life as we know it

IMG_3632, originally uploaded by J Mortimer.

Rachel started preschool last Tuesday and had a great day! I happen to be her teacher so I wondered how it’d go but she did really well. By the end of the day she already had two new “best friends” (her favorite words lately:) She had a good week and did well in childcare on the days she wasn’t in preschool. It was a tiring week for all of us starting a full week of school but overall it went well. Ethan’s back at it today and was excited again so that’s a good sign.. Blessings to you this week, especially if starting school, or enjoying your last week of summer!

IMG_3618, originally uploaded by J Mortimer.

Ethan started Kindergarten today! Its all day here, but they did start with half the class today and half will go tomorrow to transition them in. Then the whole class will be there on Wednesday. Mom, Dad and Rachel took him this morning, and he just went right in to the gym where they line up together and sat down with his class… he didn’t even ask for a hug or anything (although I still gave him one!) So much different from last year (where he cried and clung to me the first day of preschool) - he’s grown up so much in so many ways this past year… He didn’t seem to mind the whole day at all and liked everything about it - the first thing he said was “I loved it Mom”.
Today was also my first day of preschool - so that was fun & crazy! It did help to have that going on so I didn’t have to dwell on Ethan being gone all day so that was a good thing! I’m very tired now after all this going on in one day so it will be early to bed tonight!

IMG_3621, originally uploaded by J Mortimer.

After dropping Ethan off, Rachel & I came home and stayed busy cleaning up the kitchen & making brownies for preschool (and so that mom wouldn’t think about it too much and cry about her oldest being gone all day!)..I put on water to make tea and Rachel wanted to “have a tea party Mom - with my tea cup” (she has a special little one from Aunt Darlene that’s from Romania) Since she’d been such a great helper with cleaning & baking, we then had an impromptu tea party at 9:30 in the morning! Rachel used to just drink milk in her teacup but now likes Chai tea after trying mine (with milk and sugar of course:) so we both were actually drinking tea! Now she’s talking about having a tea party with all her friends (and then lists them all off.. including a few boys!) so we’ll have to see about that!
A little while later she was the one crying when she found out we weren’t picking up Ethan from school before she had to go to daycare and she said “but he won’t be my best friend anymore and I can’t play with him” (at daycare) so she was pretty sad that Ethan was gone for more than a few hours..That’s the good thing about me working part time now - at least she’s not moping around/bored all day without Ethan here!

My sister Carrie had a baby boy on 8/8/08 (what a cool date!). His name is Joshua Robert and we can’t wait to meet him! Sounds like big brother Matthew & big sister Amanda are doing well and like him a lot…this is Carrie and Paul’s 3rd child and makes 8 cousins on my side.

Well, its been busy, busy around here, as I’m getting ready for school and everything, so I will have to blog more later, but just wanted to let those of you that know Carrie hear the news:)

Well, its taken her a while and she’s been pretty stubborn, but Rachel is finally potty-trained! Yeah! Once she caught on she’s been doing great and figured it all out in a week.. so we’re excited that we no longer have to buy diapers.. (and she can go to preschool with me).. way to go Rachel!

rachelmud, originally uploaded by J Mortimer.

This is what I came out to the other night while I was inside having bible study with friends and the kids were out back - (this picture doesn’t do it justice and her neighbor Timothy was even more muddy!)… needless to say she needed a bath that night! And don’t you love that grin!  Edited: We don’t have this huge puddle in our backyard from rain, its from our dog Sadie “emptying” her automatic water dish with her paws so she can get colder water than what’s sitting in there.. silly dog.

groupclose, originally uploaded by J Mortimer.

These pictures are from our annual camping trip in SD - this was over 3 weeks ago so I’ve been terrible at blogging lately! We have a great time camping with our friends and the kids all love playing together. This year the first day was so windy we couldn’t boat or swim, but at least it wasn’t terribly hot like other years. Sunday turned out to be beautiful so the kids finally got to play in the water before we had to leave. Now we’re gearing up for a northern MN camping trip with family.. time for more s’mores!