Our Family Overnight

Jim's brother just finished a remodeling project at their house that included an extra room down in their basement.  Which is really awesome for us because the kids can all stay over without the parents being overwhelmed by masses of wee ones.

The weather has just taken it's turn towards fall, but we braved a campfire anyway.  Tom really got the fire blazing.

Soon, the kids (and adults) began to snuggle in and lose themselves in the fire's entrancement.

Mia found a cozy spot on Auntie Jen's lap.

Addie isn't quite ready for a sleeping buddy, but Mia invited herself in for story time anyway.

While the youngest three were put down in separate rooms upstairs, the oldest three got to stay up late and play Wii!

Mia slept in Ellie's room.  Margaux greeted her in the morning.  These two really bonded this weekend.

Nothing cures the morning grumps like donuts for breakfast!

After breakfast we all went outside to enjoy the beautiful day.  The younger kids helped Jim and Tom cut trail and pull Buckthorn.  Owen and Ellie enjoyed some independence.  Ellie came back to join us in some good ole fashion leaf fun.  Then I forced them into a group picture "for Grandma's sake." Owen begrudgingly sat in on the photo, knowing full well Grandma was a cover story for his photo-addicted, documenting-crazed mother wanting a picture of the kids she loves most in the world all together on this magnificent day so she can plaster it all over her blog, on Facebook and in her end-of-the-year photo books lest her aging and feeble mind forget in a few years when we are all teenagers how utterly happy she was and she begins to wonder why she ever got herself into this predicament.

**Note: Click on the little box in the right corner of the video to watch it full screen.

Bob Cabana Day at Farnsworth

 Today was Bob Cabana Day at Farnsworth.  A wonderful perk about attending a NASA magnet school is visits from former astronauts.  Mr. Cabana, among some other frequent Farnsworth NASA visitors, was Minnesota born and raised.  We've get regular visits from Duane "Digger" Carey.  In fact, there are quite a few Minnesota born astronauts.  Maybe someday, in the not so distant future, one of my kids will be visiting his or her alma mater, to talk about his or her space work adventures.

 First, I must teach them how to greet an audience with a friendly face.

 Yeah.  And he didn't even know that Owen had also given me a goofy look.

 Anyway, the kids filed in today wearing their Aerospace T-shirts and their award sashes.  Evan won't have any pins on his sash until January, but all the kids have a Farnsworth Aerospace Button on their sash.  The Jim was full of attentive kids, but it was easy to spot my little toe-head among the sea of dark haired beauties.

 Mr. Cabana shared a few slides about the space program and it's history, but mostly he did question and answer.  About 6 kids asked the same question, "How do you become an astronaut?"  Bob's answer was to work very hard, but I also think praying for a political miracle could be a good answer to the question.

Evan Starts Kindergarten!

 It's Monday.  Owen has been in school for a week already, but today the Kindergarteners start.  We've had a whole week of nervous waiting.  Despite the fact that we got up early, we were still rushing out the door when it came time to go.  "Quick! Go stand in front of the flowers for your first day photo." I yelled.  Jim calmly replied, "It doesn't help his nerves if his mother is yelling."  OK.  Breathe.  I've been through this before.  No big deal, right?

 'Cept that it's sort of the end of an era.  Running around like a crazy woman all day has been my gig for 7 years now.  It's one thing for Owen to go to school.  I expected that.  He is a nerd by nature and has had a manly deep voice since birth, but Evan?  He's my I-Don't-Ever-Want-To-Grow-Up-I-Just-Want-To-Sleep-Until-Noon-And-Play-All-Day Kid.  He's my If-You're-In-A-Bad-Mood-Just-Let-Me-Flash-My-Cute-Smile-And-Make-You-Laugh Kid.  My Stuck-In-The-Middle Kid who plays as well with his 2 year old sister as he does with his big brother.  He can't go to school!  He only eats 5 foods and I promised myself that he would eat more before he went to school.  AND he doesn't like the feel of jeans.  All Owen wore was jeans and of course he gets Owen's hand-me-downs, so what in the world will he even wear to school?  Plus, plus, plus... plus, I'm just not ready.  I mean, I talk all big about how I'm really excited for it to just be Mia & I this fall and stuff, but ...

oh yeah.  It's not about me.  And that's what I had to tell myself as I tried to walk away from him in the cafeteria this morning; both of us with tears brimming in our eyes.  He is ready.  He has been ready for awhile.  The kids does multiplication in his head, for crying out loud!  His brain is chomping at the bit and that part makes me really, really proud, but also really, really sad.

No longer will I be the one to answer his every random question.  It won't be me that reminds him all day to use the bathroom or wash his hands.  I won't be the recipient of all those smiles.  I won't hear all the hilarious schemes and stories he devises and wonder by what word association he came up with these seemingly random and unrelated ideas.

I couldn't bring myself to leave him in the cafeteria.  I realized later that he didn't understand that his teacher would bring him to his classroom.  The school is big and he doesn't know any of the kids in his class.  Anyway, as we sat at the cafeteria table (not having breakfast because, unlike 99% of the kids at this school, we eat at home) the girl across from us spilled her milk.  She didn't know how to open the cardboard milk box (because who has those at home, right?) so I told her I would help her.  Her eyes swelled with tears.  She looked like a deer in headlights.  So, I jumped up to fetch some napkins.  Evan tried to follow me, but I shooed him back.  I realized that I could not just sit here feeling sorry for myself and Evan.  There was a whole table of scared kindergarteners and not enough soothing adults to go around.  

As I finished wiping her milk, Evan tried to glue himself to my side.  Mrs. Xiong began to line the kids up and walk them towards the door.  I hung towards the back, so Evan hung by me.  He and I ended up bring the caboose.  When we got to the room, kids struggled with the simple task of handing up their backpacks and coats on the hooks.  Being 5 and terrified must shut down the mind's ability to hear and comprehend simple instructions.  Eventually the kids made it to the morning circle where they sang the song they will sing every morning.  I realized, for the first time, that I was the ONLY parent in the room.  When I brought Owen to school two years ago, there had been many parents in the room.  Mrs. Xiong had to politely encourage us to leave.  I'm not sure yet what to make of this observation, but I felt it was somehow significant.  Regardless if it is, the realization was enough to nudge me towards a quick goodbye.

I admit, I sobbed in the van outside.  And I sobbed twice more today.  I cried for the beginning of a new age and the end of a time when things were care free.  I cried for an emptiness that aches in my chest.  The empty bed in the late morning, the empty reflection in my review mirror, the empty seat on rocket ship cart as Mia & Evan zoomed through the store helping me pick our weekly produce, the silent basketball, the lonely duct tape and the vacant magna-tile zoos.  My throat clenches and the lump grows, but I fight it back because my sadness is only surface and it is completely selfish.  My heart is singing for the adventures he will have.  If only I could be a fly on the wall and capture all the memories as I have here, on this blog, during the splendid years we had together in The Beginning.

Owen's 1st Packer Game

 In my family, we have this little problem with saying, "no."  My cousin Kristin has an especially severe case of this syndrome.  Although this disability leaves you exhausted and spinning most of the time, it also makes life really exciting and full of amazing experiences and opportunities.  When a friend asks Kris if she wants Packer tickets, she always says yes first and then figures out how she'll make it work later.  Owen and I reaped the benefits this weekend when Kris offered us two of the tickets that fell into her lucky little hands.  WHOO HOO!

 Sadly, I have only been to one Packer game in my life so far.  It was in Milwaukee and I was about 7.  It was cold and I was not interested at all.  The only tailgating I've experienced was during college.  My intentions then were never to actually attend a football game.  Strangely, I did not associate tailgating with football. Luckily, Kristin has this thing mastered.  She even brought a table cloth!!!

 We munched on Packer colored jello, Cheetos, hummus, garden fresh veggies and brats.  Graham and Owen played catch.

 A friend of Kristin's has some connections to Packer Alumni.  This happened to be an Alumni Game.  While we waited for the game to start, we were visited by Willy Buchanon (who is the nicest guy EVER!) and Michael Butler, both who played for the Packers in the late 70's.  They gave Owen their cards and signed them.

 Then, while we were walking in, a field employee drove past and handed Owen and Graham each a full pack of this year's player's cards.  I don't think either of the boys realized how lucky they were in both of these experiences.  Owen was more jazzed about his new Jennings jersey.

 Once inside, we found free Packer G-Zone T-shirts on our seats courtesy of Tide.  Then the drum core started and the players were introduced.  They ran through a double line of alumni on their way onto the field.  Donald Driver gave us a sample of his foot work at the center of the field.  We were graced by the amazing voices of Boy II Men for the National Anthem.  Then the airforce did a fly by as we honored the troops and started the game.

 For me, the most amazing part of the whole game, was just being in the stadium.  It's awesome.  There's nothing else to say about it.  Even though the Packer's lost to the 49ers, the refs were pretty awful and Donald Driver didn't even play! ~ we had a great time

It was especially fun to spend the day with Owen, Kris and Graham.  Going off on our own like this is not something we get to do very often.

GO PACKERS!

Gigi & Pickles

Ally, our cat of 13 years, has left us for the neighbor.  I know.  It's strange, but she's old and things are a little crazy at our place a lot of the time.  The conclusion is that this is the best thing for all parties involved.  Anyway, with the both boys starting school and Ally moving on, I think Mia will be pretty lonely.

After we dropped of Owen this morning, we sat out in the yard, enjoying the weather and climbing our favorite tree.  We've spent some time over the past couple weeks looking for the right kitty and it hasn't worked out yet, but today seemed like a lucky day.  So I said, "Hey Evy.  Do ya wanna try and get a new kitty today?"  He said, "Yeah!"

I asked Mia what she thought about it.  You can see how she feels about the idea.

And so after a long journey to Golden Valley's Humane Society and a couple of hours holding and playing with a variety of felines, we picked Owen up from school with our new pets: Gigi and Pickles.

Mia named Gigi.  She is a little more timid right now, but very cuddly.  She has a purr you can hear from across the room.

Evan named Pickles.  She is more playful and is always the first of the two sisters to try something new.  They are both extremely tolerant of Mia McCuddles-a-lot.  All of us are smitten already.

Owen's First Day of 2nd Grade

 Owen started second grade today.  Don't let the look on his face fool you.  He was a mixture of nerves, excitement and regret.  Nerves at meeting a new teacher and possibly new kids, excitement for the same reasons, and regret for the end of a fun filled summer.

 

 We got to school plenty early this morning.  Most kids were going through the breakfast line, but Owen just headed right upstairs, found his locker and made his way inside like a pro.

 Owen (trying to look as tall as possible) and Mrs. Sellner.  It will fun to compare this photo to an end of the year shot.

Owen already knew where his desk was from last week's open house.  I snapped a few more pictures before I finally agreed to stop embarrassing him and let him get on with his day.  At the end of the day, the only report I could pull from him was that the day was "good," but he actually smiled a little so the nervousness must have subsided.