Back to Real Life

So, it's September, which means back to life!!! I first have to mention my trip with Abby to NYC at the end of August. We had a magical time. It's such a special treat to have any type of one-on-one time with a child, but extended one-on-one is really a rare treat - something you get to do with each child only a few times in your whole life. So, Abby and I traveled in to NYC and made it in time to see "Mary Poppins," which was great. The next morning was Sunday, so we went to Clint and Diana's and headed to church with them. Abby got to have a sharing time that Diana did, and thought it was really cool to go to church on the third floor of a building which also houses the temple. After church we had a great lunch with them and Diana's really nice aunt, uncle and cousin, and headed to the Met. We walked through Central Park and even took a bike taxi back on the way back to C&D's. We took a nice walk by the river and had a great evening visiting and catching up. The following day, Monday, we hit the American Girl store where we had brunch and picked out special gifts for each of the girls. Abby was in heaven - it was really fun to be there with her. Diana and Josie met us at the end of our visit, and I was so excited - I finally got to carry Josie somewhere in the backpack!! We went to FAO Schwartz where we played the big piano and just enjoyed exploring. Josie needed a nap, so she and D went home while Abby and I headed to - what next? A candy store, of course! We enjoyed all the biggest, best, and over-the-top stores that day. For dinner we met C&D at their apartment with Thai take-out. Clint also introduced us to Grohm, I think it is - the gelato place - it is really amazing. I was ready to go to bed by this point, but Abby wanted to see Times Square at night one more time, so we wandered around there again, and finally went to bed late. Abby stayed up chatting with me in bed until I was the one falling asleep. Very fun to be with my energetic, city-loving girl!

We also had a great Labor Day weekend with Ben and Alex, and Annie and Cameron in town. It was so fun to see all the out of town family members in just a couple of weeks time. We hit the famer's market, swam, had dinner, and just enjoyed being together. Then, the first day of school was upon us. We made lunches, did hair, and packed backpacks just like we'd never had summer :) It was a successful first day. Everyone came home feeling happy and like they thought they had pretty good teachers. A few days into it, it already felt like we'd been back for weeks. As a mom, I do like the routine and the chance to have some productive time during the day, but I have to brace myself for the frantic pace that hits from 3-8:30. It is a whirlwind of questions, needs, help, driving, dinner, nagging, stories, love, snuggling, and more. We tried to do early morning piano lessons - once to be exact. The noise carried so clearly that everyone in the family was up at 6:00 and ready to go by about 6:30. This made for a VERY long morning with Suse and Natalie who were tired and grumpy the rest of the day - not worth it. So now the piano teacher is having a hard time fitting us in because he gave all his other spots away. Well, something will work out, but the girls aren't too sad about it in the meantime.

Other than that, the oldest three girls are in soccer. Mark is coaching Abby's team, the "bluenami" - so clever with their blue unis...Zelle is feeling great after playing on a summer team with lots of tournaments, and has been scoring 2+ goals per game from mid-field. Lu is a little wrecking crew, scoring 4 goals last week and a few each week before. Now, this is rec league soccer, so we're keeping it all in perspective, but it's fun and they're all really loving it.

Susie started her last year of preschool, and after being pretty nervous the first week, seems to be settling in and really liking her teachers and most of the kids. She told me this week about a girl named Katherine that is "so sassy!" After telling me all the sassy things she does (which didn't really seem so bad), I asked her if most of the kids in her class were pretty nice. She thought everyone except Katherine was. She gets to wear a certain color of clothes one day of the week, bring a certain item from home beginning with the letter of the week one day, and loves to look at the calendar to see what the big theme of the day will be. This week we're all about planning the snack she gets to bring for her birthday. So far it's doughnut holes and apples that we'll peel on our apple peeler that makes the curly apple slices.

Far too much detail for anyone but me, but I think of it more as a public journal that you're welcome to read, but can't imagine you'd want to hear about preschool snacks and how many goals our kids have scored!!! Yikes. A blog entry only a mother could love...