Back to School

The kids are back in school! Yeah! I love school. My kids love school. Summer is fun but the last couple weeks were a bit rocky. :) Everyone (ME) is really ready for school to start and the routine of the year. I love my kids' schools!! And the teachers are amazing!! And everyone is doing very well. Tuba is a sophomore this year. Looking handsome! He is officially as tall as me (not hard) but weighs 105. For the record that is 25 lbs. less than me.
Busy Guy was the MOST excited about school starting. Kindergarten!! He loves it! He is in the am session and has the same teacher that Mr. P had in K. BG is rather lonely and forlorn in the afternoon when his brother and the neighbor boys are still at school. He has begged us to send him to all day K. But, it's $300 a month for all day and free for half day. :( We've been playing games in the afternoon and that is helping him feel special.
Mr. P is a big 2nd grader. He LOVES his teacher. His reading is really taking off. I constantly find him lying around with a book. Captain Underpants is his favorite right now!
The wee ones are also in school!! Woot! This is the first time in 8 years that I've had a morning free while all the kids are at school!! I have appointments for dental, mammogram and yearly check all booked....and I don't have to hire a sitter! They go two times a week for 2.5 hours. I use one of the days to do my volunteer time at the Elementary school. Love that time!
Sis was VERY excited for school. Baby brother....not so much. He got more excited after open house and seeing all the cool toys. But, the first day was rough. He clung to my shirt and we had to unwrap each of his fingers so I could go. He didn't cry but looked rather scared. I faked a big smile, waved goodbye and then ran to my van and had a good cry! Whaaaa! What is wrong with me? Wasn't I supposed to be excited. Well, I am but it was a bit sad. The second week of school was much better and they are both loving it!

One of the coolest things for me this year is that my big kids ride the bus! Yeah! No more spending HOURS a day in the van. I walk a few blocks to the bus stop in the morning, then the afternoon bus drops BG off at our door. At the end of the day Mr. P either walks up with a neighborhood mom or we walk to the stop and get him. Tuba is picked up and dropped at our house. Heavenly!! It's a short ride and it's working well for everyone. Yeah for the bus! Yeah for school! Yeah!!!

Important!

Just in!! Important news!! Yes, I am still alive, and in case I have ANY readers left in the world I will be posting regularly....SOON! I have been without a computer, can't post from my iPod, and have still been unpacking, painting and enjoying the small amount of summer we had. But, the computer is back and my office is being set up...and I'm missing my blog! So a HUGE backlog of posts to come....I promise. Really!

Summer nights

Another of my favorite things about our house is sitting on the front porch. We sit out in the morning and eat blueberries and get warmed by the sun. I'm sure all the neighbors love to see us in our pj's. :) At night we like to watch the boys ride bikes. I love my front porch!

*Note: check out Sis's outfit. She comes up with some colorful creations. :) She also changes her clothes so many times a day that she now has a lock on her closet. :O

Sis will be off and riding soon. Yikes! She's checking out the scooter...which is as big as she is and probably weighs more.

Hmmmm.....this looks fun!

Bikes and more

One of the best things about our new neighborhood is that the kids get to ride bikes and scooters. They have been loving it! We live on a quiet street and there are lots of neighborhood kids out riding and playing all day. Busy Guy was apprehensive to try his bike. He was awesome at the scooter so he could keep up with the big kids just fine. Scooter boy!

I do have to say it is a leap of faith for me to let the kids ride without me right there. Cam has given me the "they are fine" talk a few times. It is great independence for them to ride and play without a hovering mother. :) They do have limits and can only ride on our street where I can see them if I need to. They do ride to their friends' house too with permission. The boys look out for each other too. Some great life experience and life lessons being learned this summer!

Mr. P loves to ride his bike. In fact he is eating me out of house and home because he rides all day and burns so many calories.

The kids and I take lots of walks. The little ones are anxious to ride bikes and scooters too!

We finally convinced Busy Guy to try his bike. Here's Cam getting him set up.

He literally just rode off! No push, no try! He was so proud of himself!! He is a riding machine! He has a new bike now (since I'm still so behind) and I'll post those pics soon. :) Soon is a relative word.

One More...

One more birthday to complete the birthday season! Cam turned 43!! Woot! We went out for dinner to celebrate his special day. We call ourselves The Restaurant Lepers. You should see people's reaction when we come in the front door. You can see them thinking...oh please don't sit by me. We have had people say no to the hostess when they are being seated near us too. Sheesh...without even giving us a chance. We have also had many people come and tell us how great our kids were!! But, we do get nervous when we go out someplace a bit nicer than the usual. It was a special occasion so we risked it.

We went to a favorite local Italian place and sat out on the patio. It was a beautiful sunny day. We had yummy dessert (which you can see on BG's face). And then we walked along the marina and looked at the boats. The kids were very good and we all had a nice time. BG did fall and skin his knees. Poor baby. The picture cracks me up though....he's holding his shorts up so it won't touch the owie.

Happy Birthday to my amazing sweet hard working and loving husband! We love you!!

Tuba is 15

Sweet Tuba is 15! He is growing so fast this summer. He is VERY close to my height now...and weighs in at about 105 lbs. He had his favorite breakfast....mmmmm.

For his birthday we got him a new firepit for the back yard. Our firebug was thrilled!! We had a bonfire and roasted smores. We had a great time. Cam told the kids some stories. Ghost stories turned.....hmmm....how do I describe them....ghost stories turned potty humor? Yes. They start out with dark woods and creaking noises and then end with the scary noises being revealed as an old lady farting! Yep. The kids laugh hysterically...and me too. I'm sure the neighbors wonder who the heck moved to the neighborhood. We are LOUD! We laughed until a couple of us fell out of our chairs. :)

Sweet Baby

Our family LOVES a baby. We all wait patiently (not) to have our turn holding and cooing. Love love love my family of baby hogs. :)