Emily's First Day of School!

Well, I officially have a child in school now. Yikes. Emily started school this week, and she was so excited!! Doesn't she look so grown up?! I cannot describe the feelings the were going through me as I watched her file into her classroom (and yes, I cried). She, however, hardly looked back! Emily was so ready and so excited to be going to school. Her teacher(s) are very nice and already art class is her favorite thing. She has a new friend every day (well, the two days that she's been, so we're 2 for 2) and gets to eat lunch there with the other kids which is always fun. But very loud, she says.

I didn't think having her at school would make things much easier at home--I even wondered if it would be harder since she's such a big helper--but it has been a bit, easier I mean. I only have two heads to keep track of if we go anywhere, and it is actually a little easier to gear things toward the younger ones instead of bouncing between the older and younger mindsets. I didn't realize how wearing that was. We are all excited to go pick her up at the end of the day, however.

Emily's favorite things:

1) ice cream, watermelon

2) red, pink and purple colors

3) anything to do with art

4) bbq pork and rice, corn and peas

5) Strawberry Shortcake

6) Horses and cats

7) books, she's so close to reading all by herself!

8) School!

9) My Little Pony

10) Puzzles

on a lighter note...

The girls started their first time with swimming lessons. They have had a blast. I am not a huge fan of 8:30am lessons, but they do get us up and going a lot earlier than usual. The pictures pretty much tell the story of how things are going. Kimmie is a little nervous but is doing well. It takes a bit of convincing and she'll only do as much as she absolutely has to, but she does it. She is getting a lot more comfortable in the water.
Emily, on the other hand, has thrown herself into swimming. She loves doing all the things she is asked to and will do it and much more. She cannot keep still in the water for a second, she is so excited to be there.

Poor Calvin is forced to sit and watch from the sidelines. He so desperately wants to swim! He hasn't thrown any major fits as we retreat up the stairs to the bleachers, for which I am thankful. I think he has enoyed the one-on-one time with me a bit too. We have been reading and coloring and eating chocolate, while I am trying to watch the girls at the same time. Lately he's discovered the drinking fountain, which he thinks is pretty cool. I have my doubts as to how much actually ends up in his mouth, but he's trying. Every five minutes, if he could. Here's a picture of him after an ice cream cone. You'd think I would have learned not to give the kid chocolate... but the pictures are always good for memories.

Books and a soap box episode

So I've been reading a lot lately, which is not really good. Last night I finished a book called "The Appeal" by John Grisham. Now, I've read a couple of his other books and enjoyed them, but by the end of this one I was mad. First, I was mad about how the book ends. The bad guy wins. If I am going to spend hours reading a book when I should be doing other things, I want to read something better than doing those things! I see enough garbage about the bad guy winning in real life, I don't want to read about it!! Second, I am perturbed and angry at the way Grisham sneakily and indirectly casts doubt on the stand that homosexuality is morally wrong. He infers that strong Christians are bigots and that somewhat who supports the death penalty and opposes abortion is a walking contradiction. What?!?! I also thoroughly dislike the way he breeds mistrust of the government, and dislike even more that that distrust may be well-founded, I will never know. The more I hear what Obama is doing the more I think he is a sleazeball in gentleman's clothing. And no, it's not because of race! I am annoyed that people who voted against him because of issues were labeled racist while the people who voted for him specifically because of his race were the "open-minded" ones. Please. So now, according to the media and others, people who stand up against mandatory abortions that force doctors who don't believe in them to perform them for minors without parents' knowledge are now the intolerant ones. According to them, Christians who support family values are blind sheep, uneducated and unreasonable zealots who are striking out at "reason" and "tolerance" because they are afraid and backward. And they seem to say that churches that urge action in moral issues are stepping outside their bounds and should have their nonprofit status revoked for interfering in political issues. And all this makes me mad. They take the truth and twist it around to their own point of view. They glorify good religious people as long as they stick to giving to the poor and needy, but if you want to preserve family values and resist having the world's ideals foisted on you... well.
So the book made me think, and made me mad. Overall, I would not recommend it. Not conducive to a good night's sleep.