Settling into school

We are four weeks deep into the school year. Em is very happy in 2nd grade. Her teacher is awesome - but we already knew that was going to be the case - she has gotten rave reviews every time her name has popped up. She continues to blow through her work and her penmanship is atrocious. If she would just SLOW DOWN all would be right with the world.

Ben is doing great. He has the school's BEST teacher (Em had her, too). This woman wins all kinds of accolades yearly and sets the bar high for future teachers of my kiddos. Daddy and I already had a private conference with her regarding Ben. He really is adjusting nicely - we just wanted to make sure we were on the same page to get him off to a solid start. His "distractability" is lessening, she said he pretty much goes with the flow all day. We are working on his pincer grip (they have an OT specialist come into the classroom a few ties a week to work with ALL the kiddos - how cool is that!). He has learned how to whistle (!) which means we are constantly reminding him that there is a time and place for whistling. :)

He rides the bus in the morning with no problems. I was picking him up after school and walking home (10 min walk), but he wanted to start riding the bus home. That lasted about a week (adds about 30 minutes to his day) and is now requesting I pick him up again because he is bored on the bus ride home.

I have been getting to the gym about 4 times a week which makes me happy! My ankle is holding up nicely on my 45 minuted inclined treadmill work outs. I tried running a bit on the treadmill last week but am afraid to do too much pounding pressure like that for fear of relapse. Plus when I ran many parts of me jiggled that never jiggled before and I didn't like the way that felt so best to just not run and be reminded my body is doughy. :)

Snapped up a too good to be true Groupon for Target portraits - I wanted a newbie of Daddy and I for the office and bribed the kids to take a family pic, too. It poured all day, so I had to go curly (or I would have been a fuzzy mess) - and I am realizing that I need a new haircut. It may be time to chop if off again into a bob...

Still crazy about this guy...

Had to take them for GROSS happy meals afterwards.

I scream, you scream

We all scream for ice cream!

Sometimes you gotta wake up at 5am, catch the 6am ferry to Connecticut, then drive 4 1/2 hours to eat ICE CREAM!

I made a homemade bread late last night. We grabbed it and the giant Nutella jar as we ran out the door for a "healthy" breakfast on the ferry while we motored across the Long Island Sound from NY to CT. The cool thing about the 6am ferry, is we get to watch the sunrise! It was a beauty. 

We drove due North through Connecticut and Massachusetts arriving in Vermont with its chilly Autumn temps.  

We stopped at the Welcome Center for a potty break. It was loaded with cool exhibits, almost a museum like atmosphere!

They decided they wanted this kind of dog next - as long as he stays wooden, I'm in!

I love a good mom and pop place. We stumbled across deli on a side road near Woodstock. I had a smoked pulled pork sandwich and Daddy had a brisket sandwich. They were AMAZING. Emma refused to eat anything and Ben wanted another slice of bread with Nutella. Whatever! Sometimes you just have to enjoy your pulled pork alone. 

The kids are such good car travelers. Surely it doesn't hurt that we have a DVD player in the car. Our 1st and most important stop on the trip was the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory tour.

We got our tickets and joined the crowd. This is Ben when he heard we were getting free samples at the end of the tour.

The tour started off with a five minute movie on the history of Ben & Jerry's. it was very entertaining and informative. The kids grabbed front row seats.

We couldn't take pics inside the plant, but it was a cute tour. When asked "How many pints do you think we output a day?" Em offered up 105. She was very close as they do 400,000 pints a day! That's a lot of milk, cream and sugar! Our free sample flavor of the day was "Cookies and Cream" YUMMY! Ben was reluctant at first, but ended up enjoying it.

This one did not hesitate at all when our guide said there was one extra free sample left. She BEELINED to the counter (without asking us) and grabbed it. The girl knows what she wants!

Who is Ben? Who is Jerry?

We got to tour the "flavor graveyard," too!

The factory from the graveyard. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon. It was a bit chilly - low 50s - or we probably would have stayed longer and let the kiddos play on the playground they had out back.

New Chapter

Summer vacation has come to an end. Ben is now in full day Kindergarten and Em is in 2nd grade. Before I get into those stories...

BEN CAN READ! Okay, so maybe he has the book memorized - but, I gotta tell ya, I was pretty freaked out because I have only read this book to the kid two or three times and he has it memorized (it's NOT an easy reader...) - which leads me to believe Daddy or Gramma Lou have read it multiple times or the kid is a genius!

Geez, Ma, give me some credit - I'm a GENIUS!

We sadly forgot Em's white noise machine behind at Gramma's house last month. Gramma kept it for herself and ordered Em a new one. It came with this eye mask. She has slept in it for three weeks straight. I may have a princess and the pea on our hands!

I'm pure perfection, Mother.

Our school did a practice bus run for the Kindergarteners the Thurs before school started. Ben was super nervous and very quiet while waiting for the bus. "I'm just nervous I'm gonna be shy, mom." as tears welled up in his eyes. Luckily, one parent got to ride the practice bus run with him - me! - and when we got home he was all, "I DID IT!!!!!" and seriously, I think it made him so at ease getting on the bus the first day of school. I'm very grateful for that experience!!

Nervous kid, sleepy mommy.

Daddy bought some fishing poles and guess what... we are now fishers! Every other meal is fish and we are loving it. Mostly Porgys, but occasionally a snapper. Apparently Blackfish are right around the corner.

School schmool. This is how we rock homework!

A dinner example:

YUMMMMM.

We partied heartily Labor Day weekend counting down to the first day of school. We beached and beached:

Em is the passenger...

Pooled and BBQd

He is requesting playdates with this family daily!

This was Ben three nights in a row in random homes:

I'm tired. I think I'll just go to....snooooooore.

But it was all worth it because Tuesday brought us the: "Dun dun dunnnnn" 1st day of school!

Getting our wiggles out at the bus stop with our neighbors!

Take the picture already!

Thank you for not making me hold up a sign saying what milestone this is. :)

My shirt label has all my info! Two bad I ripped it off two seconds later and crumpled it up!

Ben who? Bus what? Teacher who? Don't you worry - the force is strong in this one.

This kid on the other hand knows the drill:

Fake smile / pose number 127. I'm a 2nd grader now!

The bus is here!! The bus is here! I got a fat smooch and on he went all smiles! Yahoo! I then hit the gym, got my hair colored, did a meditation class at the library, power napped for 20 min, prepped for my class to teach that evening and then picked him up at dismissal... to be continued.

Hey, Mom, just who will you now be?