9!

I was informed by my eldest that this is going to be the best year because it's the last of the single digits.  I didn't bother to tell her that someday she'll be wishing she was single digits again.


And so...on the eve of the 9th anniversary of my becoming a mom...a look back :)

days old

Year 1

 Year 2

 Year 3

 Year 4

 

 Year 5

Year 6

Year 7

Year 8

year 9!

And so what is Alexa like at 9?  Way too smart for her own good!  She is still an avid reader and devours books.  After reading through the Lemony Snickett series this summer she is onto the Indian and the Cupboard series.  I don't think she's come across a book she doesn't like.  And she enjoys them in listening format as well.  Her favorite gift at her party yesterday - her new cassette tape/cd player.  Owning that has opened up lots of opportunities at the library.  She not only excels in reading but also in writing and math.  Alexa is a good friend, thought like all girls at this age there is sometimes drama.  She is a great big sister - most of the time.  And sassy!

Fall is in the air...and flying by

Here we are nearly 2 months into the school year.  It's already almost Halloween, although if you went by the decor at some of the stores you'd think Christmas was right around the corner.  Which I suppose it it...by 2 months.

It's been a busy fall.  J and E both did soccer clinics which lasted 3 weeks.  A kept us the busiest by doing fall field hockey and playing recreation soccer.  And she shined on both fields, when she wasn't too busy gnawing on her mouth guard.  In her last game of the season I caught at least 8 saves on camera!  Here's one she dived for but it ended up going very wide of goal.

Chris has been busy with his new job.  He's actually going on to trips to warmer climates - once to Orlando, then to Atlanta.  Unfortunately due to the cost of travel we won't be joining him.  I think I nearly keeled over when I priced round trip flights to Florida at nearly 500 per person.  Playing solo parent for 5 days in a row should be interesting...not only for me but for those I work with also.  I've been warning them so that they can be prepared for any untypical behavior from me.

Besides sports we've started up a new year of Girl Scouts.  We've got a good size group this year - 8 brownies and 3 daisies.  My goal is to try and do a few more field trips than we did last year.  Which means I'm going to have to remember to plan ahead so that I can get all my paperwork done in time.  Both girls seem very excited to be joining.  J is a little bummed at being stuck as an honorary Girl Scout but I keep telling him it'll be next year before he knows it.

Another fun part of fall is school pictures.  I do like how they came out, yet I am left once again wondering how the background went from the requested gray to orange on J's.  Oh well...they didn't charge me.  Which is good because it's not cheap purchasing a school package times three!

 

Of course we did our annual apple picking.  Well...annual for me and the kids.  And once again I left the orchard wondering why I put us through that.  While every other family was laughing and enjoying themselves my kids just kept bickering and snarling like rabid animals.  Ok, so that might be a bit of an exaggeration but they definitely weren't like all the others.

And we got some pumpkins!  I grew sugar pumpkins this year so that they made better eating (think cookies and bread and pie, oh my).  We bought 3 pumpkins at $5 each from Seabreeze Farms in Friendship.  They came in all sizes.  My new requirement - you have to be able to lift your own pumpkin, and be able to clean it out without turning to the relief cleaner.

before...once we hauled them into the backyard with a wagon

I remember when she hated the goo...now she couldn't get enough

hey Lizzy...since yours is done, wanna do mine?

and the final product for 2012!

Since it was still fairly warm when we got done carving and cleaning up I decided we should tackle the front yard.  Hopefully some of the decorations will hold up longer than last year, so long as the neighbor kids stick to their own side of the yard...

front stoop with graveyard and signs

walkway done with repurposed pumpkins.  They used to be lights but we have no outlet!

tree hangings

a better shot of the graveyard

first days of school

It's hard to believe how incredibly fast the summer flew by.  Just as shocking to the system is how fast September is going.  This fall had four of us having to be up early to get to school, one of us to take a long drive to work. 

Alexa's first day of school was on a Wednesday.  The twins spent the day with their Aunt Andrea.  Their first official day wasn't until the next morning as they split the kindergarten class in half to help them "adjust".  Personally I think this was silly.  What sort of routine does it teach to have a kid go to school one day, stay home the next, then go back the day after to double the kids?  Not to mention it followed up with a 3-day weekend!

I will admit I teared up, but not until they got onto the bus.  They just seemed so little, yet SO excited to be getting to ride the bus.  

We are now nearing the end of the first month.  They all seem to enjoy it.  Alexa is thriving in 3rd grade.  We've had some issues with all the girls in class taking turns being nasty to each other.  I find myself reminding her to rise above it, and to not participate in any of it.  Jake and Liz come home full of what they've learned.  But also telling of whatever color their behavior card is on.  Which seems to mostly be RED!  Apparently Liz tends to be a bit too chatty with the other kids.  As for Jake - he doesn't really say why.  But the one that came home saw him in trouble for having trouble transitioning and therefore being uncooperative.  Needless to say the teacher was spoken to!

 Alexa's first day of 3rd grade

1st day of kindergarten for Jake & Liz

with happier faces since they could "strike a pose" - Alexa was doing the "waitress"

They were so excited to go on the bus they didn't want to look at me

they look almost too little to have to get on that BIG bus

Day 3 for Alexa, day 2 for Jake & Liz - still smiling!!

once upon a time it was summer vacation

Summer has passed in a blur.  Okay...so maybe I am rushing it a little bit.  It's not really the end of summer till sometime in September.  And the weather is still absolutely beautiful most days.  The garden is flourishing, thankfully with a bit more produce then weeds.

I suppose it just feels like it's over because I've gone back to work full-time to help get ready for the new school year.  And school for the kids is just a little over a week away and soccer sign-ups are this week.  All signs of the end of summer vacation.

So what'd we do with ourselves this summer?

We spent the majority of July with our French au-pair M.  That was a wonderful experience for the most part.  Will we stay in touch?  It's not seeming likely.  She's busy moving on with her life and the age gap between my kids and her, not to mention between myself and her, makes having common interests unlikely.

We also did swimming lessons twice a week.  I have 2 fish and one kid that will wade into the water up to his waist.  He will go deeper but be prepared to have him squeeze your neck so hard you have trouble breathing, never a good thing when combined with water.

Blueberry Cove was a possibility this summer thanks to a camp scholarship from Lee Auto.  The kids had a blast and were begging to go back for another week.  Not happening at nearly $200 per kid though!  The twins loved the little frog pond, Alexa loved that she got to bake some bread with fresh herbs and seasonings.  She also caught a caterpillar that successfully became a butterfly.  It was a good thing it quickly went into chyrsalis mode because I wasn't looking forward to hunting down fresh mint every few days for it.

There was also field hockey, the Kendrick family party, beach trips, hours spent outside running around, a day long trip to the Union Fair, movies and living room sleepovers.  Overall a successful summer vacation.  The kids are stuck in daycare for the last week of it but hopefully they'll have as much fun as they can.  Cause in just 10 days (11 for the twins) it's off to school - 3rd grade and kindergarten x2!

the exchange

Back in June some friends of our posted on their facebook page about seeking homes for French exchange students.  A few years ago I thought this would be a great experience but we didn't have the room.  So I talked Chris into it for this year.  And then talked myself out of it, just to have him talk me back into it.

So after much indecision and likely making us look like fools we decided to just do it.  We did luck out and were "given" a 19 year old au pair, versus a 14-16 year old.  I worked on getting the "man cave" turned into a "bedroom".  Fairly easy task.  The only purchase I had to make was a mattress for the extra bed frame that stores under Jake's bed.  Even that was easy thanks to my local Walmart carrying a mattress in a box.

I will say that it made some pretty cool noises as I slit the plastic and the entire thing started to expand.  Sadly I was all alone so I had no one but myself to chuckle with.  And when I tried to explain the reaction later I got blank looks.

All was progressing nicely until the girls made the announcement of "mom, mom, mom, there are fleas all over me".  Nothing like an infestation of bugs that are hard to kill right before a houseguest arrives.  So I bombed, sprayed, bathed, vacuumed, sprayed some more, not to mention shaking flea powder into my vacuum cleaner.

Finally the day arrived that M was due to arrive!  Her flight was going to be a late one 7pm.  Our plans were to hang out at the Holiday Inn in Bath, enjoy dinner and some shopping in Portland, get M and head back home.  That was till she got delayed in Paris and therefore delayed in New York and instead arrived around 12am.  Chris and Alexa were the lucky 2 to get to go get her while the twins and I slept.

She got to spend her first day in Maine hanging out at the pool of a hotel while we all tried to understand each other.  We headed home that afternoon.  And of course because I am paranoid the first thing I did when getting in the door was to RUN upstairs to start vacuuming like crazy in case more fleas had hatched.  Try explaining that one to some who has been in America for less than 24 hours!

The kids fell in love with M right away and wanted to just stay home with her when I put in my 8 hours at work.  She's been a great help - she's done more chores since she's got here than Chris has done in our entire marriage :).  It was particularly awesome to be able to go out to breakfast one morning with Chris and just leave the house, no kids in tow, no sitter to call.

Now we are heading into our final week.  And I must say I'm not really sure I'd do this again.  It's HARD to have a houseguest for this many days, no matter how helpful and nice they are.  There are some days when I'd like to just let the kids run wild and bury my nose in a book.  But I feel wrong doing that with someone watching over me.

As for the kids...well their infatuation is wearing off.  Alexa has been nasty since the twins birthday, after being told by M that she couldn't watch tv all morning.  Which is what I would have said as well.  At swimming lessons they've gone from clinging to her to clinging back on me and saying "no" whenever she tries to play with them.  It's hard to explain to someone whose understanding of the English language that you really don't have any explanation for your kids behavior other than the fact they are being little shits.

A few things left to do with her this week - a trip to the ocean, eating some lobster, some shopping in Portland before she goes home next Saturday.  Yesterday we went to a minor league baseball game which M really seemed to enjoy.

And will I do this again next year?  Not likely unless my kids get personality transplants.  But I would definitely recommend to anyone who has the opportunity to try it out.  I'm hoping that despite the kids' behavior this last week that M's experience has been an enjoyable one.  When she goes home she plans to study hotel management, and will be able to share about her visits to 2 very different hotels in Maine after tagging along with Chris.

Did I learn any French while she was here?  No...but I did learn that my attempt to pronounce anything likely butchered the language.  The kids did pick up some, Alexa more due to learning it in school.