Several events have taken place over the last six weeks and now I am playing Blog catch-up! Here are some of them...in no particular order.
Benson started soccer. He had a lot of fun and it was a fun season. 
Tory took Benson's training wheels off while he was at school one day, in early September. After Benson got home, and before we could even "help" him learn, he hopped on and took off like he'd been doing it his whole life. (I took this picture today. Mid October, Benson still in shorts, our grass is still green, the tree's leaves aren't even beginning to change! A true Indian Summer). 
I haven't blogged about it before because I'm super nervous about people knowing that I'm alone and the house behind us was robbed, adding to my anxiety. But now that he's home I can talk about it. Tory has been out of town since April. Yes, as in the last six months. He comes home on Saturday each week, sleeps half the day (his work is doing night testing), then has to do everything he needs to do in order to prepare for the next week (mow the lawn, do all his laundry, repack etc.) and then leaves again Monday morning. It's been a crazy six months. BUT, as of Friday, this handsome man is home! He has a trip to Maryland next month and one to New Orleans in December, but we can handle that! 
We went to Las Vegas over Labor Day to spend the weekend with Tory's brother and his family. We love visiting them and they always show us such a fun time! Here's our kids (sans Bella who was having a grumpy picture day) with their much loved cousins.
Hayden and I both had the opportunity to attend a seminar by Bill "Superfoot" Wallace. He is a six times world champ in kickboxing and a world champion martial artist, he's also been the bad guy in a bunch of movies. He is 65 and can still do full splits, and his kick is measured at 60 mph! Our Karate school was becoming certified by him. I could hardly walk for a week after his flexibility and kicking exercises. All 4 hours of them! 
Hayden with Master Wallace. In the picture above, Hayden is on the far left. He's one flexible kid! Me...not so much.
Doesn't he just look mischevious?
Gavin took it upon himself to decorate Bella's room. I haven't gotten around to it yet, so he took matters into his own hands. He colored every wall, her bed, all her toys and even the heat vent. He was pretty proud. And pretty cute. Luckily, most of it wiped off with a little elbow grease. As a side note, he also received his first haircut, as seen in the pictures. Now he looks like such a big boy.I think I'm almost caught up now. Thus begins the landslide to Christmas!
