High Fives ALL Around: It is FRIDAY!

Wooo hoo the first Friday of the school year is HERE!  I cannot wait until 3:10 when the weekend officially begins!  This weekend will be busy with birthday party fun for the kids.  After a change of adult plans I'm looking forward to seeing my sweet Jen for dinner tomorrow night.  Well, we can talk about all that next week.

1.  Sunday - Zoo Fun!

To celebrate birthdays and the last day of summer break we took off to the NC Zoo.  This was our first trip in five years to the zoo.  You don’t get how hard it is for me to wrap my brain around the fact the last time we were there our daughter was three years old.  Holy crap, time!  This visit was great other than our little monkey (the boy) was quite the handful.  I think the coolest part of this trip was the fact the lions were out!  I’ve never seen the lions at our zoo.  They always seem to get a memo I’m coming and they go into hiding.  The gorillas were fun to watch too.  I just learned yesterday they shut down the gorilla exhibit to reintroduce another gorilla who had been gone for a while.  I think that is so awesome.  Yes, I know weird.  I wouldn’t say we have the best zoo in the country because there are way better ones but we do have a really nice one.  You should visit it sometime!

2.  Monday - Baby Boy turns 3!

My son was born after seven minutes of pushing.  Little did I know that that swift entry into the world would mean he would grow from 0-3 years old in seven minutes as well.  I tell you that Is exactly what it feels like!  On Monday we celebrated his birthday.  Actually we celebrated on Sunday and Monday and we will celebrate again this weekend his and his sister’s birthdays.  For the actual day of his birth he had a fun time playing with his best friends then we went for an adventure to the car wash (kid loves that place) and wrapped our day up with spaghetti and meatballs at Nana’s.  It was a fun birthday for a fun little dude.

3.  Monday - Diva goes to 2nd grade!

One baby has a birthday and the other baby is in second grade now.  Really, I’m baffled.  My beautiful girl started her third year of elementary school on Monday – Kindergarten is long gone, first grade vanished, and now she’s a second grader.  I nearly cried when I realized that she only has three years left of elementary school after this year.  It makes your heart swell to see you babies grow and develop but it makes your heart break to realize how fast these sweet years fly by.  

4.  Outside everybody, outside!

The weather is showing signs of transitioning to fall.  I noticed a drop in the humidity and daily highs this week.  Oh it is still 80’s but it’s a more relaxed version of them.  Good weather + being cooped up in school all day = outdoor evenings!  I worked in a couple flower beds and also went through all the outdoors toys and gardening supplies to thin it out The boy enjoyed his toy tractor and carrying the two pumpkins (yes, pumpkins) to the flower bed.  The girl didn’t complain too much about it.  Also, I have to brag on her.  She walked 2.8 miles with me with no complaints this week.  That’s huge y’all, huge.

5.  Back to work.

Wednesday I went back to work with the BIG kids (freshman and sophomores).  It was great to see all the kids from last year.  I read a fantastic book this week at school - The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian.  This book is fabulous for 9-12th graders.  I cannot say enough wonderful things about it. Alexie really has woven together an awesome story of humor, angst, and pain.  Teens will connect with Junior (the main character) and all the changes he is going through during adolescence.  This book will also open their minds to a bigger picture of the American community and allow them to make a critical analysis of their own community.  The struggles of living on a reservation, poverty, and overcoming fears to forge a path to a better world are key elements.  While I'm talking about it, adults benefit from this book too.  We often get wrapped up in our worlds and this book is the swift kick we need to remember how fortunate we are and to move us to being a force of change in our own neighborhoods.

Alrighty then!  Let's go have a fabulous weekend!  I believe I have childcare and some shopping in my future (birthday shopping that is).  I hope your week rocked and weekend rocks on!