the days, they keep on passing

So here we are, past the halfway point of September – how did that happen? Summer is definitely gone from these parts… our furnace kicked on for real today and “warm” is now considered anything about 60 degrees. Sigh. (Sorry Nicki, but I have to whine just a little because our summer was far too short and I am green with envy over your very warm ‘fall’ temperatures! )

So what is going on around here this fall?

Zeeb is loving pre-school. (or “pre-’cool” as he calls it) He has absolutely no problem saying good-bye at the classroom door and talks nonstop about his morning on the way home. (Not that I understand everything he’s saying, but I can tell he had a good time!) And on Tuesdays and Thursdays when he stays home with mommy, he asks about pre-’cool and when I tell him he isn’t going he says, “Dang it!” Which cracks me up.

R~ is a soccer star. Who knew? Okay, she’s not Mia Hamm just yet, but she makes at least one goal every game. (These are very high scoring games. With three kids on a side and no goalies, it’s something of free for all. But still. My girl – she rocks.) At first R~ had this strategy of playing defacto goalie, just hanging out in the end zone. But then I told her that I’d give her a quarter for every goal she scores… and suddenly she was inspired.  I know, aren’t I such a great mom, bribing my kid to score?  Here’s the thing though, R~ just likes coins, it doesn’t actually matter the denomination.  She’s just as happy with a penny or a nickle.  So I let her pick whatever coins she wants and it doesn’t really add up to much.  And now that she’s gotten the hang of the game, I think the coins are rather secondary.  And yes, I am making excuses because it’s embarrassing to admit I pay my kid to play soccer.  Mock me if you must, but it worked!  Anyway, she’s fun to watch because even though she’s the smallest kid on the team, she’s really fast and rather coordinated for her age so when she’s paying attention (about 50% of the time) she’s quite the little athlete.  Score one for “Nature” in the ol’ Nature vs. Nurture debate.

And speaking of R~, I was skimming the fall Fisher-Price catalog today and I just found a little plastic version of my child. See:

Yeah, I know she’s supposed to be African American but I’ve got news for FP – that’s a lot closer to the golden Cambodian skin tone. Which is just fine with me! Seriously, I think I have to buy that toy because it looks so much like my kid.

A~ gets almost no mention on my blog because he’s my Easy Kid. (Thank God I have one of those, I think I’d go crazy if all four were high needs!) He’s doing great. I know, big surprise. He’s doing soccer too but not loving it as much this year. He’s 10 and I think the stakes went up at this level … it’s a bigger field and the coaches take things more seriously. A~’s a pretty good athlete but he really doesn’t like it when the coach gets so focused on winning. It’s why he dropped out of baseball last year. And now he’s saying he probably won’t do soccer next year, which is really fine with me because I am so NOT a soccer mom. (No kidding. I don’t like the driving, or the sitting outside in the cold and wet for hours on end or the snack schedules or really any of it, aside from watching my kid have fun.) But, here’s the thing, he’s a boy. I know, way to state the obvious. But Hubby thinks he should stay in a sport because it’s how boys bond and if he doesn’t do sports he won’t have any friends. I happen to think A~ is rather likable, but it’s true that all of his friends are in sports and even though they aren’t on the same team, it is a big part of their conversations and what they like to do when they get together. So I don’t know what we’ll do. But there’s still a good 7 weeks left of A~’s soccer season so I guess it’s a big premature to be worrying about it anyway.

And last but not least, there’s K~. Thank G*d K~ is having a much better time at school so far this year. She likes her teachers better and she has different kids in her classes so the dynamics are a little better in that regard too. She’s still the same kid so we still have lots of emotion and drama around here, but I’m feeling okay about the school thing, for now.

The big deal around here this week is that we finally broke down and moved K~ to the bonus room. Took the fooseball table apart, moved the old loveseat and computer desk into the hall, repainted the room and moved all K~’s stuff in. I’m bummed, I really liked having a hang-out room and it was cool watching movies on our own big screen, but it had to be done. R~ and Zeeb just cannot share a room. We tried everything – staggered bedtimes, having one of them fall asleep in our room and moving them later, tons of discipline, nothing worked. So now R~ has K~’s old room and if she stays up singing and talking to herself, at least she isn’t keeping Zeeb awake too. Of course the move isn’t really complete, it took all weekend just to repaint the room and we still have stuff to move and reorganize, but I figure this is good practice for if we ever do sell this place and move to Denver. (Or maybe it’s a good way to convince me I never want to move again. Because I am really bad at the moving/reorganizing thing!)

So I guess this explains where the first half of September went! The kids have been back in school all of 11 days and I’m completely wiped out.  I need another vacation!