September Survival

We knew that this fall would arrive with a lot of changes and exciting adventures for our family: a new home, new schools, new schedules, new responsibilities, new sports - but I had no idea how intense our schedule would become.  I am getting better and better at juggling the morning feat of getting the girls ready for school, managing Ella's homework and soccer schedule, and the countless other small tasks that need to get done without the help of my right hand man who is putting in long days at Hillview and long nights of home improvement. 

I really am loving every minute of this new chapter in our lives... (well almost...) 

I've especially enjoyed the Kindergarten fun!

Ella's class had RED week and I was able to make RED heart jello jigglers as a special treat for Ella's class and Ella was so excited to come home from school as 
Clifford the Big RED Dog!

Lilah started back at Hillcrest preschool this week and LOVES going to school.  She is the most confident and capable three-year-old that I have ever seen and besides the morning "too tight' tantrum...  her school days are always filled with fun and a great attitude!

Our afternoons and Saturday mornings are spent with a great group of girls and parents from the Pink Lightening Soccer team.  
Ella was able to 'play-up' to be on Julia's team and being on a team with the Bustamantes has been fun for us all!

GO PINK LIGHTENING!

And the last bit of  survival for this September is surviving pregnancy... 38 weeks and counting down to the birth of our third little girl.

Where the heart is

In the winter of 2002 Justin and I bought our first home - it was a diamond in the rough - to put it nicely...  Some family members thought we were crazy - the house was a fixer that we took down to the studs over the next three months.  We spent evenings and weekends tearing out tile, cabinets, carpets.  I actually got up on the roof (briefly) to help remove the old shingles.  It was a labor of love and thanks to Justin's incredible home remodeling skills and the enormous help from ALL of our handy friends and family, we made 15449 Woodcrest not just our first house but our HOME.  Everything was new and beautiful and over the last 8 years we continued to improve it by first bringing Alli Dog home, and then a year later Ella Phyllis slept under it's roof :)  a short 19 months later Lilah Alice made Woodcrest her first home.  It is the home of our beginnings - the beginning of our marriage, our careers, our family...  and we are so fortunate to be able to keep Woodcrest to rent to a new family and we know that 12003 Penford will be a home of new beginnings - most importantly the beginning of our family of FIVE.  Just about 3 more weeks until we meet the newest Mayernik and bring her home to the house of new beginnings.

One last porch shot on moving day....

Schoolbag in hand...

The arrival of kindergarten snuck-up on us after a summer of changes.  New jobs, new homes, new babies!  Just three days after We moved from Woodcrest to Penford - moving from the house we brought our first teeny little girl home to... to the home where she would start her school career - Ella had her Kindergarten Open House.

Just look at that mature look

Her she is with Daddy and Little Sissy!

Outside of room 3 (Mrs. Long's class) with proud Mommy!

Ella loved the open house scavenger hunt and even read "The bathroom is in room 1" all by herself!

That night she was thrilled to find a present waiting for her...

And here is Ella on her first day as a Scottie Dog!

OFF SHE GOES...

Here is our "GREEN" girl at the end of her looong day!   She loved it!