This week the girls started swimming lessons.  We missed them here on base over the summer, but a mother at the Warrensburg rec center assured me that was probably for the best.  Her daughter is in the same class as Tansy.  She said that the class over the summer had 20 kids in it, and her daughter didn't get a lot out of it.  The classes they are in now have a cap of 8 students with 2 teachers.  I feel better about all of the driving now.

I got to attend the General Relief Society broadcast last night.  I appreciated the perspective I got from all of the speakers, especially President Uchtdorf.  Sometimes I focus too much on my golden ticket.  I need to learn to enjoy the chocolate.  Mmmm. . . .chocolate.  Gotta go!

I let another week of blogging slide.  Here are our past two weeks.

Zack got a new helmet.  He loves being big enough to ride a tricycle, and he loves Spiderman, so he was in his heaven.  Although he's only just three, we had to get him the 5+ helmet because my kids have enormous heads.

The 7th was Tansy's first day of preschool.  She was so excited to finally go.  I was worried that she would get nervous and want me to stay once we got there.  She found her seat, got to work on her playdough, and said goodbye.  At least she let me take a picture before I left.

The 7th was also Zack's first day of soccer.  We chose the 6:15 session so that Ben could go with him because parent participation is required.  There was a conference that day and Ben didn't know until 6:00 that there was no way he was going to make it home.  I packed everyone in the car, put Tansy and Sydney in charge of Tyler, and played soccer with Zack.  The director of the Youth Center spent some time watching my kids too.  He is awesome.  He was juggling soccer balls for them and everything.  Zack loved it.

On Saturday the 10th, the girls started tumbling.  I was also hosting a Shelf Reliance party that day (I became a consultant, in case anyone is interested!) so I couldn't take them.  I sent Ben with much less information than he needed, but he is so good at getting tings taken care of.

My party was great.  I am learning a TON about food storage and Shelf Reliance specifically.  We are so excited to have a start on our food storage in a way that makes sense and is easy.  Plus, I ordered a can rotation system.  I am really excited for that to arrive.

Zack and Tansy also decided that they needed to try on their Halloween costumes this week.  The chilly weather so early in the season has convinced them that it is almost Halloween.  That and the enormous aisle of Halloween candy at the store.  Sorry, guys.

Zack also cracked his head on Friday night at a cookout for Ben's work.  I thought he would just have a bump, but when I took of the hood of his jacket, it was bleeding.  There was a water fountain nearby so I used a bunch of napkins to clean off the blood.  It looked like he had taken out a chunk of skin, but since there wasn't anything to stitch, we just gave him a plate of Cheetos so he would let me ice it.  After about 25 minutes, the swelling had gone down, and he ran off to the playground.  Tough little monster.

Poor Zack had his first round of post-potty training diarrhea yesterday.  He was so scared about what was happening until I said, "Zack, your bum exploded!"  Now he just thinks it's funny.  Whatever it is got Tyler too so they stayed home from church today with Ben since I couldn't find a substitute for the piano in Primary.  They seem to be fine now, but better safe than sorry.

August 23 was Sydney's first day of second grade.  She got the same teacher she had for summer.  Miss Slagle is awesome, and Sydney is having a great time.

Sydney has also started Karate on Mondays and Wednesdays.  On her first day, she slipped on her pants right at the end and fell on her face.  For the next two hours, she swore she was never going back.  She changed her mind at about 7:00 that night.  She is actually pretty good.  The girls start tumbling this weekend and swimming lessons in a couple of weeks.  Zack will also be doing soccer.  We are busy!

Ben and I will celebrate our 9th anniversary on Tuesday, but we decided to make an early start on the festivities.  Our friends, the Fosters, watched our kids overnight on Friday.  Ben and I went out to dinner, then to Worlds of Fun.  It was so quiet there that night.  We pretty much walked right on to every ride.  We enjoyed a lazy morning the next day and had a yummy breakfast before coming home.  So much fun!

And here is a puppet show put on by Tansy and Zack.