Ch-Ch-Changes

It's that time of year again. The thermostat got switched from "cool" to "heat". And we had our first snow. Way too early for my taste (last winter was really, really long). But Brock was anxious to go out and play in the snow. So it was also time to hand down coats.

And I realized we need snow pants, and another pair of boots! For crying out loud! If only my kids would stop growing so fast! Especially this one:

(I just want to take a mom moment and say how stinking cute is my son??? He could totally be a model. If he was good at, you know, letting people take his picture. Which he's not. So it will be a small population that gets to enjoy his cuteness. Feel privileged.) His Sunday pants no longer fit, nor do his Sunday shirts. Wait, does that mean he's getting too big for his britches?

And this one got her first taste of "solids". She really didn't know what to think at first:

And then she decided that it wasn't all that good. I tried adding sugar, and the next day added formula (because she and the bottle are like this), but to no avail. I tried oatmeal the next day, and she wasn't having that, either. At least not yet.

Yesterday my son asked how long until Halloween. Uh, a little less than three weeks away. Which means the holidays are upon us. I like to get my Christmas shopping done in October and November, because I hit just as many sales without fighting the crowds. I only have to focus on the kids since Pete and I already have our Christmas:

But I'm so tired of getting toys! Ugh. Maybe I'll buy them food storage. Then my kids will think I'm the coolest mom ever! We thought about bikes for Brock and Troy, but I don't know how they'll feel about that. "Here's a present for Christmas, but you can't use it for another 5 months until the seasons change again! How exciting and fun is that?" Hmm.

In other "change" news, I was making dinner last night and realized I didn't have sour cream for the recipe. DOH! I'm still out of money until this Friday, but I think I may have a couple bucks in change in my purse. I never thought having random coins laying around could be so handy.

And, I've also come to realize, with all the change happening around me, that I need to do some changing of my own. Jakob has afternoon kindergarten, which means I spend the morning essentially just feeding and dressing me and the kids. That shouldn't take 3 1/2 hours. Then I'm also not taking advantage of the time that Jakob is at school, by spending more time with the others, etc.

Today Jakob had to catch the bus at 8:10 a.m. Every month our school has an early release day, so the kindergarten classes take turns going to school, and go for a longer period of time. So last month the p.m. class didn't go to school; today the a.m. class doesn't go, and the p.m. attends from 8:40-1:40 p.m. He took a lunch with him and everything. My point: I got up at 7:30, got him up, took a shower, was ready to go at 8:00. And...I feel I have so much more time! So my idea (and again, I'm posting about this so that I have more incentive to stick to the plan because I'm making my plans public), is to get up before the kids, exercise, and shower. Okay, I'll be honest: the exercising probably won't happen every day. But maybe three days a week or something. And because I'm sick of my house being a pig sty, the other days I'll do laundry or dust, etc.

So, please send your good vibes my way. I'll need all the help I can get to make my changes in my mind become tangible changes.