First day of school

Zoe started third grade today. She was very excited and happy. Her teacher seems great. We are hoping all goes well this year.

15 years

Today is our 15th wedding anniversary. We had some help celebrating.

Happy Anniversary--and many more.

Because Bob loves the Dead, I'll quote them: "What a long strange trip it's been."

Tomorrow is both the first day of school for Zoe (third grade!) and our wedding anniversary (15 years!). Zoe is excited about school. We all went to school on "meet the teacher" night last week. I've heard good things about her teacher. The word on the street is good. We are breathing a sigh of relief. That will be a huge improvement over last year.

We spent the weekend getting better organized. We put away old toys. It's a huge uphill battle at our house. We have too much stuff and more shows up every day.

We went to Target and bought some cube shelves and canvas bins to hold the zillions of Lego's and train tracks. We picked out some new clothes and school supplies. We're ready for what we need, but we're not quite mentally ready. The temps are still in the high 90s. We're still in shorts and t-shits. We want to languish a bit more at least until after Labor Day.

Alas, we don't get to determine the school schedule. It's going to rough getting up at 6 AM again. We got off schedule in June, and have not been able to get back on track yet. It takes more discipline than I can muster. I think it has to do with not getting enough vacation time. We're worn out and just plain tired.

As the kids get older, it will get better. Middle school starts an hour later than elementary school. High school start an hour later than middle school. Until then, I will get up earlier and be better prepared. We have at least ten more years of this, so we have to make peace with it. But, I do reserve the right to complain about it.

Ian and Marianne

birth announcement for Ian

Teach them well

Zoe spent half of her summer vacation at a sports camp swimming and ice skating. She spent the rest of the summer at the ArtsCenter doing dramatic and crafty arts. It seems that the dramatic arts have set in well.

A while ago, I was dropping Zoe off at a birthday party. On the short drive to the other child's house, I spent the time reminding Zoe to be polite, to say happy birthday, to remember to say please and thank you, and all the usual mom stuff.

A couple hours later, when I picked her up from the party, I asked her how it went. She said it was great that she had a fun time. Then, I asked her if she had followed my instruction to be polite and say happy birthday, please, thank you, etc. She said, "Sorry mom, I forgot my lines."

Ready, set, go!

The joy of children is infectious and so sweet. Do you remember how much fun it was to go to the park? Of course you do.

Licking the spoon

Owen loves chocolate. He is absolutely, definitely, 100% positively my son.

Boston Fish Pier

 

Lobster

 

Ian the wonder boy

 

Pecked to death by a duck

 

We saw this pillow at shop called Funusual at Quincy Market in Boston. Because I have children, I could not afford to buy this pillow. At least we had a good laugh.

I'll have a few more pictures and notations to post about our vacation.

Baby love

 

It's interesting to observe my kids's different response to their new cousin. Zoe thinks Ian is a baby doll and wants to hold him all the time. "Can I hold him?" "Can I hold him again?" "If I'm good, can I hold the baby?" on and on...

Owen, on the other hand, pretty much ignores him. He's not jealous but is just not into babies. I did tell him I wanted to take Ian home with me. He told me I can't because the mommy would cry.

Ian

Oh happy day

Yesterday was Zoe's 9th birthday. And today we are welcoming my sister Tricia and her husband Mick's new son to our family.

He was born in the wee hours of the morning. We don't know his name yet.

We're all thrilled and happy to have a new cousin/nephew. Good job Mick and Tricia. We're packing our bags and heading to Boston. We can't wait to meet him.