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...