Football & organization!

Football season is Mike's favorite time of year & he considers the start of the NFL a national holiday!  Since we're from Chicago, we're 100% Bears fans.  I have nothing against Tampa teams, but just don't really care about them.  So, we were all rocking our Bears gear at church Sunday!

We had friends over for the game & luckily the Bears won... woo hoo!  Even though it's hotter than heck outside, I always love to make comfort foods for the game, so this week I made Pioneer Woman's chicken & noodles recipe (click here). 

 
This recipe defines comfort food & I highly recommend it, especially on a cold, gloomy winter's day.  Those rarely happen in Florida, but I can pretend!

We're also gearing up for Cameron's FIFTH birthday which is September 24th.  I love, love, love birthdays, especially when they belong to my kids!  This year Cam picked a SpongeBob theme & even though we're having a small, low-key party, we'll still do it up!

I've also continued to work on school organization.  In this post, I mentioned wanting a glass doorknob coat rack for Cameron's backpack, but we held off since they were pretty expensive.  Most I saw were between $60-$80 with an additional $15 for shipping.  I considered us making one & my friend Lesli reinforced that idea, but neither of us are exceptionally handy so I was hesitant.  I've been loving Hobby Lobby recently & when I looked at their door knob section, I took advantage of the 50% off sale & went for it!  The knobs cost me about $15 total, the wood cost about $3 & we also had to buy stain, a couple of drill bits & hardware to hang it.  In total, we probably spent about $40, but we could make another with just buying the knobs, so we might do that for a gift or to sell.

It turned out great & Mike did a fantastic job!!

Cameron's job is to remember to take his backpack when heading out the door each morning.  We're trying to give him ownership & teach him responsibility.  The more organized we are, the smoother the mornings go!  Pre-K is a perfect way to teach all of us how to prepare for the kids starting real school since we've known nothing but daycare up until this time.

Speaking of school, I have to share this picture Cameron's school posted on Facebook.  I died laughing when I saw it, since it is SO Cameron!

You'll notice all of the students actively engaged in learning & then there's my kid, rolling around the floor with his head down.  Oh Cameron, what will we do with you?!  BUT, he's doing a fantastic job in VPK & his teachers have nothing but positive things to say (other than him needing to focus a bit more in circle time).

He's been in VPK for less than a month & I'm amazed with what he's already learned.  He writes his name so well which he was not able to do before!  We're proud of our guy!

My little girl always loves to color & draw which is very different than her brother who is not at all interested in crafting.  Cam will use sidewalk chalk but has no attention for coloring.  

So, that's what's going on around here!  Of course with today being September 11th & the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, my heart is very heavy.  It makes me thankful for my family & our health because life is so uncertain & precious.  Cameron sat eating his cereal this morning as they talked about the terrorist attacks on the Today show & he watched but didn't ask me anything about it.  One day I'll explain what happened, but for now, he's still too young to understand.  I love that his heart is so pure & innocent & I know it's not possible, but I wish it could always stay that way.