a life beyond running shoes.

yup....summer is over. school has started.  i have two in school....one at home. and in case you can't tell, that happens to be one red buccaneers backpack and one blue & orange gator backpack. you can take the dad out of florida but you can't seem to keep him from making his kids florida fans.  sigh. also, note the sweatshirts. it was 55 degrees when we left for school.  again....sigh. it does warm up but it is strange for august....at least for me it is.

means lots of new experiences.... - neat art projects using books: the very hungry caterpillar   - being in a play at school. the three billy goats gruff calypso  can you tell how much he enjoyed that! - and finally loosing that first tooth. funny thing, we don't know where it is. it disappeared in the night. daddy tooth-fairy will still visit though. what a big kid. hard to believe he is seven! it is fun to keep learning about him and how he is different from anyone else i know. he has loved baseball season and can hardly wait for soccer this fall. he is a great reader and really loves math. he has four days left of first grade and he has done amazing! peanut, you are an awesome kid!

wow! first grade open house. art show and all.  we got to see his turtle art but he was also super  proud of some things in his classroom. he let us read a story he wrote  that had a beginning, middle, and end. my favorite was his weekend journal which concluded "all in all, it was a good weekend." love it!!! hard to believe he was hardly reading just over a year ago. i think peanut has made the transition rather well. now, if only i could feel as settled.

j ust to clarify.... we are not out of school yet. but we have had pre-k graduation..... little bit got to be the engine on the train to the stage. it was the only way his teachers could get him to participate. sigh......such the individual.... and kindergarten "stepping up".... peanut got the writing award and made the honor roll for his class. and of course, sweet pea just gets to join in all the fun failing to realize that it is NOT about her (smile, wink)......

phew. could we have packed anymore in? attend pre-k party - check. attend chuck e. cheese bday party - check. get nap in car for little bit - check. help out at pumpkin sale at school - check. make dinner - check. attend school harvest night - check. done and done! now for sleep and a train ride to DC in the am!

maybe we have turned one. of course, this is after total day of set-backs due to a bike accident on the way to school. peanut was limping all day because he got his foot caught in the bike wheels.....i could see there was no quick emotional recovery in sight. we had a home day on tuesday. but as of today: we have had no tears from kindergartner extraordinaire. he had a "great" day yesterday. he loves music class and mr. a. he likes to eat lunch with zion. and he likes to do homework. but i have to say, it is tough to get some play-time, a snack, and homework done all before dinner. phew. it exhausts me! little bit on the other hand..... has switched to morning pre-k class. hopefully this will eliminate the entire morning of "i don't want to go." they had an apple party today. it was great! but there were tears at drop-off. we did have a family adventure to really cool playground after school one day. and this little sweet pea and i played play-dough all mornin...

it walks around without assistance. it eats lunch in the cafeteria. it learns how to share, write letters, and play keyboar d. it participates in gym and dance. it is not happy. transition to kindergarten has been tough on both of us. he doesn't like it. i miss him. i don't like that he doesn't like it. that breaks my heart. i had this moment in the store last week where i realized that i only had two children with me. somehow, how i saw myself was acutely aware of how others saw me.....normal. no one commented on the fact that i had two boys and "finally got my girl" or "wow, your kids are close" or even "are they all yours?" i was just a mom with two kids. nothing remarkable. i wanted to wear a sign that said, "my other one just started kindergarten!!" the tension of how much easier it was to navigate my day in opposition to missing my oldest kiddo. it is weird not to have him around all day. it is fun to interact with t...

(photo from ditmasparkblog.com - liena) but please go to this link.... new york times photos from new york city's tornado watch 2010. totally wild. i mention it because i did a longer run this morning and i was aghast at the tree rubble in prospect park. at the end of the long meadow there were trees down all over the place. i also had looked through these pics this morning because i failed to realize just how late sunrise had gotten in the last couple of weeks.....so i had about 15 extra minutes to kill before sunlight. some of the pics are amazing! but back to training.... long run: 11.5 miles it was 59 degrees at 6am. again, the hint of fall is upon me and i am loving every minute. and i have to admit that today was a killer run. i hit my stride, was going through my prayer list, thought through women's prayer breakfast this morning, mapped out next week's run, and then failed to be able to complete simple mathematics. that was the hint to head home. i ran home har...

seriously. we are just starting today. everywhere else the world began a least a week ago.....our cousins began almost a month ago. but today we join the ranks and started school. peanut - kindergarten little bit - pre-k i can't believe i have a kindergartner. oh my!!! i asked peanut this morning who i was going to talk to all day..... he answered, "the other two." thanks, pal! i'll remember that.... but just to clarify.....you are my chatty one. i can't believe little bit is in pre-k. i can't believe for two hours i will only have one child to contend with....maybe i can get her to nap that whole time and i might have a thought once in a while. they both wanted daddy to take them to school this morning....ah, so be it. i only birthed you but i realize that the sun and moon hang on this dude....i love him that much too! but....there were no tears from peanut. considering he cried, screamed, and would not let go of my leg for six weeks last year....i wou...

did you know that we graduate from pre-k to kindergarten? it seems a bit over-the-top..... but it was sweet.....of course, we still have three days of school left. (yes we get out at the very end of june) thanks you to our wonderful teachers: ms. balaban and, seen here, ms. black. as seen here - thumbs up, elbows back, knees together, feet apart, butt up, tongue out. the dance to follow directions.....peanut had a blast.... his favorite part - the dancing! brothers..... little bit kept saying.... "i get to do this next year." sweet pea just wanted the donuts holes.....

neither of us teared up. i was impressed. we were both very brave. he ran almost every block from the park to the school. he had a lot of nervous energy. we got to the lobby. he clung to my leg. my heart fluttered. his teacher walked out and greeted him. he looked up at me longingly. my heart fluttered. he gripped harder and then took his teacher's hand. my heart fluttered. and so school begins.