The First Dayof School

The first day of school was actually, like, two weeks ago here. But since tomorrow should be the first day of school (according to me), this post is right on time. Early, even. Take that!

This year, Natalie is in the pre-k class (the oldest class in the school) and Jacob is in the baby room (the youngest kids in the school).

Here they are on the first day:

So far, school seems to be going well for both of them. In fact, both Mike and I were at school on Friday for the Rosh Hashanah assembly.

Natalie's comment on the whole event was: "I dipped my honey in my apples!" Which, um, well, is about the size of it.

Of course, we're still doing our fill of summer things. It may be September, but it's still 104 here. Aaaah, Texas! So here are some swimming pics!

Big Boy has a tooth!

Random other pics:

Also, this was the scene when I walked in the door from work the other afternoon. How sweet is that?

We've been eating well (as always!). 100% whole wheat blueberry muffins:

Hello Dolly Bars:

Popcorn chocolate chip cookies. (Oh yes, I did. And so should you!)

Cantaloupe salsa, with cantaloupe, tomatoes, and peppers from our garden:

It's also birthday party season. Here are some pics from a party a few weeks ago:

Moving backward in time, I want to share with some belated summer snaps. Natalie's school was closed the last week of summer. So we found her this great art camp, but we were all a little nervous about it - it would be her first time going anywhere other than her school. But she did so great! And the camp was amazing! We're already planning to do another week next summer. The theme for the session she attended this year was "undersea art" - here's one of her finished products. Isn't it awesome?

Natalie also went to get a back-to-school haircut. This was a bit bittersweet, as it was the first time she sat by herself (not on Mike's lap). She's getting so big.

(The dress in the pic on the right is from my friend Natalie, "Tall Nani," for those in the know.)

Friday afternoon, Natalie was playing play-doh when I brought over her afternoon snack. I sat down beside her with my own cup of tea. She asked for one, so I got her one. Then she declared, "Let's just be two ladies drinking tea and playing play-doh!" Let's!

 Here she is hiding, post-bath . . . .

Jacob has no shot at hiding after the bath:

This is Natalie, chilling in the backyard and looking for a back-to-school apartment.

Guess summer's really over. Say what?!

A sweet and happy new year to you!

She is HI-LAR-I-OUS

The first day of school was a success here, and I have a post coming about all that. But first I wanted to share with you some collected Natalie sayings over the last few weeks. So far, four is definitely more hilarious than three, in that the sense that there's a lot more thinking and (mis)communication going on. (Apologies, as I've posted some of these to Facebook already.)

• Natalie informed me that she'd like to wear a "two piece zucchini" bathing suit to school for her final splash day  of summer camp.  Um, no?

•  The last week of summer camp was a Hawaiian theme. According to Natalie, they even had the "biscuit flower" [hibiscus] everywhere.

• The other day, during a rare simultaneous afternoon nap, I settled in the recliner to read and have a granola bar snack. Natalie woke up before I had time to hide the evidence. "Mommy? Are you eating a granola bar? Are you? Are you? Granola bars have  A LOT of sugar. Sugar is bad choice, mommy. Granola bars are a bad choice. You shouldn't eat granola bars. That is NOT HEALTHY." Lesson learned. (Also, she calls yogurt pretzels "sugar pretzels." Girl's on to something there.)

• Natalie has become ever more exacting in her choice of bedtime stories, and I've totally been scraping the bottom of the proverbial story barrel. Proof of this? I've started recycling cartoons from my brother's childhood in an attempt to both entertain and lull to sleep (a challenging story sweet spot, for sure). A few weeks before the conversation below, I had told a sufficiently dull story about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She hadn't asked for a repeat, so I thought we were done with them. Apparently not.

Natalie: Mom, if any boys ever come over to our house, and if they ever have a sleepover in my room . . . .
Me: Yeah?
Natalie: You should definitely tell them the bedtime story about the ninja turtles! They would love that!

• Natalie is really into language-policing:

Me:  . . . so I said, we'd come if we could, but -
Natalie: Mom, you shouldn't say "but." "But" is a not a nice word. It's a potty word.
Me: Let me introduce you to conjunctions . . . .

•  Natalie's new classroom has a pet. However, when I asked her what kind of pet it was, she said, "Well, I wasn't listening at that part. But I know it's nocturnal!" So I named a few nocturnal animals that would be reasonable class pets, but was told it wasn't any of those. So then I started naming possible preschool pets that weren't nocturnal, like guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, etc. After each one of these faulty suggestions, Natalie would shout "I told you it was NOCTURNAL." Okay, kid. Finally, exasperated, I asked her if she knew anything more about the mystery pet. Her reply? "Well, I know it's not a zebra."
  (The mystery pet is a hermit crab.) 

•  Natalie lost her favorite doll, Rachel, in the house the other day. She wandered around calling out "Rachie, Rachie, where are you?" It was totally cute.
  (Also, other dolls are named Mary Seed, Tracy, and Priscilta Priscilla. Natalie has come up with all these, clearly.)

•  Natalie is all about the superlatives. "Terrific" and "Gorgeous" are some of her favorites. One morning after gymnastics, Mike took her to get a haircut at a place in the same strip mall. They just walked across the parking lot. Natalie: "This [walk] is going to be terrific!" Or Natalie will draw something or get dressed in a classic mis-matched Natalie outfit and then declare that her picture or her clothing combo is "just gorgeous."

• One night after I left to go to knitting, Natalie sat down on the couch with some scrap yarn and two drum sticks. "What I'm knitting right now is basically like a baby ball."

August

I swear, July 4th was, like, yesterday.

And now here we are on the last weekend of summer. I want a do-over! Both Jacob and Natalie start school on Monday. It feels like time is slipping through my fingers. Except, well, we've been busy doing things. But it still seems like summer has evaporated. I don't get it.

We celebrated our wedding anniversary this month. Nine years ago, this was the scene:

Now let me share some pictures from our family photo shoot. The digital images are pretty low quality, but we do have prints with more clarity.

Times change, eh? I wouldn't have it any other way.

To celebrate, Mike made an excellent just-us dinner after the kiddos went to bed:

There was also chocolate mousse for dessert. Or, um, maybe there wasn't . . . .

Time for some pictures of the kids. First question: Is Natalie still into cats? Most assuredly, yes. Here she is with the backpack Uncle Eric and Aunt Melanie sent her for her birthday. They sure have her number!

(She even takes her milk at breakfast in a bowl, kitty-style.)

Playing birthday party:

Puzzles:

 And with her friend:

 Natalie still loves gymnastics:

J-boy loves, well, everything. He's such a happy, snuggly baby!

Jacob is getting better at both sitting independently and scooting around.

His progress is great, as he's SEVEN MONTHS OLD. GAH.

 I went to a challah-making class this month. Seeds!

 I also made peach pie (peeeeeaaaach paaaaahhhhhh!!!!). From scratch. Natch!

The garden made a cantaloupe:

Speaking of making things, some of you know that I belong to an online social network for knitters. I know there must be nerdier-sounding things out there in the universe, but, well, there you have it. Also, it is awesome. When I was expecting Natalie, I joined a group on the site for women who were also expecting in the summer of 2009. Many of us have stayed in touch, and the women on there are a great, amazing resource. They truly are dear friends. I've met some of them in person in Atlanta a few years back, but most of them I know only through the computer. But we've supported each other through highs and lows, successes and losses, and all the other big and small stuff that comes with having families. They sent me package to welcome Jacob, complete with a group-made blanket.

 

I'm going to leave you with this dash of retro cuteness (onesie also from my summer mothers friends):