School Days

Thought you would like to see a couple of shots of Julia and Ian starting school. Let me know if you have any trouble checking out these or other posts.

I have to say they look pretty cute in those little uniforms. They seem very happy. Julia has decided to play soccer (yes, she does know there's a ball involved). We're going to have the baby baptized in October. We realize that she's going to be 10 months old then, but she is little so its okay.

Bathing Beauties

Look at these bathing beauties scrubbing off the dirt and grime of a church festival. We've had a long, long week. Julia and Ian started a new school, I went back to teaching after a glorious spring and summer at home with my children, and Norah got two new teeth perfect for biting and keeping her up at night. Why is it that babies seem to have a 6th sense about change or work that needs to be done so they decide to pick that time to wake up all night and need to be held all day...jeepers. So we survived the week, I got through the handing out of syllabi and the first reading and writing assignments. The children seem to love their new school, and we all had a blast at the fall festival. I will be happy to never hear the words "tickets" and "webkinz" again for a good long time. Cross your fingers that we win one of the baskets that we put many chances in to win (a grill for John, the Ruthie American Girl for Julia, the relaxation products for me). Happy Labor Day!

The Dressings Get Dressed Up

Here we are at TJ's wedding. Don't we look smashing? We all had a lot of fun. It was Julia and Ian's first wedding. They danced like crazy all night. It was one of those weddings where everything is just as you expect it; the chicken breast and pork on the buffet, the cake, the dj's voice and the songs (all the good ones-YMCA, Old Time Rock-n-Roll, Love Shack, Electric Slide, C'Mon Ilene), not to mention the "open" bar with beer and wine. I was a little worried about going with all three kids, but the baby was wonderful. She fell asleep right as the dancing got started so she hung out in her car seat while we hit the dance floor. It was a beautiful ceremony...what I saw of it from the cry room, and a great cap to our fun summer.

So Long Summer

In typical Jayne fashion we are in the midst of change, change, change. The kids are starting a new school this fall, I'm going "back to work" teaching 3 classes, and the baby will be hanging with Grandma twice a week. We're leaving our Montessori school to test the waters of the award winning Catholic school in our neighborhood. No more 7:45am start time, no more trek across town twice a day, no more one hour bus ride for Julia. Hello Uniforms! I won't go into detail about the hideous plaid, but let's just say it could be worse (like it could be brown and orange instead of Christmas colors). We've had an amazing summer, but I admit I'm exhausted. The past 5 months have been the first time since I was 16 that I haven't' had at least one paying job. It was weird and scary, but I'm really glad that I did it in spite of my fear that we will end up with no college savings for our children and very little retirement for ourselves. I learned a lot about myself and though I may not have always seemed like it, I did really enjoy getting to see my children grow. Julia and Ian have been these amazing little helpers with Norah; I don't know what I will do without them when school starts. They play with her, keep her entertained while I start dinner or take a quick shower, and they just shower her with love, as we all do. I still can't fully believe even after 8 months that she is really ours. She is such a shining light, and as hard as it is sometimes to juggle three little peoples' needs, I am so overwhelmingly glad that she is here. The kids began working on little poster boards about their exciting summers-I'll post pictures if I can. Holy Cow, what a summer! They went to King's Island, had a lemonade stand, spent many fun days at the lake where they learned to knee board, did lots of tubing, invented all sorts of games with their cousins (golf ball racing), and helped build cardboard boats. They went to my faculty picnic where they rode ponies and watched a hot air balloon attempt to get off the ground. We watched Wall-E and the Kit movie, and Dad took them to the zoo and to a Cincinnati Reds game. We spent lots of hot days at the pool with friends, and lots of days just playing in the backyard with all our wonderful neighbors. We visited at least 5 new places in the city, and supported our local farmer's market every Monday we were in town. We planted seeds and grew tomatoes and herbs and giant sunflowers as tall as our fence. We slept in most days until 9am and some days played in our pj's until much later. We met new neighbors and gathered for potlucks to support Barack Obama and his march to the White House. We read enough stories to earn books and prizes at our library. So what's left in these last couple of days? Well, unfortunately I made the mistake of asking what one thing they would both like to do before we officially end summer. To my horror (and without hesitation) they both said, "Chucky Cheese." NOOOOOO!!!!!

We're going to hit the ground running next week as Julia jumps into 3rd grade and Ian takes the big leap to Kindergarten. All our love...

Daddy Rocks

Have you ever noticed that when dads do something routine that moms do all the time there's a lot of hype and praise around it? Like when I mention my husband making dinner while we're at soccer camp from 6-7pm it raises eyebrows among several women. "Really?", they ask, like I'm telling a joke, "does he cook often?" Yes, he does. And I want to add, he also bathes the children, picks up groceries, and vacuums (a little too often for my liking!) You'd think it was 1958 and not 2008.
But occasionally my husband really does take on a task with the kids that is surprising and worth some back patting. This weekend he took all the children, including the breastfeeding infant to the Cincinnati Zoo for the afternoon. I was worried because it was really hot, but I packed their lunches and water bottles (as I do for visits to the zoo because I say no to extra treats figuring it is already a big treat to go to the zoo). I waved goodbye and got down to business working on my class that starts in exactly three weeks.
Three hours later they returned cheeks flushed and mouths stained bright red and blue, including the baby who looked extremely jacked up on sugar. "Mom," they yelled upon entering the house, barely able to contain their excitement, "Dad took us into the Sponge Bob 4D movie at the zoo, and it was awesome!" "Yeah," they added, "and we got slushies and cotton candy!" I could tell they had been told to keep this on the down low by the way John slinked out quickly to "clean out the van." "What are those arm bands your wearing," I asked, "did you get those in the movie?" "Oh, these are for the all day passes to ride the carousel and the train," they explained. (Picture Bill Cosby doing the "Dad is great...give us chocolate cake" skit)
My mind is making the cha-ching sound and I'm thinking of all the times I have taken them to the zoo where I told them there was just a statue of Sponge Bob, but no movie. I'm thinking of how I navigate my way around the zoo to avoid the cotton candy battle, and how only once have I given in to a shared slushie. I'm ruined at the zoo; how will we ever go back to the low key experience of just checking out the gorillas and petting the goats?
But they are so thrilled I can't be angry. I guess this is what dads get to do sometimes; they get to be the fun guys, the ones who buy treats and sugary cereal and let them watch loads of t.v. Even the baby is kicking her legs wildly, seemingly not tired after this long hot day with no nap. She looks like she's just been let in on some secret about Daddy that I've been hiding. Something tells me she won't mind Monday nights while Mommy is teaching anymore.
I know (Lord do I know) that it is not easy to take them places without another adult, I do it everyday so there's a hardening to their constant barrage of requests that I am much more capable of accepting. I am grateful for the three hours of peace and quiet in the house during which I did make lots of progress on my class. Three tickets to Sponge Bob, $15, three slushies, two cotton candies and all day carousel rides, $30, one afternoon of solitude for mom, Priceless.
Later as I'm tucking them into bed, I ask them if they had fun at the zoo, and what animals did they see, but I don't get much information. They saw some elephants they say, off in the distance. "Well, Ian says thinking it over very seriously, "I did ride a giraffe on the carousel." Ah yes, of course.