Work pic

Listening as the Cantor explains the goals of the religious school.

Kisses, movies, and friends

Movie night with the boys.  Zootopia was mesmerizing.

Connor kissing my picture in Jonathan's office.  The boy tears off all his clothes the minute he comes in the house!

Our youngest adores our new Cantor.  Here he was running around the temple open house like he owned the place.

Day at the park

We went to a park and music festival with two other families.  Seven children combined means we pulled our phones out only for the really spectacular stuff!  Like the climbing structure.  Xander wouldn't go near it.

Ari made it to the platform.

What's most impressive, CONNOR made it there by himself. I didn't help once.

I, on the other hand, made it to the very top. :)

First day of school

Chasing lizards from underneath the car so we can take kids to school 

Connor before his first day, super excited. He was the Flash, he was moving so fast we couldn't get a clear photo of him.

Kindergartener and 3rd grader!  To quote Jonathan: The two big boys just before I take them to their first day at their new school. There was fear, tears, and sadness. They kept telling me it will be ok and to be brave. :) 

Ari testing out his seat in his new class

Xander in his room

Impact windows are in!

As well as the sod in the front yard.

It looks like a whole new house.

The only remaining big-ticket items are a vent in our bathroom, and the exterior fence in the front courtyard.

I think those things can be done in the next month.

Then we're DONE!

Middle of the night bedtime visitors

Stop the presses

Our neighborhood is so lovely that I've been taking walks every day.   And Jonathan installed a pool light, so often I go swimming in the evenings.

I'm actually gaining muscle!

ME.

Jonathan said I looked.... athletic.

!!!

This is big news. :)

Going for a walk

Fire station near our house.

Asking for a kippah like Mommy

Holding hands during accidental nap

Simcha the cat

Who I still think of as ours, but who is so my mom's now. :(

Sleeping on her clothes for her scent.

Completely amused

Whenever I'm at Starbucks or Jamba Juice, I never give my real name. No one can say it, it just causes hassle.

I go by "Kate," because it's one of the easiest names I can think of.  Everyone can spell Kate.

Starbucks baristas strike again!

Behold:

"Cait"

Amazon Echo

The Echo is a voice-activated control box, that Jonathan has set up in myriad forms to wire the house.  It controls every light in the house, meaning you can tell it, "Alexa, turn off living room light," and the light goes out.

Our friend Jeffrey moved to central Florida so was over visiting.  He was playing around so said, "Alexa, Earl Gray tea, hot" - a beautiful Star Trek: Next Generation reference to Picard's favorite beverage.

And you know what she said back?

"I am not a replicator!"

Thank god for the babysitter

He's an ex-army ranger, did I mention that?  And he does stuff with the kids that we could (and would) never do, always playing outside.  Here he took the kids fishing (catch and release only) in the canal a half mile from our house.

Book review

I finished the Call the Midwife trilogy of books.  My mom passed them onto me, since she and I both were into the show.  How fun!  It really did do what she set out to do, which was to accomplish for midwives what James Herriot did for vets.  The only negative thing about the books was that it so often made me cry at the sheer poverty that she encountered.  The fact that people could be in such dire straits in the 1950s and 1960s, and then that that kind of destitution can exist today... it makes me shudder, and want to get involved politically to change it.

Changing tables, birthdays, and pop culture

So many little things going on that make up our life.

1) We gave away the changing table!  And the little potties!  Connor still has accidents occasionally, but we are DONE, and we have the lack of furniture to prove it.

2) Jonathan turned 46.  We celebrated with cake and hanging out, then got a babysitter to go to a fun temple social event, and we saw the new Star Trek movie.  No spoilers here, but overall, I have to say I was really disappointed.  What I love about the Trek universe is the scientific lingo and the characterizations. I felt like both of those were missing, or were much less than they could have been.  It was a good action movie, but it wasn't Star Trek.

The cake was fantastic though. :)

3) Our laundry cabinet is up above the washing machines.  Yay!  The house is looking better and better.  The impact window install is scheduled for two weeks, and that will be the last of the big improvements.

4) We're all into TV escapes lately. I've been getting into Transparent.  Jonathan into Stranger Things.  Both of watching True Blood together.  Can't go wrong with vampire drama. :)

5) Temple life is amazing.  Working with our new cantor is a dream.  I can't say enough good things about her.

And now to pick up Xander from camp...