Ice Cream for Dinner!

Yes, that's what you get when your tooth is pulled after a traumatic dentist visit.

He's happy about it now, and certainly the empty space is a lot better than the diseased tooth that use to occupy that real estate in his mouth. But at the time it was a little traumatic. Thank goodness for nitrous oxide! Hearing Elliot crying "ow! ow! OW!" while the dentist rooted around in his gums with his scraper was quite the challenge for me after all my dentist adventures....

Let's just say I had ice cream for dinner too :)

A grab bag of photos, bringing you up to date

The boys' school starts at the unbelievable hour of 7:50am which means we have to leave the house at 7:30AM every morning. Now, during the summer months I was lulled into the idea that this early start wouldn't be a problem since the kids' ( Elliot especially) normal wake-up time is 6:30ish.... maybe 7 if they are lollygagging in bed reading.

 

Then school started and lo and behold it is like trying to maneuver a cruise ship in a tight harbor getting these kids up and ready for school. However, the benefit of the early morning start is that school is out at 2:10 most afternoons, except one day a week when they have a minimum day and school lets out at 11:55am. Yes, still morning!

 

In September we went to the beach after school and this is pretty much exactly how I felt about that adventure as well.:

 

The boys have loved boogie boarding and getting comfortable in the ocean this summer. I think next year there will be some surfing lesson!

 

 

Also, Elliot tried a few karate classes and seems to have found his perfect sport. We are going to test out some trial-period lessons at a few dojos before we settle on the one that's right for us schedule and price-wise, but boy is this kid excited!

 

Owen settled on trombone for his 4th grade band instrument, in addition to the piano lessons that he's been taking.  Owen is naturally a bookish, puzzle-loving sort of kid so we are looking for ways to increase his physical fitness. Certainly this summer at the beach he was like a fish in the water, and he really enjoyed his swim lessons at the pool. So, the idea now is to get him into a swim team at the local rec center. I'll let you know how that goes!

Much as I dread driving all over the place after school, I see the incredible benefits they get from participating in activites like this. My inclination is to be a homebody and just play at home, so I try not to overschedule them, but if one of them gets an activity, then the other one does too and suddenly we have after school classes 3 days a week. Sigh. I guess this is what I'm faced with for the next ten years or more...

Anyway, that's what we are doing these days.

October

Did you like how my last post was tantalizingly sub-titled "Part 1"? As if to imply that I would have more posts coming? Tricked you!

No, really, as always I intended to post more summer pictures, but then came school and -- well, stuff.

And here we are getting ready for Halloween. Planning and crafting some pretty cool costumes, settling into a homework routine ( there is a lot of homework!), taking karate lessons, piano lessons, and theatre classes. And yesterday Elliot mentioned something about Santa and I literally gasped. Slow down, year!

Anyway, here are some pictures from the first day for you: Kindergarten for Elliot and 4th grade for Owen.

Leaving for school that first day.

Arriving at school. The first year they are going to the same place every day!

 

 

Elliot outside his classroom mustering up the courage to enter. He did pretty well that first drop-off. I could se ehim getting more nervous as we approached the class. The look on his face as I kissed him goodbye says it all:

Gulp.

 

 

By the end of the day, however, all was good. His teacher's first remark was "He's such a good listener!". That gave me a laugh, let me tell you.

Anyway this past month has been a whirlwind for them, but every day they look forward to going to school and can't wait to tell me about what they've been doing when I pick them up. So far so good!