October 2009 Update

So, I was planning on having a brand new Zimmerman Family picture to post on here today, but then Mother Nature decided to send a little extreme weather our way and it ruined our outdoor photo session we were going to have with my friend Maggie. Hopefully next time…………..

Well, the painting has begun! The kitchen has been painted a beautiful butter-yellow, the ½ bath now has light lavender paint (in honor of my Mom's favorite color...purple) instead of nasty wallpaper, and the office, living and family rooms have the freshest coat of paint…a light buttercream ivory (very subtle, but beautiful). All of this painting is due to my wonderful sis-in-law Melissa for her nudging, persistence, and one heck of a talent with a paint roller! We slaved away over the last month whenever she would visit and were able to accomplish a lot this past weekend while listening to General Conference. I also bought a new mirror for the 1/2 bath and took out the old medicine cabinet...what an improvement! The only rooms left to paint on the main level now are the Master Bedroom/bathroom and the laundry room/pantry. It’s so nice to finally walk into a house with a little personality. It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do!

Rhett started playing Fall league softball on our ward team. He has adjusted his work schedule around the weekly games so that he can attend…and get a little exercise. We love to go watch him play, especially since he’s so good at it. The boys also like that there is a sand volleyball court to play in while we’re there. It’s definitely “bath time” when we get home from one of those.

I am keeping busy with life. I look around at all the projects I could work on, but a lot of days it just ends up that only the necessities (cook, clean, etc.) get done and I haven’t gotten very far with some things I’d like to do. One of these days I’ll just leave everything else in the dust (literally) and just do something because I want to! A couple of friends and I are planning a party for November 19th. All you “Twilight” fans out there know that “New Moon” comes out in theatres at midnight on 11/19-11/20. Well, we decided to party beforehand, then off to the midnight showing. We recently purchased tickets for 27 of us. Sounds like a lot of fun to me!

Austin started taking piano lessons again. He’s not sure if he likes it or not and he’s told me a few times since last year that he wants to quit. We keep telling him that it’s such a wonderful talent to have, but it doesn’t seem to help. I told him we’d try one more year with a new teacher this time. When we moved to our new house it just happened to be up the street from a friend of mine who teaches piano. How convenient! Austin just walks or hops on his bike for piano now. No more hauling all the kids into the car and then finding something to do with all of them for ½ hour. Thanks Camille!

Logan continues to enjoy Kindergarten. He has had a rough start however. The school’s projected numbers for Kinder classes ended up being lower than expected, so 2 weeks into school Logan’s class was dissolved and the kids were split up through the other 6 Kindergarten classes. He has also been getting multiple “folder marks” (various problems at school). The majority of them had to do with another boy in his class that was having problems with self-control. I guess he liked to hit and push people, and after so many times Logan just decided to take things into his own hands. However, since the parents of the other boy and the Principal have been involved, things have been much better.

Carson has been turned to the DARK SIDE!!! His oldest brother’s love for all things super-heroes has turned Carson into a superhero monster. He can’t go to bed at night or wake up without thinking which superhero he’s going to play first. Superman and Spiderman are the culprits most often. Although if it ended there it would be okay…but when he has to dress up like “Clark Klent” (as he says it) or Peter Parker it can get a little interesting. At that point it involves an extra layer of clothing, glasses, jackets, ties, cameras, having his cape tucked into his pants, etc. It’s quite a production. It drives me nuts (quite literally) some days, but kids will be kids, right? I hope it’s just a phase, and a short one at that…but I don’t think it will be. Austin started loving Superheroes when he was 3 and now that he’s 9 he loves them just as much.

Jackson is now 9 months old (20 lbs. 9 oz. and 28 inches) and is into everything!!! Paper is his most favorite thing to find lying around (thanks to his brothers who love to draw Superman badges all day long…aaahhh!!!!). He’s also a big fan of taking the books off our wall of built-in shelves. Jackson is a pro crawler now, even up on his hands and feet sometimes when he’s on the hard tile. This past Sunday (10/4) he finally figured out how to climb the stairs. NOOOOOO!!! Rhett found him just chillin’ on the 3rd step. Luckily since then he hasn’t been back to try again. Just yesterday he learned how to walk with the use of his push toy. I’m not ready for him to grow up so fast! He is just a bundle of fun and such a joy to have in our family…and soooo super CUTE!!!

We’re glad that the weather is cooling off a little bit. It was such a long, hot summer! Thank goodness our house has much better A/C and ducting than our old house. Our bills in this house over the summer were the same or less than our little house. Nice! We’re looking forward to fall and the holidays. It is such a wonderful time to reflect on the year and plan for the year to come. My mom will be visiting with us this year for Christmas and possibly my brother & his family also. It will be the first time in 5 years that we’ve spent Christmas with any of my family. My mom will be here from 12/23 until 1/10. We already have tickets to see Broadway’s “The Lion King” on her birthday, so that will be lots of fun.

That’s all from us this month. We hope all is well for you & your families…

Love – Rhett, Maren, Austin, Logan, Carson & Jackson