1st Day of School and My Birthday

Ok, sorry I've actually gone a FEW DAYS since posting...sheesh!

So here are some pictures of us this week...

The kids started school on Tuesday! What a nice day that was for *me*! lol Seriously, though, they were both very excited. Here is Katie in front of her school:


She loooooooves her teacher this year. She just happens to have the same teacher as Danny had in 4th grade, so I'm glad too; I already have a good relationship with her, and I know she's a lot of fun. This year, K gets to switch teachers for certain subjects, which is new for 4th grade. I am happy to say she likes them all, and truly is excited about her classes.

I don't have any pictures of Danny on his first day - can you hear him? "Moooooooooooooom!" He hates it when I pull out the camera anymore. This year, D has a lot of adjustments to get used to. The main one is that he's now going to Middle School. Our school system has rearranged the schools somewhat, and this is the first year the 6th grade is in the middle school (which used to be the junior high, when it was 7th, 8th, & 9th) and 9th is moved up to high school. Along with this major change, he is also now taking the bus, he has a locker, he changes classrooms for each subject, he has to change for gym, and he has a real cafeteria. Phew! We took several trips to the school a few weeks before he started, to walk his schedule and try out his locker combination, and by the time Tuesday rolled around I think he was pretty comfortable with it. I haven't heard anything negative about school from him yet, but you know boys; it may be a while before he lets me know if there's something he doesn't like.

Also this week, (ok, a little out of sequence...) it was my BIRTHDAY!!!! Happy Birthday to Me! This day is not consistently noteworthy from year to year (although last year, as you'll recall, I gave myself an awesome present, which inspired the creation of this blog!), but this year was exceptionally great! C started it by waking me up with a nice back rub (mmmmm), then letting me do whatever I wanted. For the most part I really just wanted to have a day to myself (remember, this was actually before school started), so I went off alone and spent a few hours at my mother's grave site. The weather was absolutely perfect, warm and sunny, with a slight breeze; just perfect for sitting in the shade. I took a folding chair and a book, and the dog, and had some priceless peace and quiet. Let me add, the cemetery is way out in the country, on a quiet road, with lots of trees and landscaping - very pretty and not at all morbid. So then when I got home, C had made dinner for us, so I didn't have to cook - always most appreciated. After that, they told me to go relax (as in, on the computer, lol!), while C did the dishes and cleaned up. Then K put a blindfold on me and led me back up to the kitchen, where they surprised me with a cake, cards, and presents! Here I am with my cake - note that I was NOT expecting pictures to be taken, so I am not particularly camera-worthy (not that I'm ever particularly photogenic). Can you see what my gifts were? A handful of Dove candy bars!!!!! Yummy! Later that evening, Katie gave me a little spa treatment, brushing my hair and rubbing my shoulders, even a little makeup application (her idea, not mine). She really likes doing this, even though her attention span isn't as long as I would wish. I love having my hair brushed!

Those were the main events of the week. Overall, I know I enjoyed it!