Second Day Smiles??

Both Marian and Aidan arrived home in smiles yesterday, so the first day went pretty well despite the bumpy start. Marian rode the bus home yesterday and it finally showed up 40 minutes after school got out. Considering we live less than 1/2 mile from the school, that took a long time. Hoping it goes a little bit faster today.

They were both excited to ride the bus to school today, rain or shine. Now I'm just hoping they got to the right places once they got to school! And that the school can figure out what bus to put Aidan on in the afternoon b/c after calling, emailing and talking to the morning bus driver, I still haven't heard from Transportation about what bus he'll take in the afternoon and what time he'll be dropped off.

First Day Blues

First day of school had a rough start. Tears from Marian when she learned that she wasn't going to be riding the bus today, because Mom and Dad actually wanted to see her off to 4th grade.

Aidan was fine until we went into the room, and it was a little chaotic b/c our orientation last week really wasn't much of one b/c they were having to add a class that day, so the class lists were needing to be rearranged. So we didn't get to meet the exact teacher and explore the room beforehand. I think he would have been fine if (1) he'd gotten to sit NEXT to his friend in the class and (2) the 3 little girls who were crying were NOT standing with their parents right next to his assigned seat.

Tears were flowing from him and me when I left, although I don't think he saw me crying. Hopefully he had a good day, because tomorrow morning they are supposed to start riding the bus. If today didn't go well, I don't see him having any incentive for getting on the bus in the morning. Fingers crossed...

Movin', movin', movin'...

We are in the midst of moving to the new house. Just had to share this photo of Brennan "helping" with the packing.

Surfside 2009

Our beach trip to Surfside was fun/exhausting/relaxing all rolled into one! 14 of the 15 kids

Marian, Conner

Marty Anne, Rachel, Aidan, Mark

Audrey, Seth, Jake, Addison

Noah, Sam, Jonah, Brennan

Emma had already left to go back home

Brennan wasn't thrilled with the waves the first day, especially after they knocked him down a few times. I thought he'd love the water in motion b/c he loves to run the water in the bath, sink and the hose outside. But he figured it out on the 2nd day and loved it!

Thomas was usually out with the bigger kids riding the waves. Aidan ended up either building industriously at the beach or trying to keep up with the big kids in waves (and actually managing it pretty well, despite not being able to swim). He had a system when he saw a big wave coming, he'd turn his back to it, hold a bubble of air in his mouth, and stick his arms out straight to either side. I wished I had a camera out in water.

Marian split her time between being out in the big waves, searching for seashells, or being a mother hen to the little ones.




Brennan decided he needed a nap, so he pulled up a package of diapers and fell asleep right in the middle of a raucuous craft time (brought on by an afternoon storm).

We have a very similar picture of Aidan from our beach trip 3 years ago.

Aidan helping to make limeade.

We broke out the kites on the last evening. Thanks to the changing weather, we had quite a strong wind coming off the Gulf that day. The kids had a great time seeing them all up in the sky.

Addison giving her daddy a mudbath

Mick had sunk himself at least a foot into the sand/mud and was having fun seeing what poses he could pull off with his feet so thoroughly stuck.

Aidan is 6!

Aidan had his birthday last week at a 3-D black-light miniature golf place. It was a little bit of craziness mixed with a lot of fun. Sometimes it looked more like a game of pool with the balls running into each other!

A Sewing Machine

Mom is having the kids make quilts this summer at her house. Aidan started his last week and can't get enough of it! It helps that her machine is super easy to use, so he does everything except pin the next block on. I'll try to get some of Marian doing hers next time.

A Few House Photos

Here are some photos of the outside of the new house. Nobody on either side of us yet, but they are expecting to have our section done in 6-9 months, so we should have neighbors soon.