My husband has taken the children on the Tuesday Morning outing. Most Tuesdays he does this, and it allows me to get a little scrapbooking done for work, a little tidying around the house (In silence! With two hands!), and gives me a small respite from the constant chatter and demands of our family. Today, however, although there is work to be done (work that really ought to be headed to the post office tomorrow) I’d rather take a nap than do what I’m supposed to do. I am really tired, even though I have been keeping very good hours and sleeping adequately.

Jonas had his birthday party on Saturday. He will be 7 on the 18th and very much enjoyed having his buddies over for some slip-and-slide, water slide, cake and presents birthday action. He is now loaded up with Bakugan, Transformers and Legos and is very much pleased with his collection of plastic rubble, that I will admit to having added to. (I know! I try so hard to buy non-plastic- but if the kid’s true love (thanks to school) is little plastic creatures- well, what am I to do?)

Jonas started summer school yesterday. We are very grateful that summer school for the district just happens to be in his old classroom with his first grade teacher. He is so transitionally challenged that those two consistencies will truly make all of the difference. He is just a smidge behind in reading, so summer school will be good for him. Plus, his class has only eleven students, so his time there is well spent. I am concerned for next year. About 1/3rd of our teachers were pink slipped this year, and there is very serious talk about raising class sizes to thirty children per class. They have closed down a few schools as well, so the children at those schools will have to go somewhere. We shall see how he handles whatever ends up coming.

I am currently homeschooling Maggie for Kindergarten/preschool. She misses the K cut off here by a matter of days, and preschools have outrageous waiting lists and cost more than my college education. Seriously. If you are raising children, might I recommend NOT moving to beautiful California, where the budget is slashed and preschools present more challenges than college? Maggie and I are working on her penmanship, and she is making progress. She knows her letters, is learning letter sounds and is working on writing them. The funny thing is, she has very, very well developed fine motor control, and she is more than able to print, but she is very much a study, watch and wait kid, so practicing when it isn’t going to come out as she likes it is so frustrating for her(gee. . .wonder who she got that from?)! She is learning. I am learning. I could have just waiting until Kindergarten, but she is taking off so quickly on her own that I expect she’ll be doing simple reading before she is “old enough” to attend. I enjoy watching her progress.

Gabriel is adorable. He is laughing big, belly laughs now. He will be four months old this week. We are well into the baby groove. He usually gives me one solid hour and a half or more nap per day, and then I can get something done. He is learning patience, and learning that flirting with us is sure to make it so no one can put him down. He does this stinking adorable maneuver where he shrugs his shoulders, cocks his head to the side, raises his eye brows at you and then gives a little grin. How in the world does he know to do that? Flirting must be innate.

He was just days old in this picture. When it was shot I saw it and all I could think was ugh- my hair is a mess, My chin has chins and I’m retaining a ton of water from the pregnancy and I look just awful. A few short months later, and it is such a perfect moment in that quiet, tender time. I think I need to judge myself a little less, and live a little more. Hard to do.