From the Mouths of Babes in September

Dave:  Robin come here or I'm gonna drink your lemonade.
Robin:  NO! You don't like it.  You like chai.

Me:  Mmm. You smell good.  What have you been using?
Eileen: Well I was rubbing myself with this bush...  (We think she was playing in some rosemary.)

Eileen:  Can I have screen time?
Me:  Do you have any homework?
Eileen:  Not sure.
Me:  Well, is there anything in  your folder?
Eileen:  Oh, just some fashion magazines I made.  (very nonchalantly, like it is a totally regular thing)

                                                        Sibling Picnic Play

Nevertheless, She Persisted (at rollerskating)

Eileen went to her very first roller skating party yesterday.  Eileen has been asking for roller skates for about 9 months now.  I've kindly suggested she wait to try skating before making such a purchase. I've also tried to point out the financial wisdom of simply renting skates at the skate center.

Eileen is not known for her risk-taking or physicality (other than being flexible).  She frequently refuses to do things independently or go familiar places by herself -- including the bathroom from her bedroom.

As I drove Eileen to the skate center she was buzzing with energy.  This was the moment she had been waiting her whole life to experience.  The roller skating center did not smell of shoe leather, sweat, and popcorn.  It lacked gaudy carpeting.  Other than that, roller skating rinks have not changed much since the 80s when I skated to Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA."  Because it was a Saturday afternoon, it was significantly less crowded than a school skating party.

I helped Eileen with her skates.  Her friend, Lucy, was equally excited to get out on the floor.

I barely turned around for a second and the two of them were out on the rink.  No adults.  They were just going for it.

God only knows how many times they fell before they made it to the wall.  It was slow going, but they made it around the rink.  We tried to get her wheels tightened by the screws were stripped. Undeterred, Eileen kept at it.  I took my life into my own hands, took off my shoes, and went around the rink once in my socks, holding her hand.  Eileen barely wanted to stop for food or cake before getting back out on the rink.

She had it fairly well figured out by the end.

Eileen was super proud of herself.  I told her I was proud of the way she didn't give up even though it was hard.  Linus was at a skating party the previous weekend and did not have quite the same level of grit.  Knowing that she did better at her initial attempt at roller skating than Linus set her on cloud nine.  They may be a competitive edge to her yet.

First Day of School (a day late)

Yesterday was the first day of school.  I'm still trying to catch my breath.  Dave worked late last night so I think that has something to do with it.  This year we did a Meet and Greet the Friday before Labor Day weekend.  It made the first day of school so much smoother, although I admit it did feel a bit weird to have the first day be a full day of school.  I don't think I've met a group more excited to be in 6th grade.

My own babies are growing up.  All three are at St. Luke this year with me, all day long.  I love that this simplifies a lot of our life logistically speaking.  Just dropping the kids at day camp before going to the teacher in-service was tricky.  So my hats off to people who don't have their kids onsite at work.

Eileen cried when kindergarten ended.  She loved every single moment.  As we moved through August, the excitement of first grade welled inside her.  She was ready and raring to go for the first day.  Normally, she won't let me take her picture.  Today Eileen wanted all the pictures and chose the tree and our front yard for posing.  Linus felt sort of meh about going back to school.  I don't think Robin knew what to expect.  He was just excited to go back to hanging out in my classroom.

The "ashing" outside from the wildfires was sad and unexpected.

The combination of heat and having all sorts of bigger girls playing with her hair this summer has made Eileen relent, and let me start pulling back her hair.

Ready for another year of 6th grade.

At school, this cutie literally stopped traffic.  Be still my heart.  Gah.  The cuteness.

The morning was a bit chaotic but things seemed to smooth out as the day continued.  The heat was sweltering.  The popsicles supplied by the principal was very welcomed.

It's funny how easily you can forget how much goes into kicking off the school year--setting up the classroom, sorting students, giving them passwords,  uploading students into online curriculums. Seriously, so much stuff that takes time.  Luckily, it's those things that you only do once.

I checked in with the kids about their first day.  Linus didn't have much to report, but that he liked third grade alright (yet he was already getting right to work on his first IB assignment so I think he liked it a lot).  I caught Eileen out at recess literally frolicking, holding hands and prancing with two of her friends. I asked her and her friends if they liked first grade, and they squealed that they loved it, especially that they had desks that opened (as opposed to tables). Robin's teachers gave him a good report.  He was a bit overwhelmed.  He had an accident towards the end of the day, but given all the changes I'm impressed it was only once.  I am happy to say he was accident free today.

I can already tell it's going to be a good year for all of us.

From the Mouths of Babes in August

While playing on an old, dead cell phone
Robin:  Download, download, download.  I downloaded all the apps.

Talking about helping homeless people more directly
Linus: I could tell stories.
Robin:  And I could build little houses.

On dying my hair to get rid of the gray at her request
E:  Do you love it more than you expected!?!

Yes, Dave is holding Robin's face.  I just managed a cool shot.  And isn't my husband kind of dreamy?

Sometimes even the big guys need naps.