Camping fun!

We just got back from a weekend camping trip to O'Neil park today. We decided to try a little overnight trip and it was great! I had reservations about such a short trip, thinking that maybe it would be more trouble than it was worth, but we condensed our camping gear and were able to pack and unpack in record time. We went with a huge group of friends from one of my playgroups. There were 15 parents and 14 kids ranging in age from 7 to 22 months! We had 4 or 5 sites, so there were 2 families per site. The kids all got along great and had a blast! I was a little worried about how it would all work out with that many kids, but it was so awesome that we were all talking about doing it again sometime. Brian had a really good time with the dads too.

If anyone would like to schedule a trip just let us know because this place is about 15 min. from our house and really nice. They have bathrooms and showers, hiking trails, and a playground for the kids. It's also very close to civilization in case you need to run to the store. It's also very easy to get reservations and a nice little weekend trip. We're thinking of going from Friday night after work to Sunday morning sometime since it's so close.

I wish I had taken more pictures and I *really* wish we had gotton a group shot, but as you can imagine it was pretty much chaos with 14 kids running in different directions. Lining them all up for a picture was just not going to happen. I did manage to snap a shot of Will with the baby lizard he caught and one of Sam and a friend.

Ben has a loose tooth!

Yesterday, Ben got an apple out of the refridgerator, bit into it, and told me that I must not be brushing his teeth very well because one of them was hurting. I asked which one and he said it was a bottom tooth. I wondered if maybe it was loose, and sure enough, it was! Now I know why he has been asking that I brush his teeth lately. He was saying that he thought he wasn't doing a very good job by himself. Turns out that tooth was just bothering him because it was loose. I'm going to have another little toothless grin pretty soon!

I actually did it!

In my seemingly never ending quest to shed the last 30 baby pounds (can you still call them baby pounds when your "baby" is almost three?) I have taken up jogging. I have never, ever in my life been a runner. Even when I was a skinny little high schooler, I would get winded trying to run more than about a minute. So I had my doubts as to whether I could actually do this or not. I found a running plan on the internet called the "couch to 5K running plan" where you work up to jogging for 30 min. straight over a period of 9 weeks. I am currently on week 5 and have just completed a 20 min. jog with no walking in between! I'm now pretty sure that I will be able to do 30 minutes in another 3 weeks or so.

p.s. In case anyone is wondering where the pictures are over the last couple of posts, unfortunatly, Ben spilled orange juice on my camera cable and it isn't working anymore. I will try to get out to get another one a.s.a.p. so that you can all share in the kid cuteness.

September 11, 2007

Today was Sam's first real day of preschool. I got a little teary in the car driving away after dropping him off. My last baby is a preschooler. How did that happen? When did that happen? The time has gone by even faster with my last baby than it did with my first, if that is possible. I'm still blown away by the fact that I'm the mother of a 7 year old 2nd grader!

I am so grateful that I have been able to be at home with the kids all of this time. Today I went to volunteer in Ben's Kindergarten class. He was thrilled to see me and ran up and gave me a big hug. He absolutely *loves* Kindergarten. He is already making new friends and was talking to some other boys in his class during snack and playing with them on the playground.

Now a moment of remembrance. Every year on Sept. 11, I, along with every other American, I am sure, think about what happened on this day in 2001 and how the world will never be the same. Everyone has a story to tell about that day. Everyone remembers where they were when they heard of the horrible events. I was sitting at home alone with Will, who was 15 months old at the time, having breakfast. We hadn't turned on the t.v. or the computer, so we had no idea what was going on. Brian called and I asked him what time his flight was going to be coming in since he was scheduled to fly home from Houstan that day. He said that he wasn't going to be coming home today and to turn on the t.v. What I saw on the t.v. looked like some scene out of an action movie. People running and screaming on the streets of New York. The footage of the twin towers being hit by the plane. It was very surreal. I can't remember how our conversation went after that, but I remember walking around in a daze for the next few days. The playgroup that I had when Will was a baby got together at a park on a day that we didn't normally meet, just so that we wouldn't have to be alone. For the first time ever, I really felt like I had a shared history with every person I saw. We all had this tragedy in common. We will never forget.

More back to school pictures!

First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for all three of the kids- big day! Will is officially a 2nd grader, Ben is a Kindergartener, and Sammy is in preschool. I can't believe how big my babies are getting! Sam's first day was actually an orientation, so we have not left him there alone yet, but he absolutely loves his school. He cried when it was time to leave. I don't anticipate him having separation issues. Ben was excited, but very nervous, which is reflected in the pictures that daddy took. This is all old hat for Will now and he marched off into the classroom without so much as a backwards glance at us *sniff*. He was excited to see his friends, and happy that a few of them were in his class.