Dear Suzanne,

I sure am glad we are friends. I wish we lived closer so we could meet at the park or have lunch together and catch up. Honestly, I wish I was a better friend--the kind of friend who would pick up the phone and have a good long chat to catch up. Sadly, I am not that friend. Not even my Mom or Mother-in-law get phone calls, emails, or consistent correspondence of any kind from me.

I am.

A slacker.

None the less, I am grateful for your friendship and for blogs so my lazy butt can keep up with the lives of my friends. Since you asked, here is how our first-day of school went:

The kids were dressed and ready to go about an hour before school started--I was not. I couldn't find the old camera and had to use the cell phone. Sure, I 'm thankful for that technology but I do lament the slightly crappy quality of these pictures...

Just look at the excitement on their faces. Look out world--Lorien has discovered "skinny-jeans". Wyatt is wearing the same shorts as the first-day last year...sweet. Clare is charming and confident.

Last year, when we were in the same predicament of starting at a new school Lorien and Wyatt were much more nervous. You might recall the meltdown from Wyatt at the start of the first day? This first-day went much smoother. We made it to school on time and the big kids ran off like they owned the place. They didn't seem bothered by the 600+ complete and total strangers walking around with them.

Clare's story was a little different. She was full of her usual cheer and confidence while we were taking our "back to school" photos on the front step at home. However, as we made the short drive to school Clare got quite. I held her hand as we walked on to the school grounds and could feel her shaking my hand with little nervous twitches. We found her classroom and waited for her teacher to open the door. Pictures really are worth a thousand words so check out Clare's face while we were waiting:

Now look at her face in the group shot again:

Where did all of her confidence go? This is what a few minutes and hundreds of strangers in a strange place will do to a 5 year-old. She told me the sun was making her eyes water--but the sun was at her back. I gave her a big hug and tried not to bawl all over her shoulder.

Once Clare's teacher came out things got dramatically better. Her teacher is warm and friendly. She gave each kid a hug as they introduced themselves and said, "I've been waiting to meet you!". Will asked Clare if she wanted him to walk into the classroom with her. She said (with a wave of her hand) "No, you can go!".

All was well.

Once Will, Adell and I were back at the car I had to have a little cry. It will be lonely with out all my big kids around.

We went out for breakfast (hey, do you know if it is "out TO breakfast" or "out FOR breakfast"???). Adell drank four cups of coffee-creamer and picked her nose. Maybe I will be entertained with just Adell...

So Suzanne, over all I'd say it was a pretty good first-day. We had ice cream cones while we caught up on the day after school. You cannot have a bad day when you get ice cream before lunch! I wish I could have taken my kids camping with you last weekend. It looks like it was a great trip. Hey, don't pick the foxglove--I think it is poisonous!

Lots of Love,
Cass

Good Bye...

Today is our very last day of summer vacation! I am so sad and so excited. Wyatt and I talked for a bit yesterday about how he has been at a new school every year he has been in school. I was feeling like a really bad mother for throwing his life into chaos--again. He told me he thought it was cool he had so many different schools... I guess every thing will be OK.

The kids have been fighting nonstop for a week and a half. I know it is time to go back to school so they can appreciate each other after being apart all day. However, I am so worried about them starting at a new school. Will they make friends? Will they have good teachers? Will they eat all of their lunches?

I wish we had some thing wild and fun planned for our last day but we don't. We are going to clean the house, set out school clothes, back-packs and lunches, make a yummy dinner, take a bath and go to bed--really early. That's it!

Why am I so nervous?!?

Need a Cheerleader?

I have two.

Clare is always cheering. On Wednesday Wyatt started soccer and even though it was just practice, Clare could not help calling out in support of her big brother. Adell is learning the cheering ropes quickly. She knows how to shout and will cheer along with Clare when ever--where ever.

You can do anything with these two cheering you on.

One day I was a good Mom...

We spent an afternoon exploring our new town's Downtown one day. We went to the library, walked to a pizza place for lunch and then walked to a cool candy store for a treat. We went into this candy store and my kids eye balls fell out of their heads. Imagine the scene we made with me trying to scoop up four different sets of eye balls before the store patrons mistook them for gumballs. My kids walked around with dazed looks and drool pouring out of their open mouths. They were too excited to even speak for a few minutes (and what lovely moments those were...)

Like kids in a candy shop. It was great.

We managed to leave the store (with everyone's eye balls) only $10 dollars lighter and several lolly pops heaver. When we got outside I noticed a sign advertising "Wacky Wednesdays--wear a wacky hat or do a silly dance and get 10% off your purchase!" It was a Wednesday--I could have saved a dollar!

I think we've moved to a charming new town. I am looking forward to exploring more.

Cramped--or the story of our most recent move...

There are harder things in life than having to live with four active children in a three bedroom apartment--much, much, much harder things. Moreover, I know living in that apartment for a year was a financial life-saver that enabled Will to really get his company off the ground. Finally, I have friends who are still living in an apartment with many children so I am going to try really hard not to complain about this whole ordeal. (Wish me luck.)

We moved into our apartment knowing we would live there for a year at the most. We even told people we would start looking for another house to rent in six months. But we've been on the "start-up" roller coaster ride for a long time and our roller coaster hit some seriously heart stopping drops while we lived in our apartment--making it financially sensible to stay in the apartment as long as possible.

"As long as possible" turned out to be about four months shorter than we planned when an ongoing conflict between us and our downstairs neighbors over noise did not end up going our way. The short story of the conflict is that they were three single ladies who liked to party at night and sleep in the morning. We were a family with four very active children who were in bed at 8 pm and out of bed at 7 am. A recipe for a constant case of the stress-hives if ever I've seen one. Our landlords were also raising the rent to unreasonable rates so it was time to move.

We started our search in the neighborhood of our apartment so the kids could stay at their same school--no places for rent. We expanded the search to include our old-old neighborhood and new neighborhoods in our area--no places for rent. Well, there were places to rent, they were just dives and offered at crazy-high prices. So we expanded our search...

Finally, we ended up looking at neighborhoods across the Bay--gasp! Knowing it would mean a long commute for Will but more affordable housing for us. Sure enough we found a house we loved and in a community we knew we would love.

This move was a bit of a fire-sale compared to our last move. Every thing fell into place very quickly and we were loading up the u-haul three weeks after we got our very first look at our new place--lickety-split.

In the few weeks before we moved we told our friends, teachers, classmates, fellow church congregation members, doctors, piano teacher, and a few strangers about our departure. We were floored with the response those near-and-dear gave us. They were legitimately upset to hear we were leaving! Which was hard because we were sad to be leaving too. I guess when you've lived in a place for so long it feels like home people will miss you if you go.

There are about a thousand things I miss about living on the peninsula and a lot of them are the friends we made. Happily, we are not that far away--Will makes the drive ever day. So we still get to see our friends, it just takes more gasoline.

Happier still, we seem to have landed in a wonderful spot. We are making good friends here too. The schools are great and the landscape is beautiful. The weather has been comfortable and we are getting to know the community bit, by bit.

Swimming...

The kids have really embraced swimming this summer. Wyatt's water confidence has shot through the roof. Last summer he wouldn't get in the water with out a floatation device, goggles, and a parent in arms reach--this summer he is jumping into the deep end with nothing on but his swim suit.

Adell is a fish. She wants to be in the pool every second we are there. And when we are in the water she is doing every thing she can to drowned. She tries to peel my fingers off her waist when I am holding her. She flops and dives backwards into the water. She is happiest when she is just holding onto my fingers--letting her body twist and curl like a ribbon in the wind.

Lorien is beyond confident. She is exploring new water skills every day. I should probably put her in swim team but I am too lazy. I don't think I have the endurance to do daily swim practices and meets. Yes, much to lazy.

Clare is still pretty scared of the water. She doesn't like to be splashed and only gets in with a floaty around her waist. But she still has a great time.

Yay for swimming. Yay for summer. Yay for exhausted children who sleep well at night.