At last!

Here's to finally getting to break out the fall wardrobe!

Clearly Cooper Loves Us!

Grace and Andy had their entire day made when the postman dropped off a package. I could tell that the package was from Aunt Ashley so I put the thing on top of the dining room table and let the kids get really excited about what could possibly be inside. This also allowed me to secretly open the box and perform any water damage repair work to the contents...the box looked as if it had sailed the ocean blue before arrival. Fortunately, the items were in perfect condition. After dinner and baths, we ordered the kids upstairs to wait for the big surprise. This book, Sally (read Cooper) Goes to the Mountains, is the 4th in their very favorite series and couldn't be more perfect for life in Charlottesville (especially the part about Cooper meeting the bear!). We read the book together and then let them "read" it to each other for a while so they could study the pictures. Ashley (and Cooper), you absolutely made their day. I held the other two books out and will stretching out the fun for two more nights.

It's Fall in Charlottesville

Every year, the Foxfield Races mark the "official" start of fall. It is such a gorgeous event: a horse field surrounded in white tents with sweeping mountain views. We tailgated with some new friends and had an absolutely perfect day! We also started with mint juleps before noon. Mama said there'd be days like this when Scott was up to his eyes in residency...thank God she was right!

This pony was for sale...Grace made her case. Never happier to see her lose an argument with her Daddy!

Sloppy Saturday

We're on day 2 of solid rain after a rainy week. We have friends in Georgia who would appropriately call this a sprinkle after what they've been through so we know better than to complain. We ambitiously loaded the kids in the van and headed to the PBS Book Fair at UVA. Right. Mass of humanity with tons of kids running around everywhere screaming at the top of their lungs over Elmo and Curious George. We survived 7.2 minutes. Grace and Andy are usually up for a crowd and some good hysteria but they were leading the charge to the exit. Scott took a well deserved break from studying and drew pictures with Grace and Andy and then refereed an exciting(ly long) game of Who Sunk My Battleship. Watched a little football on TV...followed a lot of football online...read a little...it was a glorious day. See! No complaints.

Andy insisted on wearing his new "basketball man un-eee-form" to the book fair. He also insisted on wearing it to bed tonight.

Rolling right along!

We're settling into the routine around here: we get up at the crack of dawn to two kids who are already awake. Throw on clothes. Inhale Eggo's. Hair. Teeth. Bus (be it big yellow or black mini). With 5 weeks under our belt, I am pleased to report that we've found a routine that works well enough to eliminate the need for "Go! Let's GOOOO! Go! Go! GO!" It had to end. Who wants to start their day like that? The Army certainly. Thank God, at 3 and 5, we're not enlisted.

This week ended with the much anticipated Meriwether Lewis Elementary Roller Skating Party! The PTO bought skates from a rink that went out of business. We have no other roller rinks here...thus, last night, we had 100+ kids K-5 on wheels with little to no experience doing laps in the gym to Michael Jackson music. It was hilarious, and occasionally painful (when the fifth grade boy rolled full speed into me with a "laaddddy move!"). Siblings are welcome and Andy didn't miss a beat...in his princess skates that were strapped, fittingly, over a pair of black Chuck Taylors.

Sweetie!

Mom is here for a few days to check in on the young scholars. She drove Andy to school, turned around and ran back to Grace's school to meet her for lunch, inhaled the cafeteria's best, then sped to Chipotle to meet Andy and me for a second lunch, and then we raced home to meet Grace's school bus. And then managed to catch me up on 3 months of ironing. And play soccer with Andy, and allow Grace to teach her how to draw stars for an entire hour ("it's up then down then over...."). It's no wonder that she is sleeping on the couch next to me while I type!

Pee Wee League

After 2 Wake Forest football games and his first "sports skills" class at The Boars Head, John Glenn has been fired. Andy wants to "work on me sports" with Daddy all day and all night. I know that I am bragging (I think I'm allowed) but he is really, really good! Especially when he has his "numbah 12" jersey on. Right. We'll work on numbers tomorrow, for today we're all about sports.

Lucky Duck

Once again, Scott is preparing for a board exam. These exams are really fun. He gets to study until 1am every single night (and is always at his desk the next morning before 8am). Super! And then, he gets to go on a mini vacation to Lynchburg and stay at the luxurious and fancy and almost clean Fairfield Inn. Double super! And yeehaw! Then he gets to take an eight hour exam! Jealous. I bet he is torn up that this is the VERY LAST BOARD EXAM!!!!!!!!!!!!

When did she get so fearless?

Don't let the hairbow fool you: she out climbs the boys.

Two Wheels for Two Kids

I remember the day that I learned to ride a bike without training wheels: it was the same day that my big sister learned. I'm not sure that there is anything as sweet as watching your children relive some of your favorite memories.

We loaded the kids and the bikes and headed to the parking lot of Grace's school for a little bike riding fun on a flat surface (rare in these parts). With zero prep and one push, Grace was off and doing (near) perfect laps around the lot as if she'd been doing it for years. A few minutes later, Andy declared that it was his turn and with the same one push, he joined her in the ranks of unassisted riders. Scott yelled "go go go" and I cried...but only for a minute. I am so proud of these two. They are literally growing by leaps and bounds every single day.

Go Deacs!

To celebrate the end of Scott's medical school and training, we got season tickets to the Wake Forest football games. I thought this was a gift for him: it is after all his alma mater and his sport. Never in a million years did I expect to *LOVE* going to these games. I actually caught myself cheering for a first down on Saturday. Don't ask me what the heck that is, but everyone in black and gold went crazy and I couldn't help but join in!

We made a quick trip to campus before the game yesterday so Daddy could show the kids his old dorm and other favorite spots. We hit the Deacon Shop to get the kids properly outfitted...good luck getting these outfits off! Andy is pledging to wear his "deaconfootballmanjersey" forever.

A fan is born.

Andy.

First Day of Preschool

God bless this kid. He is the second so we walk through the firsts with a little less trepidation... and yes, less fanfare. But just look at him! He rolls with it all. I will miss him during these three mornings each week!

She can (almost) read!

It is well known that I've dreaded the milestones... these days just go by entirely too fast and I want to hold on to it all. Reading is my one true exception (though Andy the tank learning to walk was ultimately a very welcome thing). Read, Grace read! For a child that lives in a fairy land and asks every day for us to take her to "far off places like Paris," I can't think of anything more exciting! The box also represents her very first homework. She will be filling this box with reading material (hand made books etc) and her teacher assures us that by the end of the year, she'll need a second box to hold it all. I'll need a second room to contain my pride.

Golden Egg Girl

Grace found the golden egg at the Easter Egg Hunt this year. Her prize? A one night stay at the Greenbrier Resort. When I was a kid, the prize was a boiled egg under gold foil.

My baby girl took us all on one heck of a vacation. My parents stayed at the Greenbrier on their honeymoon so we insisted that Sweetie join us. As fate would have it, in a hotel of nearly 800 rooms, we were placed - completely at random - in the same suite that my parents stayed in on their wedding night. Right. Like so many things, this would have been perfect if my precious Dad could have been there. Sweetie put on a brave face, but I'm pretty certain that her heart was breaking. Mine was too to be honest. Still, it was the Greenbrier and it was also the first time that our Grace has ever treated us all to something other than her stellar art work so we pulled it together and had a very special weekend. We bowled, swam, and dined on Saturday. We woke up on Sunday morning to room service and then found way to the outdoor pool, which has one of the most spectacular views of the Allegheny Mountains I've ever seen. We hated to leave.

We apologize in advance for our behavior at the Easter Egg Hunt next year. Forget the Sunday best, we plan to arrive in full body armour in hopes of doing whatever it takes to find that golden egg! I kid. Really, we would never...

On second thought...

Grace is adjusting to kindergarten. She loves it...but also thinks that a) it is entirely too long and b) there should be some kind of nap time because "you have NO idea how much work we do mom." Today, she experienced a true joy: checking out library books. Now I know that this opportunity has been available to her for the last 5 years at our local library. As much as I adore the smell of the library, I was tired of spending more money on late fees than I would have spent at Barnes and Noble buying the books in the first place. There are really good and plausible reasons for this, but I'll spare you the gory details.

Today was her day. Class trip to the library and successful completion of "Taking Care of Your Library Books" earned her the right to check out one book for one week. What did she pick?

A book about Hippos. What else would she pick?