we're off to a good start

Here we are on the first day of school! So far, we're so excited with how things have gone (for the most part.) Some highlights of the first 3 days of school:

• Eliza reports that her teacher is "playful". Her teacher (who's in her mid-50's, I'm guessing) was outside at recess jumproping with the girls. What a HUGE contrast to last year, one we're so grateful for.
• Seth has a boy in his class with the same tennis shoes. It's nice to find a friend with something in common! ;)
• Eliza learned how to tie a square knot, and then her teacher asked her to teach her how...we love Mrs. Lynn already.
• Seth's learned how to open his own chips and granola bars...all day kindergarten means lunch and learning new life skills.
• The first afternoon, the bus was more than 30 minutes late and the driver had gotten lost. The older kids had to show her where they lived. Seth was only slightly traumatized and was remarkably calm getting on the bus on Tuesday morning. [I would've been a total wreck put in his same position at that age...okay, I was a wreck anyway at that age, for no reason at all.]
• Eliza has gotten off of the bus each day SMILING! Whoa...this is a new year.

Here's what Rachel's been up to with the others gone. She's a bit bored, but an absolute DELIGHT to be around all day. I'm almost giddy all day long to just have one child to focus my attentions. (I think we're both benefitting from the solo time.)

Day #3 and Seth is smiling as big as ever! He has been a trooper through the whole transition and is adjusting really well to the all-day kindergarten schedule. We couldn't be happier!

School starts tomorrow!

We've had a busy week doing our last "summer" things before school starts. On Friday we went to meet Eliza and Seth's teachers for the year. We felt VERY fortunate that both kids had friends they knew in their classes and great teachers! (That's particularly amazing in Seth's case, since there were literally only 3 kindergarteners he knows at our school, and 5 classes of kids.)

So, tomorrow I'll be busting out the kleenex up at the bus stop. Sounds cruel to send kids on the bus the first day of school, but that's how it's done out here. If they don't ride the bus the first day, they miss the bus "orientation" (we'll just call it that). So, Rachel and I will hop in the car and follow the bus to school and hopefully get a parking spot to walk them to their classrooms. Wish me luck! I've been dreading tomorrow for the last few weeks and the pit in my stomach just keeps getting worse with time.

fondue fun...and some gushing

James and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this weekend! We finally went to The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant we'd heard so many rave about. There were 4 courses: a cheese fondue (bread, veggies, apples to dip), then salad, main course that you cooked yourself (filet mignon, sirloin, chicken, pork, shrimp) with dipping sauces, and chocolate fondue (strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, brownie bites, pound cake and cheesecake to dip). What a ton of fun!

It is so amazing to think that 10 years have passed together. It's incredible to look back at the people we were when we got married and the things that have transpired since! I can't believe how time molds you into one and how it's changed and softened us and made us grow. We're both starting to get gray hairs!

I am so grateful for the wonderful husband and father James is. This past year has been a particularly good one for the two of us and our family. It's nice to have had a chance to get back to the basics and focus more time on each other. What a great 10 years...and it just keeps getting better.

my new nickname

Have you seen or heard of the show "Who wants to be a superhero?" It's a SciFi channel original that has caught on in our family. (Secretly, we all believe James would like to be on the show.)

People who have created their own superhero identity are on the show to do stunts, challenges, etc. to prove their superhero valor. The winner will have their character "immortalized" by having it's own comic book, etc.

One of the contenders is called "Fat Momma". She's a rather large black woman with a big heart, and may end up winning this contest. She gains her superpowers by eating donuts that are hooked to her belt. A lively character. Yesterday as we were yet again in Wal-mart, Seth called me "Fat Momma". I groaned...it is appropriate for me these days, but I'm not ready to assume that identity.

(For those interested, it airs tonight on the SciFi channel, 8pm.)

we live in "paradise"

Today we had Elder and Sister Hammond speak to us in church. What an awesome couple. It was so great to see how happy they are serving as our Temple President and Matron.

When Sister Hammond spoke, she asked the congregation if we knew how blessed we are to live in "paradise". We knew EXACTLY what she meant. So many times as we've gone into the city and are driving home we tell each other the same thing. Fauquier County has a different feeling than any other place I've been. There are just rolling trees and farms and life's pace is slower. The tension just leaves as you hit these country roads.

Yesterday I was sitting out in my adirondack chair, just enjoying the breeze...watching the kids ride their bikes and play on the swingset. Life just doesn't get better than that!

While James is away...

Yesterday James left for a High Adventure Camp with the Priest Quorum. I'm not sure if I've seen him as giddy in the past year! He organized the camp--every detail, and I think he likes it that way (even though he does complain that we have no Venture Scout leader).

So, 5 hours away in West Virginia, James is repelling today and white water rafting tomorrow. While he's gone, I can't sleep...even more than usual these days. So, to pass the time, I've checked out a book-on-CD (first for me) and last night I stayed up until almost 1:00 am listening to Ender's Game and quilting. It's a great combination, and I really wasn't even tired at that point...just figured I better get to bed if I was going to be able to survive today.

I'm approaching week 30 in this pregnancy and it's starting to scare me! I had a neighbor call a few days ago, wondering if I needed some of her baby stuff that she was getting rid of. I HAD NO CLUE WHAT I NEEDED! I've just not gone through our baby stuff since the move (and for quite a few years). I think I better start a list of things that I need to do to be ready. Those first few kids I already had the crib up by this point, changing table in place, etc., etc. And for Rachel, we still had all of the stuff up for Seth, since they were so close together!

This time around, it's another story...

a view from the upstairs window...

(click on picture to enlarge if you'd like to see more details of the mud...)

What a bummer of a week! On Saturday when James mowed the lawn there were some muddy spots...not too out of the ordinary. By Monday it was a muddy cesspool. After some troubleshooting, a call to a septic tank repair service and having our system pumped, we were led to discover we had a leak in the water main from the road to our house.

So, at 8 pm Monday night, I had all the kids go "potty" and filled the tub full of water for the County Water Emergency guy to turn off our water. We were losing 5-6 gallons of water per minute. (Can't wait to get that water bill...)

Yesterday I spent a good part of the day on the phone to the Health Department (got a map of our land), the utilities companies to have them mark power lines, etc. and back and forth with James to make sure had all our bases covered. By noon we were set to have a contractor dig to find the pipe that had burst. After 2+ hours of digging (on the hottest day of the year to-date) Rick came to the door with a section of pipe. Then after 2 more hours, he was able to turn on the water and have it NOT leak. What a day...

Tomorrow he'll be back to fill in those HUGE trenches he dug. (Our water line was well below the 2-foot freeze line...more like 5 feet underground.) Then we'll tackle the problem of a septic tank pump that most likely is toast after trying to pump all that water continuously all weekend long. A few bags of grass seed after that will complete the task.

Needless to say, we've had better weeks. It was an adventure not having water, a little eye-opening to what we would need to have in a real emergency. It's probably just what we needed to follow through with our plan to buy some 50-gallon drums.