First Day of School 2009

It has come and gone. The first day of the 2009-2010 school year, that is. K is now officially a second grader and L is a kindergartner. I was slightly choked up when L went to her classroom and began her work. She did exactly what she was supposed to do without having to be reminded. I thought I would be okay but I was a ball of mush. It doesn't get any easier with the second one.

I have found my return to work to be exhausting. It's been almost 8 years since I've worked outside the home and it's tough even though it's only a couple of hours each day. The nice thing is that the day goes by quickly with the rush of lunches and kids and teachers and kids and food and all sorts of other stuff. Last night I crashed at 9:00 and woke up at 6:00am having not moved one bit. I'm pretty sure I was tired.

I have some sweet pictures of the girls on their first day, complete with new backpacks but I haven't uploaded them from the camera. That's mainly because I'm lazy and won't go downstairs right now to get the camera so I can put pictures on the blog.

It's been well worth it, though, to be around my girls all day and to see the kids in the school. They are a great group of kids and I'm having fun getting to know them even if it's only for a moment.

So Here's What's Going On

I have been neglecting this blog all summer long. It's hard to find the time to sit down at my own computer and write about, well, nothing. But that's why I started this: to have a record of my children's life and to get out all the things in my head. I would love to be more faithful to this blog (I feel like I've been cheating on her) but life has gotten in the way.

We got back from a trip to my hometown on Tuesday. It was wonderful and we were able to extend our stay one day because S had to work. He had too many conference calls on Monday to be able to sit in a car and try to work while 3 children were creating background noise. He went with us since he can work from just about anywhere. That was certainly a blessing for the car ride. It's always easier than being the lone adult in the car for 5 hours.

We got the chance to ride a real train while we were there. There's an antique rail not too far from my hometown so we went with Papa and PJ and rode the train. It was so much fun. There was an outdoor car and an air-conditioned indoor car. H thought it was a little loud while we were on the outdoor car so we moved inside about half-way through the trip. The air felt good since it was 90+ outside. Even with a breeze in your face, it was still really hot.

So what else is new? Well, I'm officially a working mom. I've taken a position at our school, coordinating lunches, organizing them, and handing them out. No, I'm not the lunch lady. I'm the lunch coordinator. I do get paid (not much) but I do get a really good discount on our tuition. And that makes all the difference in our economy today. Plus, whatever I make gets deducted from the tuition so we're not going to have any monthly payment. Oh, and H gets to go with me so there's no need for child care. And I get Fridays off. It's win-win. While this isn't my ideal job, it's a great way to ease back into the working world.

So that's the news from the 3m's Mama house. What's new with you?

Summer is Winding Down

As we move into these last few weeks before school starts, I must look back at what a wonderful summer we've had so far. I remember the last day of school in May, thinking that we had so much time this summer, it was going to be long and what was I going to do with three children at home all day with nothing to do?

The answer didn't come right away. We had to find things to do, take short day trips, host friends, play with family. We had several guests stay with us including Sporty Mama, had a big birthday party for L, and hosted S's sister for 2 weeks. Her four children stayed at the grandparents' house and took turns staying with us. We had a fabulous time with all of these people, ate really good food and laughed a lot.

The girls are getting excited about school starting (that will eventually fade so I'm trying to encourage it for as long as I can), especially L who will be starting Kindergarten. I know I'll be a ball of mush on the first day of school and must remember to have tissues in my purse that day. We've purchased school supplies, new backpacks and Gran surprised the girls with new lunch bags which are really cute. I think I need to have them monogrammed.

Now summer isn't totally over. We're heading North to visit Nana, Papa & PJ at the end of this week. We have a few more day trips planned, a few play dates with friends and possibly a day trip with Daddy who was gone for most of the month of June. He also went on a last minute trip a couple of weeks ago and has been holed up in his home office ever since. While he is technically home all the time, we still miss him.

I'm very thankful for the time I've had with K, L and H this summer. We've had some wonderful times and we've had some difficult times. Tempers flare a little more easily when you're together all the time. That being said, I wouldn't trade my life for anything.