Ahhh...Fall!

School is in full swing. The air is getting cooler. Our annual camping trip to Crabtree Falls is coming up. So...it must be Fall. This is definitely my favorite time of year because 1) the summer's in CLT are nearly unbearable and 2) well...you'll have to wait til the end of the post for the biggest reason why Fall is my favorite (I doubt it will shock any of you).

Fun with Mr. Potatohead! Check out Daniel and Luis' attempts at putting a Mr. Potatohead together. Be sure to note the shoes (or zapatos as we say) for ears on Daniel's and the tongue for hair on Luis'. Pretty awesome! And they were so proud of their creations.

We really are making progress with the dogs. Every morning, Samuel helps me put the dogs in their crates, then the twins spend a couple of minutes taunting them while working up the courage to stick their hands through the bars. ALL of them now let the dogs give besos to their hands. This is followed by a lot of squealing. We still can't all be in the same room (only Samuel is OK with hanging out with the dogs), but I consider the fact that they are willing to touch the dogs at all a real victory.

On Sunday we went to this really cool event called "Touch-A-Truck". It was like it was created just for our boys, but it is really a fundraiser for lung cancer research (which is a cause very dear to me because I lost both my grandmother and - just this year - my aunt to this horrible disease). There were all sorts of trucks/vehicles for the boys to sit in/on. It was AWESOME!!! One of their favorites was the army helicopter.

I have this great video of the boys running around with other kids while all of us parents stand in line to make sure that our children are able to experience the helicopter. I will have to upload it to YouTube since it is sort of long.

How cute are they? You might be thinking, "Where is Daniel?" This is about the time when mama was rushing to the restroom which was quite a hike while carrying a 30-something pound kid who kept reminding me repeatedly that he needed to "chi-chi". Can anyone explain to me why children always have to go when there is NO bathroom convenient? Is it one of Murphy's Laws?

Lastly, the real reason I am glad it is fall - TV is back!!!! I am beyond excited to be in the midst of premiere week. I have many shows that I love, and we have plenty of room on the DVR. Why else do you think we get the kids in bed by 8 PM?

Just a few more updates: Samuel has gotten a sticker from his teacher everyday this week. In fact, I think he is up to 6 stickers in a row. This is a great little victory for us because it means that he is understanding Papa when he tells him to listen to his teacher and not worry about what the other kids are doing. We are very close to figuring out what to do with the twins while I go to work. We have a couple things to work out, but I should be ready to go full-time next week.

End of Summer...Bummer

Tomorrow starts our new family schedule. Yay! Samuel will be going to school everyday, and the twins and I will be going to work everyday! I am very happy to be going back to work. We need structure...desperately. This will definitely put us on the path towards structure. Samuel is very excited to go to school, and we keep telling the twins they are going to "escuela muy pequeña" (literally translated: very small school). They are excited, but all they really know is that they are going to work with me. We will see what happens. I am packing their blankies just in case.

Today we decided to have some fun in the sun in our very own backyard. This is true parent dedication: blowing up the baby pool until you feel like you are going to pass out, making sure the dogs are nowhere near the path from the inside to the outside of the house, making sure the yard is free from dog poop and various debris, and taking turns refereeing to ensure that the older brother doesn't accidentally drown his younger brothers. They had such a good time though in their very own piscina, and Troy and I loved the fact that we didn't have to leave the house.

In other very exciting news, the boys' "certificates of citizenship" came today (well we came across them today) complete with a letter from the President. The letter is really moving. It talks about their civic duty as Americans. I hope one day they can appreciate it because right now they don't really care about anything except eating, playing and taking baths. It is very cool to have these very official certificates that simply list their names as Eisenberger. No more epic hyphenated last names for them.