introducing ian, the kindergartener

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First day - ready to go!

Well, we all made it through the first day of school. Come to think of it – not only did we make it – we passed with flying colors! (Or at least that’s how I’m choosing to grade ourselves, which you have the right to do when you are just shy of the big 4-0. I just made that rule up, by the way.)

Now, I’m not going to say there weren’t a few lumps in the throat along the way. The biggest and strangest lump may have actually been yesterday when I pulled up to St. Andrews to pick up Elena and it hit me like a ton of bricks that Ian was no longer there. Gone were the days of going inside and finding him reading books or doing puzzles with friends on the floor, or finding him running around the gym or the playground outside like a crazy man, pretending he didn’t see that I had arrived and it was time to leave. Or, him asking me what was for dinner while he was getting in the car.

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labors of love

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Wow, what an action-packed and lovely Labor Day weekend we had. Last Wednesday, Ian and Elena’s Nana came to visit for a few days, in part so she could help us fill a childcare gap on Thursday and Friday while we were in-between schools, on daycare break, etc. Besides having the help, we were excited to have someone actually visit us when it wasn’t pouring rain and cold out. I mean, this was our opportunity to show someone that we weren’t totally crazy for moving to Oregon and we planned to take full advantage!

Enjoying the Portland Farmer's Market

Of course, the first night she was here we sprung it on her that we also happened to have a goodbye party to attend for Jeff’s boss, so not only would be gone all day, but until late that evening as well. But by Friday afternoon, Jeff was able to wrap up a bit early and the whole crew headed out on a little zoo adventure and guess who they happened to run into there? (Okay, so maybe it wasn’t a total coincidence.)

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elena’s new adventures

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Elena had her last day at St. Lukes last Tuesday. I was definitely a little sad when I picked her up. Lhee, one of her two main teachers there, was so sweet. She gave her lots of hugs and kisses as we were ready to depart. Of course, Elena just wondered why the heck she was being smothered, almost as if I could hear her thinking, “Dude, what’s gotten into you?? Can’t you see my mom’s here…I’ll see you tomorrow!” She has so enjoyed it there and become attached to her teachers that I knew if she had any idea she wouldn’t be back, she’d be pretty sad, too.

Getting our shoes on before we leave for the first day at St. Andrews.

It was all good though once Wednesday morning came and I was reminded how excited Ian has been to have Elena starting at “his” school (um, for like one more week). Arms were flapping as he promised us that he was going to look out for her and help show her the ropes at St. Andrews. Of course, everyone was more than welcoming and excited to have her as the four of us came in that morning. As usual these days, Ian ran into his room barely saying goodbye – as if we were embarrassing him already. (Does this really start at age 5?)

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i’m busy being busy

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We all say it constantly, myself included: Where have you been? What have you been up to? Oh, you know I’ve been sooooooo busy. You know how it is…. Or, it’s really great when you didn’t do something you were supposed to do or someone asked you to do: Why didn’t you get that done? I was too busy! It’s like the catch-all excuse. And truth be told, it’s kind of long been a bit of a pet peeve of mine – even though I can still often be heard using it myself. Because honestly, it’s often what we’ve really led ourselves to believe…that we really wanted to get that phone call made or get that report written, but darn it, we were just too busy to get it done!

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