9/11 again

Another year has gone by. Still the same feelings of uneasiness about our safety. Six years later and Osama Bin Laden is still sending videos, his organization is getting stronger, and our "war" is just a joke to most of the world.

Today is also my friend Dorothy's 40th birthday. How would you like to have 9/11 as your birthday? It reminds me of the fact that one of our neighbors' birthday is July 2nd...the anniversary of our fire. She often talks about how that day people were calling her to wish her happy birthday and she had to tell them about what had happened to one of her neighbors. Not that I'm comparing my situation to 9/11 but there are some similar elements.

All in all just not good rememberances of this day.

The First Day

New backpacks, lunch boxes, and tennis shoes x 3 = about $300



A peaceful house and some alone time with Jensen...priceless.

The kids started school last Monday...at least Jordan and Jackson did. Jordan is in 5th grade...the top of the elementary school heap. She seems happy with everything so far. She changes classes three times during the day but only has two different teachers...Mrs. Meskill and Mrs. Johnson. This is to give them a little taste of middle school. Jordan is also on safety patrol and her team had the first shift of the year so she's had to be at school by 7:30 every day this week. It's been hard getting her up in the morning, but she does love saftey patrol!

Jackson is in 3rd grade and is seeming to have a little better start to the year than last year. When we went to the meet the teacher night and he looked at his class list that was posted he said, "I know all of these kids!" One of the benefits of staying in the same school since kindergarten. His teacher seems nice and on the ball. She used to teach 5th grade so I would think she knows what to prepare them for. I've spoken to her on the phone already and she's very much about positive reinforcement which is what Jackson responds to best. We'll keep our fingers crossed for a good year.

Jensen starts back to school next Tuesday. She really wanted to start last week when the other kids went back. She's definitely ready. The house will really be quiet then.

An Unexpected Good Day

When Heather asked me to go to Ikea today with her with all 5 of our kids in tow I thought..."well, that doesn't sound very fun." But I knew she wanted to purchase the same cabinets I have up in our playroom and I have a big car that can haul them home so I said okay. It turned out to be a great day. Another friend of ours, Brandy, met us at Ikea with her son Dylan. Most of the kids went into the play room area they have at the store (how awesome is that?) except for the very small (Dylan and Megan) and the very tall (Jordan). As it turns out. Jordan had a blast with Dylan who really seemed to like her. Now all Jordan can talk about is "babysitting" Dylan even though she's only a "baby" herself.

We got our shopping done...I managed to find a few random items like a wine decanter that one of the sommeliers in a tasting room in Sonoma recommended to bulletin and magnetic boards for Jordan's room...and Heather got her cabinets. We loaded it all in the car and took the troops to Jillians for lunch (aka Dave and Busters) which is a restaurant slash arcade. We ate. We spilled. We played. We went home tired and happy.

Sometimes the "lazy, nothing to do" aspect of the summer gets to me so it's nice to have a day filled with activity with friends.

I hate that I don't have a pic from today so I'll try to do better tomorrow.