Hi!!!!

WHEW! Sorry for the big delay, but the kids started school, I started pottery class, Nonni, Poppi and Uncle Mike came to visit for Labor Day weekend, and we went to Dallas for Leah's engagement luncheon last weekend. I also have been slaving away at all of the wedding tasks I volunteered for...the invitations are done and in the mail! I mailed them last week on a RAINY day, and opted not to wait in the line of 12 people to get the invitations weighed. I just waded into the post office, unwrapped them from the HEB bags, and dumped them in the slot. I am very fortunate that the U.S. Postal Service lost a little money on me, b/c it appears that the invitations are a bit over 1 oz. OOPS!! One Houston office weighed one and returned it, but given the number of response cards I've been receiving on Leah's behalf, it looks like most offices are not weighing. WHEW!!! Keep you fingers crossed that I only find small envelopes in the mail, and not large ones!!

Back to our other happenings, I bet you're dying to know what happened on the first day of school. Actually, the first day was reasonably uneventful. I had had my "good cry" the night before when I read a section of John's "being a dad to toddlers" book, expecting it to tell me how to deal with child separation. Of course, it's a huge section on how to deal with your own separation, and what a big step this is, and how it's the end of a life chapter, blah, blah, sniff, boohoo, wail :( On the actual first day of school, we took pictures of the kids with their backpacks (expect those up soon) in front of the school building. They went into the classroom with minimal tears, Daddy hugged Mommy in the parking lot, and I was off to run some errands ALONE (can't say that part made me very sad!). The SECOND day of school was a completely different story. Somehow, all 12 kids had figured out what Mommy and Daddy were doing to them, and 11 of them were crying, snot running, with splotchy faces. All the teacher could get out of her mouth while she was stripping kids from their mothers' arms was "It's our biggest day!!". I must pause to say that I love their teacher. Her name is Miss Mary, and she is the most wonderful person! John has been quite impressed with her ability to manage the kids AND the moms during morning drop-off. Back to the noise...W&C were crying (actually, Will only started when he realized that it was the "thing to do" at that moment in time, otherwise I think he would have been ok!), but I had managed to give them big hugs and pass them off to Miss Mary and her assistant Miss Debby. I'm quickly making my way out of the classroom, and Miss Mary says, "go ahead and close the door". JUST as I'm getting ready to do that, a tiny little boy runs out screaming for his mommy. I catch him and shuffle him back inside, but now W&C have realized that I'm out of the room. They come running for the door, and I had to pry their little fingers off of the door frame to get the door closed! At this point, there are a couple of shell-shocked mommies in the hallway (me included!), not really sure how to proceed. I realize that I need to leave the premises eventually, so I head out the door. I get to the car in the parking lot, and someone opened the front door to the church - the wailing continues!! I can hear it all the way out at my car!! Thankfully, Cata and I had planned to get some coffee somewhere, and I was able to get my mind off of the chaos.

Needless to say, my little treasures are now enjoying all of their school day, including the dropoff. There's still one poor boy who cries for about 20 minutes after his mom leaves, but I tell the kids "he's just tired". Today, I gave them both a hug and a kiss, and when I waved at them from the door, Will smiled, gave me a really big wave, and shouted, "Bye bye, Mommy!! See you later!!". Claire didn't even notice I was gone. Sigh. Now THIS is the end of a chapter. On one hand, I'm happy about their adjustment, but on the other hand, my little ones are growing up. That part makes me a bit sad.

I know I had some more to write about, but I'll think of it later. Enjoy this one for now.

FYI, the company that hosts my 365 picture blog is shutting down, so I'll be transferring everything to a Flickr account. Not too excited about that, but I don't have much choice. I'll be sure to change the link so you can still see the hilarity of our daily lives (when I remember to post my one picture per day!!)

~K