Good-bye summer...Hello Fall...or so it seems!

O.K. words for now...pictures later tonight, I promise ;-) Wow...our "normal life" is back on schedule and in full swing!! We did manage to hit Lake Erie one more time, this time we took Kylie and my Mom. Let me offer some advice to all of you Mommies out there with kids in diapers. Sun block, sand, and diapers do not go well together! Poor Kylie...she had sand stuck from head to toe clinging on to her sunblock lotion. And diaper changing time...well you can imagine! Ouch! Speaking of diapers, we are in all out potty training mode! I wanted to wait until the kiddos were back to school so I could devote every waking moment from 7:15 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. to Kylie and her "potty needs." Needless to say, Kylie won't have it any other way, she demands to wear big-girl underwear. I can guarantee you that of all the 2 year 2 month olds I know....not a single one is demanding underwear! Actually, a lot of them are more like 2 1/2 and no potty training going on there! Although, I haven't been as consistent as I should with the training this week, it is a good way to ease into next week where diapers will only be allowed during sleeping hours! It was hard to stay away from diapers when we were out and about this week. Speaking of out and about...we've been doing a lot of that. I took Nolan to hockey practice this week, we met Chris there after his work and we stayed to watch. I tell 'ya...for being 15 months younger than the closest teammate in age, you'd never guess considering his size. I full heartedly believe Dr. Hefner when he says Nolan will easily be over 6 feet in his early teen years! The past 2 days have been spent at school open houses and parent/teacher meetings. It is amzing how things have changed since I was in school! Allergies, theft, locked doors, identification, abductions, computerized lunch accounts, homework in kindergarden...I could go on and on. I wouldn't be surprised if recess is phased out of the experience in the next couple of years! I am so very thankful that Grove City has superior teachers that realize that these kids need to be kids and they try as hard as then can to keep the school day fun, while also trying to adhere to the strict standards that are becoming more and more each passing year. Chelsea will be closely watched by her teacher the first 2 weeks of school to see if she agrees with last years teacher's recommendation that Chelsea be placed in the gifted program. It is a little more demanding of her, but Chris and I are confident she will do great. Last year, her teacher ran out of books to send home with Chelsea because she blew through the easy leveled reading books all the way to the hardest leveled books in hlaf the school year. By mid-year she was bringing home books that she read in pre-school because she was allowed to bring home whatever she wanted...she had gone through all of them. In the gifted program, she will be introduced to school work in addition to her regular classroom work. This will alleviate the problem of her saying..."Mom, I had to sit at my desk for 10 minutes and do nothing while everyone else finished their workbook." Chelsea was always the first one done, 100% perfect and left to sit and wait on the other kids. We'll see how it goes. Chris' 2 week trip for work is quickly approaching (Sept. 11) and I am dreading it more and more. Every fun or productive activity I had planned for myself had to get cancelled so I can take over the responsibilities that Chris usually takes care of. I was looking forward to a couple of activities to get myself out of the house and into the community a little bit. I can always predict when Chris will have to travel...if I get an invitation to something or make plans for myself...he comes home and says "Honey...guess what..." I can almost always finish his sentence for him..."I am traveling to ______ next week!" Speaking of having time to your self...Chris won't be home tonight until super late. He is meeting up with co-workers at a bar after work to do their "Fantasy Football Draft." I had the grand idea to cook up a yummy, warm, beef stew for our dinner tonight, ran to the store to get the ingredients, paid for them, and remembered Chris won't be here to enjoy it with me! Cooking beef stew for the kids and I isn't as appealing to me as cooking it while Chris is here. The kids won't touch it...they will probably eat pb&j. So, No...spending half my day planning and cooking a wonderful warm, hearty stew for MYSELF was not in my plans! Whew...I could type on and on...it's been a very busy week here...looking forward to our last long weekend before school starts. I think the kids and I are camping out on the living room floor tonight and watching a rented movie. We wanted to camp out in the back yard...who woulda thought it would be 60 degrees, rainy and windy?! Well, I could go on and on but I am giving MYSELF a headache talking about all this stuff...and i'm not even the one that has to read it all! Hopefully i'll post some pics from our last week or so tonight. If I don't get around to it...I promise, tomorrow afternoon! Stay warm and pray this dreary cold weather is just a fluke and it won't be back until October!