday and another today – both at the same place! He was very excited to return to Apex today for a new friend’s party. This one was quite a bit bigger than yesterday’s but equal fun! Ben loved playing with his new friends and the Pokemon theme was perfect.
We got home right before the downpour to find Alex had friends over. It wasn’t long before the three goofballs were outside playing in the rain…
Our weekends in the fall are always busy. In the morning Kaitlyn has cheer practice and Ben has soccer. This morning, I got up at 7 to find that Kaitlyn was already up and had muffins (from her princess cookbook) already mixed and ready to go in the oven.
The weather was supposed to be horrible, but the rain held off most of the day. Ben had soccer practice and is continuing to love it. He and the other kiddos on his team ran around and had a great hour on the soccer field.
We had a couple hours of downtime and then Ben had a birthday party for one of his preschool friends. He had such a great time seeing his buddies from last year.
Tonight was the elementary school’s Back to School picnic. I had to be there early to help out. Teague agreed to come and watch Ben. Alex stayed home (he is officially too old and none of his friends even have siblings attending). Wade took Kaitlyn to soccer and they left early to come to the picnic. Eventually we all met up and had a quick picnic dinner together and the kids had a treat from the ice cream truck.