melted smoosh

well, here we are three months after the fact and part of me thinks I should just pick up the blogging torch from present day, but the nostalgic part of me knows I am going to want to look back one day and remember the fall of 2024 in all its messy, chaotic, toddler-mayhem and tween-drama glory. it's perfect writing weather: chill and rainy outside, warm and softly lit by the Christmas tree inside. the babies are resting upstairs and the big girls are coloring pages from Inside Out and Wicked respectively.  cozy music  plays on Spotify, my bare toes burrow into my fuzzy slippers, and every time I turn my head, the smell of advent incense wafts up from my hair (perks of sitting in the second row at mass this morning). we have nowhere to go for the rest of the day and my whole self is grateful for Sabbath.  and now for September! 1) back to school. our school year always begins the day after Labor Day, and I love having those last few weeks of August practically to ourselve...

it's about time for a good old airing of the grievances. while we have ever so much for which to give thanks, sometimes we need the catharsis of enumerating our woes, big and small. (you can read the 2023 edition here.) _________________________________________ first up, potty training.  I buckled down and trained Greta and Cecilia both around age 2 1/2, and it went fairly well (I'm a big fan of waiting until the kid is practically ready to train themselves). Elizabeth turned 2 1/2 near the end of the school year, and logically it seemed like a great time to buckle down -- we wouldn't be driving around to after school sports and activities and we'd have more time at home. I kept waiting for the day when I'd wake up full of excitement and motivation to strip off the diaper and chase a naked toddler around the house. and ... shockingly ... that day never came. then we were preparing for our trip to Seattle in July and it definitely didn't seem like the right time...

  1) Color Run. the first annual Color Run for school took place on a Saturday morning in late August and it was so much fun! our school opened in Fall 2020, and I am continually amazed at how much the school community has grown since then. over the last year in particular, there have been an explosion of events for families outside of school (spearheaded by volunteers), and I just love how these programs foster a sense of common purpose and boost school spirit.  the Color Run was sponsored by the school's cross-country team, and dovetailed with the Back-to-School Breakfast hosted by the parent volunteer group. Greta had no interest in running the 1-mile course (they had two courses designated, one that went up a hill and along a trail for a bit, and one that was flatter and suitable for strollers or walkers). so she volunteered to help as a color-sprayer! she was stationed at the beginning of the race, and then also was tasked with guarding the water balloons at the end of th...