Catch Up, Ya'll.

I've been  intending to write for a few weeks, but we've been busy with back-to-school routines, tennis lessons, work, and other fun LIFE things.

• Anderson spent three days last week at home with tonsillitis and a fever. Charlie was a blessing and stayed home with him two of the days. Andy is officially on the mend and doing much better.
• Charlie and I had a date night a couple weeks ago. Neither of us were available to do anything on the weekend, but I knew it was still super important to plan out some "us" time. Before I came home from work one afternoon, I stopped at Target to get a plain white table cloth (why I hadn't had one up to this point, I have no idea), black napkins, a cute candle, and a new vase! I asked Charlie to stop for steaks and any pink flowers he could find (to match the candle, duh). The kids helped me set up the romantic setting(which I moved into our living room, next to the (unlit) fireplace) while Charlie went for a bike ride. I think Lilly was just as excited as I was to see Charlie's reaction to the scene! I think it turned out pretty lovely and it was SO nice to have dinner with my husband after the kids went to bed. Sometimes we get so caught up in hearing about who the kids played with at lunch recess and who got in trouble on the bus, that we fail to really talk to each other about OUR days. It was a sweet change. I've had a few friends ask me about our #beintentional motto, and this is exactly what I'm talking about. The table cloth (which I'll be able to reuse a thousand times), napkins, candle, and vase all cost me less than $35. The homemade dinner and flowers cost less than $35. This is a once-a-month thing...we can spare the occasional $70....if it helps our marriage and brings us closer together...I'll spend that $70 every single month.
• The kids have been doing well in school so far. I think Lilly is struggling this year with making new friends (her two best friends transferred schools this year). I worry about her. Anderson has been adjusting nicely to being in school all day long. He has been playing a lot of basketball during lunch recess (see?) with some boys that he already knew from church. Both of the kids started taking tennis lessons this year. Lilly would be GREAT if she only paid attention better. She is soooo busy looking around and watching other people (where does she get this?) that she sometimes fails to hear the directions from the coaches. Anderson has taken lessons a few other times so he's doing really well too (even on the 7 & 8 year old team). I would LOVE to be able to take them twice a week, but our work schedules just don't allow for that right now.
• Last month Charlie and I went to a "marriage seminar" of sorts. Kirk Cameron and Warren Barfield came to Kokomo. It just so happened to be a weekend that Charlie was at the Base working anyway, so he got tickets. Although I'm not a HUGE fan of Kirk Cameron's ministry (some of it seems a little off track at times..read: the whole FB/YouTube debacle), I do like his take on marriage. At a time when Charlie and I were still very much struggling with trying to figure out how to be married and live together and raise kids together, etc...this was exactly what we needed. I know that our marriage will always be a work in progress, it was nice to sort of hit the "refresh" button on our marriage (yes, two months into it).
• My grandpa and my mom are coming to town this morning. They're going to go to church with us and then to lunch to celebrate Grandparents day. A lot of things have been happening in my extended family lately that make me soooooooooo ridiculously grateful to have the relationship that I do with my grandpa. Although it does make me sad to spend time with him, knowing that there's something missing, I still think it's extremely important to make memories with him while we still can. I know that in the past four years I have avoided going to his house because it reminds me of my grandma being so sickly and bedridden in that house, but I know that I need to do a better job of going to see HIM instead of him just coming to see us. My grandpa is an absolute gem, and I can't help but think that he is who he is partially because of who my grandma was too.