"Clara's Being Annoying"

Sharing a room is already getting old for Molly May, at the tender age of 2 and a half. Tim heard whining coming from their room at 9 p.m. last night, and walked in to interrogate the whiner in her crib. She was the only one awake, but kept insisting that a certain someone was "being annoying."

Even in her sleep, Clara can apparently cause problems. 

Jack o 'Lantern Joey

Here's what first grade school pictures look like after losing (sniff) seven baby teeth!

And here's what our crazy-toothed boy does when he's told to stand up straight and put his shoulders back.

Joey loves everything about his class this year, especially his amazing teacher, who just started teaching again after staying at home with her three kids (7,5 and 2) for many years.

But his favorite part of first grade is, by far, recess! He's pretty sure he'll be going to the Olympics in 2024 as a star member of the U.S. Kickball Team.

Caught in the Act

The Wheels on the Bus Go... to Our House!

Our Transportation Department has undergone a momentous change in recent weeks.

Previously, our operation was manned by just one (frazzled) woman with many carseats, a huge amount of debris on the floor of her vehicle, and two little girls who needed to be napping when first-grade boys are released from school.  

Enter our brand-new team member. It's been rumbling through our neighborhood for two years, oblivious to the excitement it elicited from both children and dogs inside our house.

It's "big and yel-yoh" (in Molly-speak), is always on time, never yells at children, and is now shuttling one very happy boy home from school every day.

I'm not sure who is happier -- our big boy with his big-boy after-school adventure every day, or his mom, who merely has to wait outside on the front porch for him to be deposited beside her mailbox, all while her other charges snooze away inside.

She may even be experiencing a small crush on the school bus driver, who not only puts up with the crazy antics of her son on the bus, but also heroically shepherds him across the street with a fancy stop sign. His best trait, however, is definitely the fact that he was instrumental in getting a new bus stop approved directly in front of her house.

He even tolerates paparazzi.

Mini-Reader in the House

Even though Clara already had completed two of her reading lessons yesterday from our awesome, Joey-tested learn-to-read book, she was game for two more last night... with Joey as her teacher.

There's not much cuter in this world than watching your 6 year-old ever so patiently lead his little sister through her "homework." Just wish this video wasn't sideways!

Clara is gobbling up words left and right, and is a total joy to sit down with for reading lessons! She loves sizing up a word, digesting it in her head quickly, and then shouting out the "answer." Even with less than ideal working conditions (read: Molly crawling on top of her book), she powers through and focuses completely on her task at hand. I can't wait until she gets even more nimble with her decoding and can start reading her own small chapter books like Joey!

This definitely beats putting her in time out!

A New Routine

It's been a busy two weeks, with a new morning routine of rousting sleepy kids and feeding them and dressing them in time for school. Backpacks need to be filled, lunches and snacks packed, hair combed, teeth brushed, and shoes tied, all before we head out the door at 8:15. I think I might be having the hardest time with the transition from our summer schedule!

But all that morning hustle is worth it, because for the first time since becoming a stay-at-home mom five years ago, all of our kids are in school for at least a few hours per week. Joey now has a longer day at school in first grade, Clara goes to Pre-K three mornings a week, and even "Baby Molly" is joining the school crowd in the "2s room" at Clara's preschool for Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

What a luxury it is to be able to drop everyone off, take a deep breath, and know that I have about two hours to myself twice a week!

Alone, I can accomplish super-human feats, unencumbered by the diaper bag, the stroller, slow walkers, squirrelly toddlers, and little people needing to poop or pee.

I can seriously conquer the world. I'm not sure when this rush will fade, but for now I'm almost drunk with giddiness after dropping off drycleaning, getting Starbucks, returning library books, running to CVS, dashing through the grocery store, getting gas, and going to the post office ... all in the space of 45 minutes.

Best of all, I feel like a better, re-charged mom when I pick up my two little girls at noon, and collect Joey from his bus stop at 2. Running errands and cleaning the house in peace and alone is its own kind of awesome, but nothing beats greeting my little munchkins after a few hours away, and heading back to the house or the car hand-in-hand, balancing backpackes, lunchboxes, school artwork, sweaters, and yes, the diaper bag.

They can even dawdle all they like, because there's no place I'd rather be. 

Back to School Trio

I'm pretty sure there has never been a more handsome trio headed off to school.

 

 

Joey, first day of first grade

 

Clara, first day of Pre-K

Molly, first day of preschool!

 

Excuse me while I go shop for the perfect frame for this back-to-school bunch!

You, Sit, Lap, Me!

We have a little Yoda in our midst these days. Just a couple of months ago, she was uttering just one or two words at a time, but now she's issuing three, four and five word directives. They're a little jumbled, and they're mostly lacking prepositions, which just adds to her "little dictator" personality.

Here's some phrases you're likely to hear in our playroom these days:

"You talking ME??"

"We now go?"

"You cook me!"

"Baby sit me now!"

"Wash hands, me!"

"Please, fix you now!"

"My room, I go!"

"Play hair you, Mommy?"

and, most commonly of all,

"You, sit, lap, me! You, sit, lap, me!" This will escalate quickly in tone and urgency, until you acquiesce, and finally haul little Yoda baby into your lap. She's pretty hard to say no to.

Little Dance Troupe

This summer, a band of the littlest Lamorinda Theta Xi girls descended on an amazing new studio in Lafayette, Lamorinda Theatre Academy, run by "Uncle Mark" DeWeese's sister, Renee. 

Six of our offspring fit neatly into their class offering for dancers aged 2 to 3.5, capturing Molly, Dylan, Ava, Grace, Eloise and Mela! We almost felt sorry for the lone non-Theta Xi pupil in the class, with our boisterous group of dancers, parents and siblings taking over the classroom space, the play area, and the viewing area!

Dylan, Molly, Ava, Grace, and Eloise on the first day of class.

Grace, Molly, Ava and Eloise a month later

Molly was one of the youngest in the group, and needed to be held for the first four or five classes. Mommy got more instruction in dance and ballet positions than she's ever had in her life!

Luckily, by the second month of the class, Molly suddenly decided she was okay with participating in more than clean-up (which she excels at! she practically mows down the other girls in her race to put supplies away).

She now loves zooming around the class pretending to be a buzzing bee, running pell-mell toward one of the many mirrors in the class, and practicing high kicks with bells strapped to her ankles.

Molly, way too eager to snatch a maraca out of the box

Practicing her "spider" form

"Hands on hips" is now a favorite everyday pose thanks to dance class!

Finally, here's our tiny dancer practicing her "tip-toes"

Molly loves Miss Renee, and we love our weekly Theta Xi mini-reunion! 

Kick Hard, Swim Fast

Another swim season came to a close last night. Many hurrahs are in order for the retirement of the swim bag, and the fact that we're doing one less load of laundry per day!

Most importantly, though, we're celebrating how far our little fish have come in the last few months!

Joey started off the season bringing up the rear in most events -- but thrilled to collect his fifth and sixth place ribbons -- and ended the season on a high note at his first OMPA swim championship. He qualified for the backstroke finals by a hair -- placing 20th in a pack of more than 100 boys six and under -- and surprised everyone, especially his coaches, by shaving another two seconds off his time and finishing 13th in the finals. It turns out he was the most "improvingist" on his team this year, and walked away with an extra trophy at the awards night!

This swim mom was a little overwhelmed by the craziness of OMPA, with three kids to shepherd around a huge aquatic center on a 100-degree August day. I'll admit, on learning that Joey had qualified for the finals, my first words were, "Oh no!" I was not excited about lingering at that crazy scene for three or four more hours! But our little Marlin was pretty jazzed!

I think he was inspired by this ultra-cute sign one of his teenage coaches made for him, and left on our garage door in the middle of the night. Just in case you can't read it, it says, "Your strokes are gonna be anything but slowey, mister Joey!"

Clara wrapped up her "Mini-Marlin" season a couple of weeks ago, and earned a medal for all her hard work this year. How much does she love this medal? Too much to say. I can definitely see her trying to work this into her back-to-school wardrobe.

She swam a length of freestyle and backstroke in the annual "Mini Meet," and is pretty excited to be joining the "real" swim team next summer!

It's been a long season, full of fun, friendship and SPF. Here's a glimpse into the CCC world we've been immersed in since June!