Summers end

I love that on September 26th you can wake up and put on a sweater and jacket and be in a sundress by 2:30 and sweating at the park.
I surprised the kids with a quick trip to their favorite park on the way home from school. They were so excited,especially Belay who really misses Adi during the day.

thoughts on today

First off, I had a really long To-Do list and I did a lot of what was on it.  That hasn't happened in a while, so three cheers for me.

Belay told me he couldn't eat his brocolli at lunch because it made his back hurt. Hmmm...he had me for about 10 sec then I smarted up and threated him with missing daddy's baseball game. That worked.

We finally had the chance to go to one of Andy's last baseball games. The kids love going, and there are usually other nice moms to talk to and kids for the kids to play with so its a win-win-win.

I had a half marathon last week and it went well. It's a really tough course, super hilly, both steep and long.  I took 5 min off my time from two years ago and 15 min off my time from the first one I ever did (years ago). I felt strong all the way until mile 12.  Mile 12 is up hill until the finish and herds of men passed me and it sucked.  I got 222nd over all at 1:45:01 (out of 1300 runners?? I think) 30th for the women and 8th in my age group. So. all in all I was pleased. Yes, I'm  obsessed with the hard facts of the race and just slightly competitive. I can help it, I truly can't. Because you know what would have made me really happy? Breaking 1:40, yes taking 10 min off my last PR. So, now I may have to go out a do another one in a few weeks.

I had a great cheering section at the finish line including my nieces and brother and sister in law. Of course Andy and the kids were there. (Miserable, cold, wet and not super excited to see me).  It was shockingly cold and raining, great for running, not great for moments after the run and/or for spectators.


Adi told me she was working on a Christmas present for Apa-Apa (my grampa) Who passed away when Adi was 2.  That lead to our first true conversation about death and she got pretty shook up by it. When I thought we were in the clear she'd bust out with "but Apa-Apa is gonna miss Christmas and ALL the holidays"  and then " are Padme and Maya gonna die? I don't want my cousins to die." The kid holds onto things, she was really clingy to Andy after the conversation and highly sensitive.  It breaks my heart to think of her worrying in bed at night about her great grampa missing Christmas cause he is dead.  I might add that Adi's cousin asked her on Friday if she could have her headband when she died, so guess it's some what of a hot topic around the 3 yr olds? 


On a cheerier note(is that a word?) we finally have curtains in the house. Most of the windows now have those white papierish blinds that you push up with one finger and don't have any strings. They are awesome and blend in so nicely. During the day we still have all the beauty of the huge sunny windows, but when it gets dark we aren't in a fish bowel anymore. Yeah!

I really need to take pictures of the new house and post them, so maybe I will actually clean the house this week and then do it. Cause no one wants to see what our house looks like in real life, do they?

How to stand out in a crowd

  Home girl knows how to flare up a boring old uniform.(A few butterflies in the hair, a couple of extra ponytails, a pair of 18 month striped tights...)

And apparently how to properly pose for an "about to walk in late to school" photo shoot.

Somethings Adi is learning at school 

1. That there is something called 'star wars' and there is a princess named Leia in it. (music to daddy's ear)

2. how to draw some awesome pictures.

3. how to stand out in a crowd of blue and white.

4. To maybe not be so "handsie" with the other kids (what can I saw, we are a bit of a handsie family, but I guess not every kids wants to have their back rubbed by Adi;)

5.How to acquire as many stickers as possible for helping clean up.

6. How to not nap but sit quietly at nap time(obviously her least favorite time of day, but again she come from a family of "not satisfactory" nappers) 

Truly, she is having a blast and doing what any 3 1/2 year old should be doing, learning through play!  We are all loving her school and not just cause Daddy is the principal!

cheese

This guy is doing just fine too!  Preschool is good for him so far, I think.

There are still tears at drop off everyday but at least they don't start in the car like they used to. His teachers say he stops crying as soon as I leave (guess he needs mom to know who's having the last word on this matter). 

He talks about some friends at school and its so cute, the thought of little Belay having his own friends. I think what he loves best is that no one forces him to eat his lunch. He proudly announces when we get in the car  "Bay no eat yunch" with a giant smile on his face. Ehh, whats  a girl supposed to do with that one, besides feed him that same lunch for every meal here on out until its gone. Not that I would ever do such a thing. 

My little school girl

                                                    First day of Pre- kindergarden for Adi.

                                               So excited to be going to school with Daddy finally.

                                And both her cousins. And to have her Aunt as one of her teachers. 

We are on to the 3rd week and all is well. Except that I MISS her like crazy. I keep trying to convince her to stay home, but she never falls for it. I did bring her home after a half day last friday when Belay and I meet her a school for  "pizza day/fun friday". Mainly because I didn't think I had the energy to drive back 2 hrs later to pick her up. Moments after getting home and getting Belay in bed I regretted the decision.

 

pressing matters. what to do. soccer, ballet, preschool...???

Ok, obviously I know its insane to sign your 3.5 yr old up for multiple activities at once, and obviously I know it won't make her a genius or Olympic athlete (or will it;) but I have a delema.  Adi is in love with ballet and has no intention of taking a break.  I love soccer and have every intention of making her at least try to play.  And maybe I have been waiting 4 yrs since I knew I was going to have a kid to sign that kid up for soccer. I kinda believe I was made to be a soccer mom (or track mom, either way;)

So, Adi is now old enough to play little kickers in  the fall, sign ups are happening now, it's cheap and only one 30 min practice and one 30 min game a week.  Here's the thing, she is going to preschool, real deal all day 5 days a week preschool (if she so chooses to go of course) and doing ballet.  Ballet meets once a week after school and soccer will be once a week after school and saturday mornings.

The obvious answer is to not do soccer. She loves Ballet, will probably hate soccer (the lack of skirts are already causing an uproar in every day conversation)and will love school.  But here's the thing,  I don't foresee a break in either Ballet or school anytime soon.  And I do feel strongly about at least exposing her to different activies.  

(Also, I know and see the argument of not doing organized sports at a young age. One thing I wish was different in my youth was doing sports earlier. Yes, I started running competitively at 9 yrs old and there were some seasons of tee ball in there in the early years. But it was not something I really got to do and really wished I had.   So, call it a complex if you will, but I plan on forcing encouraging my kids try out lots of things and hope something sticks:)

Ok, so it comes down to this, at some point soon Adi will be forced to try and play soccer. Obviously it would be easiest to not do ballet that season (but that would be extra torture for her )If she hates it then so be it.  Do I do it this fall or is that a bit of a full plate for a 3 yr old?

Besides...what if she loves it???

5 years later and still loving it all

 On August 11th 2006 a girl walked down a grassy path, barefoot, to marry the man of her dreams. 

A day dream't of for years only to put those dreams to shame.  The real thing was better than I ever wished.

 The 5 years of marriage equally amazing. 

 The blessing of two beautiful children,

 And I life I could never have imagined would be mine.

 Thank you Andy for marrying me.

Oh and 5 years later, same dress different sash. Happy Anniversary Andy. It gets better every year!

so the tables turn

The first blog back after what seems like a summer of nothing is the hardest, isn't it? Do I fill in the gaps or go with whats happening now? How about that goal to take pictures and at the very least add photos of my sweet kiddos? That sounds like a good place to start. Well, the broken camera seemed to fix itself(whew) but there don't seem to be an pictures, still.

Hmmmm, guess no one to blame but me. There goes that goal. How about onto the present?
Andy's back at work. Where did summer go?

Oh yeah, it went to moving and working and child rearing.  For the first time in 4 summers I think this summer really felt like we truely split the load. Meaning I worked out of the home while he worked in the home. Grant it I was FAR from full time this summer (and Andy was FAR from not working at all out of the home). But a whole heck of a lot more than before. Andy rocked out with the laundry, cleaning, moving, unpacking, taking the kids for ice cream part of parenting. And for the first time I wasn't counting the minutes until school started up again. I think we may be onto something here. Truly co- parenting in every sense. I like it!

Mean while I feel that deep sense of uggg way down in there. Summer is over, already?!

Yet, it is not. Doesn't August count for anything? Is 94* not hot enough to still be summer? This August I am not convincing myself that fall is nipping at my heels, because frankly that's what September is for.

When I was a kid school ended in June and began in September. That made sense, that it what I'm used to. But down here back to school shopping starts in July.  So while I'm not giving up on August, I am back to school shopping. This time, for Adi!

 Her closet is lined with blue jumpers and white polo's, there's a new sparkly pink lunch box hanging from her bed knob, and we've been writing our number and letters non stop for the last week. Watch out New Classical Academy, here comes Adi! Her pencils are sharpened and her shoes are fast!


Happy August y'all.