We are one-fourth of the way through the school year and it has been a busy 2+ months! I honestly never thought that with the boys in school 36 hours a week (Will) and 16.5 hours a week (Henry) that I would feel busier than when I had less free time but I do. Kindergarten is hard work!
The busy-ness: Kindergarten
Will had his first project due last week. His class was studying extreme weather and each student had to pick a weather phenomenon to research and report on. We checked out lots of books from the library and read about tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and blizzards before Will settled on hurricanes. He learned all about them, wrote his report, drew some pictures, got his prop (see below) and practiced his presentation over and over again. Will worked really hard on his weather project and we are so proud of him!
The busy-ness: Extracurriculars
Now that Will is in school all day every day, our extracurricular activities mostly take place in the evenings and on weekends. We aren't really over-scheduled (Will just does soccer and Henry does soccer and gymnastics) but it is still busy! I snapped these shots of Henry and Daddy hanging out at Will's soccer practice a couple of weeks ago.
The busy-ness: Volunteering
The boys both go to great schools where parental involvement is encouraged, so I am finding that there are many opportunities for me to volunteer! I
think I am doing a good job by choosing things I like (baking, books, planning parties) and knowing my limits. At Henry's school, I volunteered to co-host the Halloween party, go on class field trips and help out in the school library (love the school library!).
At Will's school, I made my famous orange-poppy seed bread for the Carnival bake sale and am in charge of the used book drive for his class in the spring.
The busy-ness: Special Activities
Of course I want to do special things just for my boys, because I know they'll love them. Last night, even though we had had a busy day, we went to The Little Gym's Halloween costume party. Will chose to be a cowboy and Henry dressed up as a pirate and we partied with the teachers and had a great time.
The balance: Finding Me-Time
There are certain things I love and always find the time for (boot camp, pilates, having at least one cup of coffee before anyone else wakes up, and writing this blog) but sometimes we get so busy that something has to give. Maybe the laundry piles up or the floors don't get vacuumed. Last Thursday, I just couldn't get a healthy dinner on the table, so we let the pizza gurus at Star Pizza handle dinner for us. We even ended the evening with a sweet treat at Amy's Ice Creams. (Did you know they make pumpkin ice cream? So yummy!)
Busy-ness? Covered! Balance? Still working on it! But on the whole, things are good and even if I sometimes get overwhelmed, I am loving life just the way it is, crazy busy-ness and all.
I was volunteering in Will's class so I got to tag along on the parade as they sang "Oh, When the Saints Come Marching In." 
Cuties. 
In the afternoon, we braved the crowds and hit ZooBoo at the Houston Zoo. The boys both chose to be superheroes. 
Really, it was just an excuse to hang out with Chloe (Bat Girl) and Bella (Wonder Woman). 
We found the Pirate's Cove right away.
This is the best one of the four of them and you can't even see Will's face! Yikes. The zoo was crazy-crowded so I was busy keeping my eyes on the kiddos and not taking pictures! 
There's more Halloween fun and different costumes on the docket for today!
By Friday, Henry was feeling back-to-normal, but I kept him home from school anyway. We made zucchini bread
and ate it with honeycrisp apples and mulled apple cider. 
Henry colored and painted
and worked so hard to finish the Pre-K Hooked on Phonics. 
We broke out our new fall clothes (yay for blue rocket shirts!)
and enjoyed the first truly chilly day of the fall 
by running and exploring in the backyard with Will after school.
It was a long week, and we are glad it's over. Now we're looking forward to enjoying this beautiful fall weather, having healthy kids and welcoming Daddy home.
"Did someone say Gramma made cookies? Can we eat them?"
"Oops! I got sprinkles everywhere!"
"I said I need TWO!"
"I need this one too."
"I'm so glad Gramma and Grampa came along to help carry all these pumpkins."
"Mom, can we take the bear home with us?"
"I love pumpkins."
The boys were so excited to ride the shuttle bus.
After the games, we hit the Trick or Treat Trail. I loved this because the boys had to work (and learn!) to earn their treats. Here they went on a fox prowl to find fox food (berries, snakes, and mice). 
At the Bobcat Balance stop, they had to balance on stumps to earn treats. 
At Weasel Way, they crawled through a tunnel to escape danger. 
After making our way through the eight trick-or-treat stations, the boys got their faces painted. Henry chose a pumpkin. 
Will got a cat face. 
Then the boys walked across a rope bridge as part of an obstacle course, 
rode the ponies,
rode the train (in the coal car!),
