Oops I did it again!!!!

Maybe it's not a good thing to quote Brittany Spears what with her track record recently- but I let more than 2 weeks go by again!! Good thing I can't be fired from my own blog- or can I? Hmm. Ok I don't even know where to begin- hopefully I do not leave anything, or anyone, out as I catch you all up on the last few weeks.

Some good news- Charlie has received yet another extension for work and is now employed until September 21st. I'm happy with extensions but I hate the indecision. Plus it pushes the 6 months back to March. I have been doing ok with the extra shifts and may continue to do some in September- we'll see, I need to keep the appointments full to be able to do them. I also miss my "me" time- selfish I know, but I do like time to do things sans kids, or just veg out and relax.

My sister's new puppy- Luke- is adorable and we all survived fostering him the 3 nights he was with us. Our youngest dog (Lily) is 5 years old, so it was a bit tough dealing with house breaking again, but we just needed a routine. He got along great with the big dogs- except for Benjamin who was feeling a little put out. And he LOVED Izzy. I think he thought she was one of his littermates- he followed her all around and loved to tackle her. It was pretty funny to watch. Hannah and Owen were sad to see him go- but we'll get to play with Luke whenever we go to Grampy and Grandy's house.

We have been gearing up for Hannah to start kindergarten in 2 1/2 weeks! She is excited! Thankfully she wears a uniform so clothes shopping is done- now it's just picking up supplies for the room (paper, tissues, glue, ect). There is an ice cream social the Monday before school to drop off supplies and meet people. Plus she goes in the day before to meet classmates and see the class. I will be dropping her off in the morning (get ready for tears- from me!- that first day) and Charlie or a neighbor will pick her up. Owen will still go to Building Blocks but will be in the preschool program (he will attend kindergarten next fall) and until we know what Charlie is doing Izzy will be staying home with him.

There is a ton of milkweed pod plants at the end of our street and we were able to find (with my sister's keen eyes) a monarch butterfly caterpillar. So we are now watcing it eat lots of milkweed leaves and will await it's transformation. Hannah and Owen love to set the butterfly free and watch it fly away. We have had a host of summertime pets this summer- thanks to Owen. Many toads, newts or skinks, slugs, snails, even a tomato horn worm. Thankfully the snakes are too quick, especially sine many times the bug catcher makes it's way into the house! Oh and he loves to take the "pets" out and they sometimes get away!

We are still awaiting the arrival of my sister's new son. Due date is August 28th but she has been saying she's ready to go since July! She is at least moved into the new home (relatively speaking anyways). Talk about stress- she started a new job, moved to a new state and is in her third trimester all in the past few months. Will keep you posted!