Once the school year starts, it’s amazing if we can get through a week without losing something, most of all our sanity! Tuesday nights = piano lessons, Wednesday nights = karate, the first Thursday of each month = band lessons. Add in concerts, recitals, staff meetings for me, work related events for Kevin, and pretty soon we have a jam-packed calendar! So that’s why the blog posts are few and far between.

Today is a quick update. Yesterday, the girls had no school for a teacher institute day. They spent the day hanging out with Gramma and Caleb. The girls took turns reading with Caleb.

Of course, the first thing Caleb wanted when he saw Kayla was a song. He looked right at her and said “mash banana time”. He wanted Kayla to sing the banana song that she learned at her church retreat this summer.

The girls also spent some time working with Gizmo. He has had a rough couple of weeks! He was looking super shaggy, so a trip to the dog groomer was in order. But he apparently got the new trainee or something, and she managed to slice up his poor little ear! Nothing anyone did could stop it from bleeding everywhere, so he visited the vet, who smashed the ear down against his head with bandages.

The poor dog was crazy for days likes this, hiding and shaking. Finally, Gizmo’s real vet saw him and switched him to a bandage that allows air to flow so the ear could heal. It’s like he is wearing a gauze hat, with tape to keep it from falling off. He is still acting weird, but seemed a little better when we saw him.

I love how the vet cut the hole for the other good ear to poke through! For a dog that relies on scent and sound, this has to be so confusing and scary for him! His prognosis is good – the ear will heal but it takes time and it will leave marks. And he didn’t even get a full haircut! Under that bandage is long shaggy hair!

Ashley is excited because her friend Cami will be in town tomorrow, and she will spend the afternoon with us. They haven’t seen each other since August, so this will be nice.

Kayla and her friends have started something silly at school. They have designated the last Friday of the month as “Fancy Friday”. What that means is that her group of friends dress a little nice, bring food like cheese cubes for lunch, and work together to bring a tablecloth and utensils. They then eat their lunch with the utensils (PBJ with a fork and knife), and drink things holding up their pinky. Amazingly enough, the usually strict lunch moms have allowed this. I gave Kayla some of those plastic utensils that look like real ones. I am hoping to get a picture of this somehow. I think one kid even brought a tiny vase with plastic flowers!  It’s cute and silly.

Next post probably won’t be until around Halloween – costume time! And time for a certain Mom to get rolling on making those costumes….