Fancy Girls

I did this layout a few days ago. It's one of many pictures of a tea party that Meagan had during her vacation at Grandma & Grandpa's this summer.

Feeling Junky

Yup, that pretty much sums up the past 3 or 4 days for me - feeling junky. It has progressed slowly from head pressure to sore throat to I can't breathe through my nose and I can't hear a thing (except ear poppings). Anyway, I've put up with this long enough - I am seriously expecting to be done with it in the next day or so.

As far as updates go - Friday Meagan and I hung out with friends for a while - nothing too notable. It's just good to be with friends. Saturday...hmmm...I can't even remember what we did Saturday. I was starting to feel a little down, so we just sort of hung out - and watched ND win!! Sunday, church (where I couldn't sing - even more than usual *LOL* - and I bawled my eyes out, which made the stuffy/runny nose issue all the messier...nice.), nap, bills, grocery, and generally lying around and being a bum on the couch.

Today I thought I was feeling a bit better, but by about 2:30, the yucks were setting in again. Tonight, Lucas took Sebastian to football practice (which was called earlier due to lightning and rain), and I helped Isaac with a project for school - a Me book. I'm thinking I might do another interview with the kids and make up a Me book out of it for each of them. I think they would like that...I'll make a few 5x7 pages, print them out, and adhere them to some 5x7 note cards. At least that was my thought while we were working on his book for school - we'll see if I ever actually get around to it!

Oh, and today when I got home from school, there was a message from Isaac's teacher. Apparently, I am to expect a call from the principal, because today at lunch, my sweet little boy decided to bite someone. Why, you might ask (as I did)? A direct quote from Isaac: "I don't know. I can't remember." (Remember what I told you with the treadmill post? "I don't know" almost always translates into "If I tell you the truth, I will get in trouble.") So, we had to have a refresher on how to behave when someone is making us mad / frustrated. He also lost TV for the night, and he lost a penny from his jar (which, if you know this boy, is about the worst punishment you can dish out to him...which is how the whole penny thing came about anyway, since nothing else seemed to be effective with him). Anyway...Lucas told him tonight at dinner that he might have actually broken a record, beating his Daddy and his Uncle Shane in how quickly they can get in trouble with the principal. Even Sebastian held off his mooning episode until 1st grade! *LOL* So, I have a mooner and a biter...hmmm? Sometimes I feel sooooo inadequate to be the mother of two boys. Tonight before bed, I did a short recap with Isaac as to expected and acceptable behavior. It went something like this: 'Don't hit. Don't bite. Keep your teeth and your hands to yourself.' (Shouldn't this be a given??? I don't know. Whatever it takes I guess.)

Off to watch Prison Break. And then crash. Later.

I hope Dad doesn't pull my tooth out!

This morning, as I was helping Sebastian brush & floss, I noticed something that was a little out of place...an adult tooth has popped up BEHIND (not under, behind) one of his baby teeth in the front on the bottom. The baby tooth that's there is barely loose, but his adult tooth is definitely visible. Odd? Maybe?

Today when Sebastian came home from school, I asked him to let me check it out again. I wiggled his baby tooth to see how loose it was. Then, all of a sudden, something occurred to the poor child that obviously had not crossed his mind this morning. He clamped his hands over his mouth and said, "I hope Daddy doesn't pull my tooth out! I don't want him to know!"

**LOL** I couldn't help but laugh, thinking about the trauma that my poor husband went through as a child with regards to having a tooth pulled. :) It's still a sore subject for him! And now, he is presented with the opportunity to torture his own child in the same way he was tortured growing up! This is the beauty of parenting! :)

Fancy Green Sparkles

Last week at gymnastics, Meagan got to pick out her first leotard. She and I had gone to every store in the area looking for an inexpensive leotard that would fit her, but we had absolutely NO luck finding anything even remotely her size. I was left with very few options - the easiest of which was to just buy a competition-grade leotard from the gym. She got to pick out whichever one of the XS's she liked best. Her first choice was actually a velvety purple one, but it was a small, not an XS, and was just a bit too big for her still. So, this is the one she chose - a dark green one with silver sparkles...appropriately named 'Fancy Green Sparkles.'

She has been waiting for a week now to finally be able to actually wear Fancy Green. One night when we checked on her before going to bed, we actually found her sound asleep, snuggling her leotard like a teddy bear. Last night before bed I told her that this was the day she finally got to put it on. Of course, at 7:00 this morning, she was in jumping on my bed asking if she could get dressed in her fancy outfit. Of course, I had to take pictures to mark the special day.

She had a great practice today. Every week she improves, which is just cool to watch. She loves it so far! And she is just so darn cute at it!

He could...go...all...the...way!!!

Tonight was Sebastian's first flag football game, and he had a great time! He played for the first half (2 20-minute halves, with a 5-minute half-time). He played both defense & offense (the coaches for his team decided it would be easier to have the kids play both sides rather than making substitutions. it seemed to work okay). I must say that the coaches on both teams did a great job keeping the kids moving and making progress. They managed to keep the pace of the game up, even though there could have easily been a lot of down-time to get plays set up. It was fun to watch. The highlight of the game, for us anyway, was that Sebastian scored the very first touchdown of the season! He was pumped! Very cool. We videoed, of course. I wouldn't be doing my motherly duty if I didn't take every camera we own. There's even a snip of bonus footage of Meagan and another little girl (who happens to be in Isaac's class at school) doing a 'Go Jets' cheer. I'll try to get that captured & uploaded in a different post. For now, you can see our little football player score his first ever TD (watch the blue shirt)!

Swim

Today I threw together a quick layout of Isaac's swim lessons earlier this year (back in April & May). He's getting so big! I remember our 1st time around with swimming lessons, I had to practically bribe the kid to get in the water. This time around, though, he was beyond brave. He kept trying to outdo himself with the cool tricks and jumps he could do. It's funny the difference a few years can make!

Another collab kit coming out at Elemental Scraps tomorrow. This one is called Beyond the Sea.

Super Saturday

Last weekend at church, a friend of ours came up to us after service and asked Lucas if he wanted to go the the ND vs. MSU game this weekend. Not surprisingly, Lucas accepted. Sweet!

Well, yesterday, our friend called and said he had another ticket...would I like to go too? OF COURSE!! But...that would mean finding child care for 9 hours (from 11:00 to 8:00 it ended up being) with less than 24 hours notice. Not a small feat, but thankfully, I was able to find someone, even on such short notice.

Well, this morning, Lucas rolled out of bed at about 4:00. Yes...4:00! He and his buddy Jim wanted to go hunting this morning (Keep in mind, we were supposed to meet to leave for the game at 11:30). At about 9:15 I got a call from Lucas. He and Jim both got a deer, and he wanted me to try to find someone in the area that could process the meat for him (since he obviously wasn't going to be able to take the time to do it and still get to the game any time today).

Anyway, we were running late (which was no real surprise), but when Lucas called Ryan to tell him, Ryan said they had also gone hunting this morning, and they were just finishing hanging a deer & packing it on ice (I know, this is kind of gross...I'm grossed out just writing it). So, we bumped out meeting time back a nudge, and continued on with the day as planned.

We parked in a lot about 20 minutes walking distance from the stadium, and we set up a little tailgate. It was me and 9 guys. Nice. But it ended up being an awesome day. We cooked burgers, & bratts, and had a great time hanging out. Even though ND played horribly, it was a great day!

Treats

I did this layout last night using a new kit that's coming out at Elemental Scraps this Monday, the 22nd. It's called Boo-Town.

Since I don't have any Halloween pics from this year (for obvious reasons), I dug up some previous years. These pics happen to be from 2005 - Meagan's 1st trick-or-treat. Look what a little peanut she was!

I'm really awful at scrapping holidays for some reason. I'm not really sure why, but I think it's just that the pictures never really inspire me. Or maybe I just take WAY too many pictures at holidays, and then I feel overwhelmed by them. Who knows what my issue is exactly? Whatever it is, it is the reason that I have unscrapped pictures from 2005.

Flag Football

This week was Sebastian's first week of flag football practice. He is just so darn cute! He is far from being the biggest kid on his team (even though he's in 2nd grade, and he's on a team with both 1st & 2nd graders), but he is actually pretty good (although maybe I'm biased). He's pretty scrappy, and rather determined NOT to get his flags taken and to take everyone else's. He seems to be picking up everything his coaches have tried to teach the team so far. And I am pretty sure he likes it. Not a bad start to the season.

We have his schedule for games & practices, for those who have asked me for it. He has something every Monday & Wednesday for the next several weeks, always from 6:00 - 7:30. He has games this coming Monday and Wednesday, and also Wednesday of next week. If you need specific info, just let me know & I'll pass it along.

Run for your life !

Tuesday was our first meeting for our small group since our summer break. It was a pretty casual night, just getting acclimated and reoriented, which meant there was no set child care in place. No big deal. My kids are used to playing independently, so I wasn't worried about them. They all went out in the back yard and played flag football for the first hour at least. When it started to get dark, and a little cooler than they preferred, all the kids came inside and split up to either the upstairs or the basement. Again, no big deal. It's a pretty kid-friendly house, since the family that lives there has 2 young kids of their own. The night went smoothly, with no hitches...I thought.

That night, as I was helping a very tired Isaac get into his pj's, I noticed a raw spot on his hip. I asked him what happened, and he said, "I don't know," which typically (especially in Isaac's world) translates into I don't want to say because I might get in trouble. I knew he was tired, so I let it go. I put some Neosporin and a few band-aids on it, and put him in bed.

Then yesterday on the way to church, one of the kids on the bus asked Isaac what he did to his arm. I looked at him, and I noticed a scrape across his wrist. So I pointed to it, but the other kid said, "No, not there. Under his arm." So now my curiosity was peeked. I checked him out, and he has a pretty big, now-scabby scrape all the way up the underside of his arm. Okay, now I knew something was up. Still, he was sticking to his "I don't know" story.

Finally, last night as I was helping him brush his teeth, I asked him once more, and I got the story (probably because Sebastian was there to help fill in the blanks, LOL). Isaac told me, "I was on a running thing and I couldn't do it and I fell on the wall." Hmmm.... processing.... processing .... I wonder if Scott & Renee have a treadmill? So I asked, and sure enough, there was a treadmill in the basement, and the boys decided to give it a go. Sebastian admitted to trying it on 8, but he said he couldn't do it. So, since he couldn't do 8, what's the next best thing to do? Talk your little brother into trying TEN of course! Poor Isaac said he put it on 10, and then let go because he couldn't run that fast. I'm sure you can figure out what came next. Yup... he flew off and crashed into the wall.

I'm sorry, maybe I'm a horrible mother, but I had to crack a smile, and it was a challenge not to out & out laugh. That's just a funny mental picture to me! Poor little guy... too bad I didn't have a video camera on the event! That would have been priceless footage! As it was, there was no video taken. In fact, they kept it so quiet - no crying, no tattling, nothing - that I didn't even know it happened. Signs of things to come, I believe.

Poor Little Pirate

Just a quick layout I put together of last year's halloween activities. It was a rough day for Sebastian (as you may remember if you read my blog about that day).

Journaling: Sebastian missed his Halloween party at school today. I had to pick him up early because he didn't feel well. Tonight for trick-or-treat, he was running a low fever, but I felt so bad for him, I let him go out anyway. Unfortunately, the cold, wet weather made it worse, and we ended up in Urgent Care at 10:00 at night...he got a shot. 10/31/07

Hold your nose!

Yes, this is another toilet-themed post. Consider this your warning! LOL!

Since I cleaned the bathrooms (twice) the other day, I put these new little toilet gel things in the toilets. They're by Scrubbing Bubbles, and they cling to the side of the bowl, and as the water flushes over them, they release the cleaning gel.

Meagan has a serious hang-up with these little gel tabs. First of all, they're green. The first time she came in to use the toilet after I cleaned them, she said (at the top of her lungs), 'MOM!! There's a green thing in the potty!' She flat refused to pee in the toilet with the green thing on it, until, that is, she found out there was a green thing in every potty, so she had no choice! Finally, after much convincing on my part, she agreed to use the toilet, but made it clear that she was not happy about the green thing.

That hurdle behind us, I thought we were home-free. Nope. Her next issue was that she realized it was disappearing bit by bit as the toilet was being flushed. 'MOM' (again at the top of her lungs), 'THE GREEN THING IS BREAKING!!' I assured her it was okay, and that was what it was supposed to do. She was very unsure about the whole thing, but I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go! So she gave in.

Surely, that was the last issue we would have with the green things. Right? Wrong. She has now decided the green things are smelly, so she won't go into the bathrooms for anything other than absolute necessities. Not to get a tissue. Not to get a toy. The other night, she was looking for a toy that she had left in the bathroom. When she realized where it was, she stood at the threshold of the bathroom door, careful not to leave the hallway, and just stared into the bathroom. She said she was not going to go in to get it because the bathroom is too stinky. Then, while I was giving her a bath, she must have told me ten times that the green thing stinks. Point made right? Nope. Not Meagan. Yesterday, I went in to check on her while she was using the bathroom, and she was literally sitting on the toilet, HOLDING HER NOSE! Not because she was stinkin' it up! But because the green thing was in there. There is some serious irony in there somewhere! She's such a goofball!

Weekend Art Gallery

I did a LOT of scrapping this weekend! It was wonderful (although now I'm afraid I'm going to have trouble getting back into the real world this week...may go through withdrawal...LOL)!

The first layout I did, I started Thursday night, and finished sometime Friday afternoon. It's a picture of Meagan that I took on one of our walks at the park. I like the picture, because the focus was intended to be less on her and more on the beauty of what was around us. I like it when we spend time like that and we can get everything else out of the way and just enjoy all that God has created, and all that is really important comes to the forefront as our busy schedules and daily duties get pushed to the side.

Journaling: As we grow older, the really important moments in life seem to get lost in a whirlwind of hurried schedules and daily routine. I pray that you will always be able to recognize and appreciate these moments that God has created for us simply to enjoy & be blessed.

The second and third ones I did Friday night. My friend had a scrapbook night at her house from 6:00 to midnight. So, I took my laptop and scrapped for six hours (and talked and ate!). Funny that in six hours I only managed to get two layouts done (and start a third, which I later junked and started over from scratch). Anyway, I like how they both turned out. Both are of some Summer vacation pictures. Both happen to be Sebastian, for no particular reason, other than I just felt inspired to use the pictures I guess.

One is Sebastian and Shane swimming (or flying, depending on how you look at it). I am amazed at how brave he is in the water this year compared to last!

Journaling: This year you've really exploded with courage when it comes to the pool. No swimmies. No fear. [Sebastian & Shane]

The second is another Sebastian & Shane thing - they did a dinosaur dig, where they 'buried' bones in a cast and then excavated them by digging them up with tools and all. Definitely a highlight for Sebastian!

Last one...this one, I think, is my personal favorite. I think it's because it was not at all coming together right, and then all of a sudden it clicked, and it came together great. I think it's one of my all-time favorite layouts. These pictures were taken last September. She was all decked out in my shoes and purse (the purse she later claimed as her own!), and she was pretending to be grown up - you know, go to the grocery, go to work, talk on the phone, etc. Very cute, she is!

Flipped Out!

I forgot to post this earlier this week:

Wednesday, I took Meagan to a trial gymnastics class. There is a gym about 25-ish minutes from here that has inexpensive classes that are geared specifically for kids her age. I called to ask about it, and they said I could come and try it for free. So, we loaded up Wednesday morning, and headed to her first gymnastics class. I was curious to see the caliber of class, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was easy for her to stay focused, but it was designed really well, so that she learned fundamentals while having fun. It was really very good.

The coach was actually the head coach & gym owner. He had stations set up for them. Two different bars stations, to teach them how to support their own weight on the bar, and also how to move around the bar by doing a pull-over (obviously with spotting) and a dismount; a trampoline station (a crowd favorite - but it made them focus on controlling their body movement by staying in the small open area on the tramp); a vault station - essentially running down a mini runway, jumping onto the spring board and landing with both feet on a 2-foot mat...very cute, and probably my favorite to watch); floor stations (forward rolls on an incline, headstands against the wall, cartwheels, and bridges; and beam stations (moving every imaginable way along the beam - forward, backward, sideways, crawling, bear walking, kicking, and dipping...also very cute!).

The class lasted 45 minutes. At the end, I asked her if she liked it, and if she wanted to do it again. Her response was a resounding YES. So, I registered her for class. We'll do the fall season and see how it goes, but she seems to be taking to it very well. Now my only challenge is to find a leotard small enough to fit her! Her next class is this Wednesday.

Elemental Scraps

I am soooo excited! Last week, I got an email saying that an online digi scrapbook shop was holding a search for new creative team members (people who will use their products to make layouts, then post them around different sites to up the product awareness, etc.). After browsing through the store to see if the product styles seemed like something I would enjoy working with, I decided to submit an entry for a position on the team.

Yesterday they announced their new CT members, and they have invited me to be on their team! I can't tell you how pumped I am! The longer I browse through the shop, the more stuff I find that I like!! I can't wait to start playing!

Anyway, I also wanted to pass along some info, for my fellow digi-scrappers. Elemental Scraps is having a HUGE sale right now, and they have TONS of AWESOME kits and elements marked down to $1.00!!! That's a bargain (and totally my kind of scrapbook shopping! I hardly EVER buy stuff at full price!) So I thought I'd pass it along as an FYI, in case you have an extra buck or 2 to spend. I mean, some of these kits are regularly $6 or so, and they're selling for a dollar! (Can you tell I'm in heaven?!) Here are some of my fav's that are selling for $1:

S

o, anyway, here's the link if you're interested: http://www.elementalscraps.com/ There is a link at the top of their Shoppe page that says 9/10 dollar deals! Happy scrapping!

Warning: Contents are GROSS!!

Well, I must say that the majority of this day was spent cleaning various things. We started the day by gathering up our recycling and taking it to the drop-off center. We then made a short trip to Wal-Mart to get a few things and headed home. Between playing with Meagan and getting lunch ready, I did a quick clean-up of the living room & kitchen. Then during nap time I tackled the bathrooms.

My bathrooms had been neglected for slightly longer than they should have been. They were pretty dirty, and required a little extra attention. So over the course of about 2 1/2 hours, I scrubbed and cleaned all three bathrooms (although I will admit it was not at all 2 1/2 straight hours of work - still if all the cleaning supplies are out and in process of being used, it counts as cleaning time in my book).

So, when Lucas & the boys got home, we had clean, sparkling bathrooms. Aaaah! Clean bathrooms are the best! BUT...I prefer when they last for more than 3 hours....

After dinner, the kids all went back outside to play while Lucas & I cleaned up the kitchen. All of a sudden, the back door opens up and one of the kids - we'll preserve some level of anonymity & call him/her CHILD A - comes in and sort of shuffle walks toward the bathroom. So I ask Child A if everything is okay, and I get a funny look in return. Soon after, I hear, "MOOOOOMMMM!!! I need help!" So I go into the 1st-floor bathroom to see what the trouble is. It only took about a mili-second for me to figure it out. Poo smeared on the toilet seat, some on the floor, and all over the shirt sleeve and the pants. Obviously, that bathroom encounter didn't go as planned.

Meanwhile... CHILD B slips past and heads upstairs to the kids' bathroom. Because of the mess that had been made by Child A, I decided a bath was definitely in order. So, I abandoned kitchen duties, and headed up the stairs to run some bath water and start some laundry. When I got to the bathroom, however, there is a scene almost identical to the one I just left. Child B had obviously slid off of the toilet (I'll let you figure out how I figured that one out! LOL), and was standing in the middle of the bathroom with a bewildered look on his/her face. Poo on the toilet seat, on the floor, and on the sink counter. Plus all over the pants and legs. YIKES!

What is there to do but strip everyone down and throw them all in the tub (and clean the bathrooms again, and do two loads of laundry!) I'm fairly certain that God used this moment in my day to run a progress test. All in all, I think I handled it fairly okay (although I may have made a comment once something along the lines of 'I JUST cleaned the bathrooms...couldn't you have done this YESTERDAY?). Other than that, though, I stayed calm and did not get upset.

And on top of it all, I learned a lesson...Next time I clean the bathrooms, I'm locking the doors and keeping everyone out for at least 6 hours! LOL!

Wash the rain away

Yesterday when I picked Meagan up from preschool, it was raining a very solid, steady, cold rain. We got in the van, and headed for home, so we would be home before the boys got off the bus. On the way home, a few times Meagan complained that she couldn't see out her window because the rain was in the way (you know, it's not a clear view through rain drops running down the glass...LOL). So, about half way home, we were sitting at a light, and out of nowhere she says, 'Mommy, let's go to a car wash!' I told her we could just let the rain wash it off (not wanting to explain to a 3-year-old why you don't wash cars in the rain). Then I asked her why she wanted to go through the car wash. Her answer: "It will make the rain wash off my window so I can see."

2 Layouts...

Two new layouts I finished this weekend. One is Meagan at Cedar Point, after a long day at Soak City, and a rediculously long wait for transportation. The other is her 1st day at preschool.

Preschool Girl

I know, I am WAY late on posting this, since it happened Thursday (3 whole days ago!). I'm gonna go with 'Better late than never!'

Thursday was Meagan's first day of preschool! She was SOOO excited about the prospect of going to her very own school. We had gone earlier in the week and picked out a pretty little jumper for her to wear on the first day, so after breakfast, she rushed up the stairs and got dressed. Then we braided her hair into 'fancy hair' as she called it. She looked DARN CUTE! The only problem was that when we walked outside for pictures, we noticed that it was FREEZING! Her little jumper was hardly going to be enough to keep her warm for the day. So, we took some pictures quickly (notice her arms are folded? she's cold.) and then put a little white sweater over her jumper. Oh well. Still cute.

When we pulled up, she immediately started jabbering about her school and her playground and her friends and her this and her that. She practically sprinted to the door. And when we walked in, she jumped right in with both feet! She went straight over to where her teacher asked her to go, and went on about her business. She came back over to me and gave me a quick hug and smooch before I left, but she wasn't phased at all by my departure.

When I got there to pick her up in the afternoon, she actually got mad at me! I walked in, and her teacher said, "Meagan, your mommy's here." Meagan jumped up off of the story carpet and came running to me to give me a big hug. Then she turned right around and headed back to the carpet to sit down. So, I had to explain to her that I was there to get her and we were going to go home, which was promptly greeted with, "I don't want to leave!" I explained nicely, once more, that we had to go so we would be home when the boys' bus got to our house. She said, "It's okay, Mom, you can go get the boys." She had no intentions of leaving. Finally, I put all niceties aside and firmly told her it was time to go. She was mad, but she went.

1st Day of School

The boys got home around 4:45 this afternoon. They came running up the drive with HUGE smiles on their faces. The very first thing Isaac did... give Meagan a big tight squeezy hug! She was thrilled! She definitely missed her boys today!

We got the scoop on the first day. Isaac got to go to music class, he drew a picture (of Julia, and of some big poisonous thing???), he ate the best hot dog he's ever had for lunch, he got to look at 2 books during resting time, and he got to play on the playground! What a day!

Sebastian was also stoked about the hot dog - he gave it a 10 thumbs up! Sheesh! He was happy to see so many of his friends from last year. He told us the best part of his day was meeting the new kids in his class. (He is SUCH a social butterfly!) He took good care of Isaac - he even went to his class after school to get him and take him to the right bus. What a good big brother!


They all crashed hard tonight! It was a big day for everyone! But I think they're looking forward to more of the same tomorrow!

(It doesn't show up very well, but on this layout, the writing on the wall is a bunch of info about their 1st day of school...the names of their teachers, the name of their school, what they had for lunch & snack, what their favorite part of the day was, etc.)

While the Brownies are Baking...

I'll take a minute to tell you about our morning on the first day of school. Isaac's 1st day of kindergarten! And Sebastian's first day of 2nd grade! I got up early to get myself ready before getting the boys up. When I went into their room at 7:15 to wake them up, their beds were empty. They were in the basement playing! I guess they were too excited to sleep!

We were all ready by 7:50, waiting for the bus. The bus garage is apparently a bit of a disaster at the moment, because they gave me two totally different pick-up times (7:36 and 8:20), and they show that Sebastian and Isaac are coming home on two totally different bus routes - 2 brothers leaving the same school at the same time and going to the same place...2 bus routes? Hmm...? I made few calls to get it straightened out, and I talked to the bus driver. So, here's to hoping that I get both of my kids home tonight after school!

I thought you might like to see a few pictures. I got a few good ones of the boys in their 1st day of school clothes. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find them clothes that are appropriate for 85 degree weather. Everything in stores is long sleeves, long pants, winter jackets, etc. But we did our best, and they seemed to be pleased with the choices.

I also got a few pictures of Meagan, who was pouting heavily this morning. At first she was boycotting even getting out of bed because she didn't want her boys to leave her. But she decided to come outside to say goodbye to them - in her PJ's! She was giving her best sad face, in hopes that it would sway them to stay home. It didn't work. In fact, when the bus came, they flew onto the bus so fast that I only had time to barely snap one picture before they were both out of sight. Clearly, no apprehension about the first day of school!

They should be home in about another half hour or so (hopefully, anyway). They will have some warm brownies waiting for them for a special after-school snack. Meagan can't wait (for her boys AND for the brownies!).