Grateful

Today I am grateful for...

...Baby Ibuprofen  (Yum Yum has a fever, poor baby.)
...Dishwashers  (my life is much less busy)
...Refrigerators  (ditto)
...Stoves/Ovens  (ditto)
...Window A/Cs  (ditto)
...Cars  (I didn't want to take my feverish baby in the stroller to school pickup)
...Washing Machines/Dryers  (can you even imagine washing your clothes in the river?  Or even one of those washbasins/baskets?)
...Books  (I love reading about volcanoes, history, and the scriptures...all of which I've read for hours today.)
...Computers  (Well, duh.)
...Internet (Double duh.)

We have pretty amazing lives, don't we?

Waiting for Brother and Sister

Today I'm letting Zee and Em walk across the BIG street by themselves.  With the crossing guard, of course.

We are waiting under a tree across the street.  I'm trying to decide if the kids are big enough to walk all the way home by themselves. Sometimes I think "yes", sometimes "no".   

Yum Yum has finally figured out sippy cups.  This is a very good thing, because it is HOT right now.  Seriously, my Vegas friends, for real HOT.  We hit 101 degrees on Friday.

Hebs brings this kind of excitement to nearly everything he does.  I love my little Hurricane Hebs.

Gee decided to chill on the grass.  Thank goodness for shade.

And there they are!

"Poor" thing

First, read this comic:

(From the August 21, 2011 Doonesbury comic strip, click on image to enlarge)

The basic point of the comic is income inequality.  Rich people are really rich, the rest of us are poor, right?  Except...what does the black-haired man have in his hand?

A tablet computer.  Hand-held.  Connected to the internet.  Able to do amazing things.  No wires or cords.

Forgive me if I don't think he's all that poor.

Yum Yum among the flowers

Earthquake in D.C.

I imagine you've heard that the D.C. area experienced a moderate (5.9 magnitude) earthquake today.  Here's a picture of some of the devastation.  (May not be appropriate for small children.)

Truly, we live in the end times.

(Hat tip to Instapundit!)

First Day of School, Zee and Em, 2011

Walking to school with Daddy

At 6:45 this morning, I opened my bleary eyes to see a most unusual sight:  Em--my night owl, my little sleep-late girlie--was standing in my doorway, completely dressed in her new school clothes, bouncing with excitement.  "It's the first day of school, Daddy and Mommy!  I'm all ready!"

(I could wish that every morning would be like this, but I know better.)

Zee dashed out of his room, full of woe when he saw his sister up.  "Oh NO!" he exclaimed.  "I slept too long!"  Then he glimpsed the clock and relaxed.  "Oh!  It's only 6:50!  I thought I was late."  He then hurried to get dressed as well.

I helped Em brush and curl her hair, and Daddy helped her put on her new sneakers.  (We bought them more than a week ago, and she's been SO excited to wear them.)  Zee, being a big second-grader, didn't need any help, Mom.

With lunches packed, breakfast consumed and backpacks donned, it was time for pictures.

 

I love the toothless grin!

She is getting so big.

Look at the baby face on that kindergartner!  He's really changed.

 So confident and feeling just a little silly about posing down the street.

I can't wait until they get home!

Time to Learn!

Tomorrow the two big kids head off to school. So tonight we had our Back to School Feast.

Our theme this year is "Time to Learn!" and we chose to use clocks to decorate the crowns and dining room. (Why, yes, I am re-using the decorations from the good-bye party last week, except I drew tiny clocks on the cardstock circles.  Yes, they have been up all week.  What can I say?  I'm lazy AND thrifty!)

 Each clock-crown showed the time that child starts school.

The place-markers had the child's initial, the theme and a special message inside.

 Our school-papers baskets.  Last year, we only had one basket for three children, and that was chaos.  This year I've wised up.

This is the closest thing I could get to a decent picture of all four of them.

 I don't know what Hebs is doing, but he's darn cute.

 The feast:  Spaghetti with marinara sauce (aka "spaghetti sauce") (and breaded chicken strips for the adults), red lobster rolls, pears, and apple juice or milk to drink.

 Isn't she beautiful?  And growing up way too fast.

 Savoring his apple juice

Posing for the camera

Zee is off to second grade (with the teacher we wanted!), a veteran of all-day school.  Em is thrilled to pieces over her new lunchbox, excited about all-day school (not with the teacher I first wanted, but we'll make do with what we've got!), and a little stressed out, given the temper she's had all day.  Gee doesn't start his preschool class for another two weeks, and is a little sad about that.  Hebs just wants to go somewhere, anywhere, please-momma-where's-my-shoes???  And Yum Yum just toddles around, grinning like the sweet, mischievous baby that she is.

And tomorrow starts the new school year.  Hooray!