Thoughts

Here is what is on my mind tonight....and thank you for asking.

My class pretests for spelling...I lost them. I gave my kids the pretest to level them and I can't find them. I am not a messy person so it's not like they are hiding under something. They have vanished. They might have to retest, which will make me feel bad and them even worse. The worst part is that those tests take forever to correct because it's not based on "right and wrong" you have to pick the word apart and score them according to various parts of the word that they spelled correctly and incorrectly. My co-workers will want to start switching for spelling and I can't even find the darn things to correct them. UPDATE: I have located the tests! But I was totally going to use Jessica's advice of giving them candy had I not found them!

The Biggest Loser.....did you see the first episode of the season? Did you see the woman that lost her husband, daughter, and son in a car accident? I bawl everytime I listen to her speak. Doesn't matter what she is talking about, I just cry. I can't imagine. There just are no words. She said she wasn't afraid to die, which is the one thing the trainers hang over their heads as motivation. I can't say I blame her. Heaven probably sounds like a great place to be when your entire family is there.

My son is turning 1o on Friday.....and he's having his party on the actual day! He is having it about an hour from here at an indoor sports facility with four friends. Origninally Connor was going to go, but we have since changed our minds. Noah would really like to have his party without his little brother, and I can't say I blame him. He wants it to just be him and his friends. So, we are still not sure about what to do with Connor. I may stay home and do something special with him or we might see if Granny and Papa would like to have an overnight with Connor. It's kind of weighing heavy on my heart, but at the same time, I totally get it. Noah only mentioned once that it would be nice to go without Connor, both don't know that Connor will be staying back.

Soccer only twice this week.....instead of three times. That just makes me happy! It really sucks up the entire week. We did find out that there was a fall baseball league started last year for 5th and 6th graders. You know what sport we will be watching next year at this time, and it's not soccer! Noah enjoys the games, but his heart is not in it. I think it's time for him to really decide which sports he wants to stick with, and the others are going to have to go. I have a feeling baseball will be the only one left standing...which it totally fine by me.

My niece got engaged.....and we are all very happy. Seems like yesterday I was babysitting her. She's the only girl grandchild/cousin. She's pretty much a rock star. I can't wait for the big day.

I miss my Indiana friend....... I think I got spoiled seeing her so much this summer. Not sure when I will get to see her again. I need a date to mark my calendar. We got some weird test results on my dad this week and she was the first one I called. Before moving to Indiana she was a nurse administrator at Mayo. It helps to talk with her. I wish we lived closer.

The Vikings won! Woo Hoo!

Hope everyone's fall is starting out smoothly and that everyone is easing back into school seamlessly. Seems to be going okay around here and at 150 miles per hour at all times!

Peace,

LB

He's Not Heavy....

We were the Three Amigos tonight for supper. Mike had a late meeting at work, so it was just the kids and I home. I decided to make sloppy-joes and we sat down to eat. While we were cleaning up I talked with Connor about his assignment of making a scrapbook(**cough**choke**wheeze**) page for his class book. It was supposed to be all about him. His likes, his hobbies, his favorites. He talked about a few things he could add:

Minnesota Twins Baseball

Soccer

Video Games

Collecting cards

Hanging out with family

Watching movies with family

He came up with every one by himself. For those that know Connor, he is NOT the sentimental one. For him to say those two final comments was shocking and awesome to hear! I probably should have hidden my shock a little because he got all embarrassed when he saw my reaction. It was kind-of cute, actually.

Before I started to help him, I told the kids I was going downstairs to watch The View (had to see Kate Gosselin and Taylor Swift) while riding the bike for awhile, but told Noah if he wanted to try and teach Connor how to find some clip art pictures for his project, that would make this mama very happy.

Before I went down, I snapped a few pictures....

They were just so cute sitting together in the chair, with some liquid refreshment on the side. Noah would show Connor his options and would format the picture for him.

I went downstairs in peace! It was pretty wonderful. (But I still hate the exercise bike, in case you were wondering)

Remember when I wanted a girl? Remember that I called Connor "Emma" for 5 months because I was sure he was a girl? Heck, I even had Noah calling the baby Emma. (That was an interesting thing to explain to a 3 year old once I found out I was wrong) I can't imagine having a girl now. I am so lucky they get along as well as they do. Don't get me wrong, they have their moments, but it's really quite amazing that they have as many things in common as they do.

I've got my fingers crossed they grow up being close and being a huge part of one another's lives. That's my wish for them.

Sweet Things

I order you to ignore all the lovely magnets and "kid things" stuck to the garage door. Husband took the picture and he doesn't think about backgrounds. I am just happy he got a nice picture of those sleepy chickens. Last night was tough having to go to bed 2 hours earlier than normal after sleeping in that morning. Tonight should be much easier.

Kids had a successful first day. Noah could not come up with one favorite thing because there were "too many fun things"! Right away he pulled up a cool youtube video his teacher had shown him. Connor said he liked first grade best even with the kid that sits next to him that is "kind-of crazy". I told him that he should stay away from the crazy kid and he told me it's not possible because he sits right next to him. Oh good.

My first day went fine as well. A LOT of teacher-talking-up-front-giving-lots-of-rules time and that is NOT the way I teach. Had to be done, but I am glad tomorrow will be less of me and more of them!

Another school year underway....bring on the football games, pumpkin patch, sweaters, soups, fireplace, heated throws, and apple orchard!!

The Last Weekend

It's inevitable, no matter how much I will it not to be true.....summer is over. We spent the weekend trying to squeeze every last second into our last three days of leisure.

Saturday we went to the Minnesota Zoo. One of the highlights was seeing Under the Sea in 3-D. Of course, we always enjoy the bird show as well. They still aren't doing dolphin shows due to the age of the dolphins (too old and too young) but we still were able to go into the arena and check them out as they swam around.

Sunday I made cheeseburger soup for the family because it's one of our favorites. It is not very figure friendly, but once in awhile that is okay. It's Noah's #1 requested supper. We also had smores that night and watched as the kids played soccer.

I am always amazed how Connor can keep up with his older brother.

However, he is bound to get tired.

SCORE!

Not too happy with his brother's success!

But he can't stay sad for long!

Tomorrow starts another school year, Noah is in 4th grade and will turn 10 in a few weeks, and Connor starts 1st grade and is 6 1/2. Both are not thrilled to be starting school, but they don't dread it either. I think if school started at 10:00, all three of us would be much happier!

Here's to a memorable and successful nine months!

Peace out,

LB