Settling into routine. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! (That's a satisfied sigh, not a scream.)

How I love school. This is the part of the year when I am not sick of signing things and filling out forms and whatnot. The kids are not sick of homework and reading time. Gabe is not sick of being at home alone all day. It is so awesome!

Homework time has been going great. I realize that I always think Charlotte is plenty grown enough to handle whatever the new school year throws at her. However, I always think Claire is too little for the same things one year later. Probably because Claire is actually 2 years younger than Charlotte but only one year apart in school, and because Claire is teensy. She's 7, sure, but she hasn't even had a loose tooth yet, and she is so small. It is hard for me to adjust to her having a binder with dividers and whatnot. Weird, I know.

We are headed to the library today for the last day of amnesty with 5 books due at the beginning of August. Hurray hurray for amnesty! I am also going to battle with them about a book I turned in that they have listed as lost. Grrrrrr. I ain't paying for it.

I got our first Scholastic book order form from school. Freaking yay! It came with Charlotte, and for the first time it is all chapter books instead of a bunch of picture books. How grown-up! Naturally I want about 30 things. I'll be culling that down over the week, slowly and carefully, until I make the first glorious order of books. My most favorite thing to buy!

I need to shower and get ready to leave the house. Gabe has about a half hour before he thinks cartoons are boring and is ready for some new activity. I better put a hustle on it.

Emotional Eating Works, or "I put cheese in my desk."

Let's just thank the Lord right now for making this funny, at least to me, because that is the only way I hung onto my sanity this morning. Let's begin:

I was packing lunches for the girls. I was hunting through the fridge for the Babybel cheeses, to no avail. I bought two packages on Saturday, and it is Thursday, so I'm a little confused. I start talking out loud to the open fridge. Gabe hears me and tells me they ate them all. Which is totally about to annoy me because the kids know to save them for lunches. Then Claire calls out, "I found them!" Yay! Thanks, Baby, where were they? "Um, in my desk."

Come again?

"WHY are they in your desk?"

"Um, I don't know. I just put them there and forgot them."

"WHEN?"

"Yesterday."

Launch into lecture about ruining food and wasting money and having no options for lunch while throwing $4.00 of squishy warm cheese balls into the trash. Ended it with No Cartoons After School. Her response? "I don't care about that." Great. Except the only acceptable answer is Yes Ma'am. "Yes Ma'am." Thanks.

So there we are driving to school, me in the front actively trying not to fume, them in the back starting to squawk. What is this I hear? Oh, it is Charlotte repeatedly doing something annoying to Claire while Claire repeats, "Please stop!" more and more frantically. Grrr. Launch into lecture about respecting others' feelings ending with No Cartoons After School. Charlotte's response? "I don't really mind so much." Repeat Yes Ma'am lecture. "Yes Ma'am."

We are still driving to school, me in front fuming but trying to hide it, and then I hear

Claire: "I don't get cartoons either, Char."
Char: "Why not?"
Claire: "I don't want to talk about it."
whisper whisper whisper
Claire: "I put cheese in my desk."
Char: "What?!"
Claire: "I put cheese in my desk."
Char: "WHY?"

A smile is cracking on my face by now. How funny does that sound? I got in trouble for putting cheese in my desk. HILARIOUS! Thank goodness, because mentally I was halfway down that road that leads to locking your fridge with a padlock and putting nanny cams on your kids to control their every moment.

When I got home, I was still a little peeved because, honestly, my kids have serious problems with taking things that don't belong to them. Seriously. I found my tweezers in Charlotte's jeans pocket once, my loose change disappears off my dresser and I hear Gabe jingle by, and, of course, the cheese.

And let me just digress and say it is SO MUCH BETTER that Claire turned herself in because can you even imagine how nuts I would have gone if I had found that cheese on my own? And I can't even imagine when that might have been. Need I remind you of the Easter Egg debacle?

Anyway, a piece of coconut cake for breakfast brought me back to reality. I decided that I will have a sit-down with the kids and implement the "you take mine, I take yours and you lose privileges" rule rather than the lockdown I had been fantasizing about. And I took out the trash because every time I walked by and saw that dang cheese I started steaming again. I don't have enough cake for that.

Blastoff! To school, I mean.

FINALLY school has begun, and it started off great! The girls were excited and nervous, but not so much that they didn't sleep in until 7:30am. YES! They were the very last ones into their classrooms. I am placing the blame on PTA, though, because there were like 50 of those ladies clogging up the foyer and I couldn't get through to the hallway. We were halfway down to their classrooms when announcements began and we had to frantically look around for a flag to pledge allegiance to. The teachers didn't care that they were late, and neither did I. I stopped in the school store to pick up the new school shirts (I am totally obsessed with school shirts. Love. Them.) and then headed on home to Gabe.

He was happily sprawled out on the couch watching cartoons. He did not care that his sisters were gone. He put on his new school shirt and lounged right on back down.

We spent the day with my sisters running errands. We didn't return to the house until after we picked up the girls. They both proclaimed that they had a fantastic day. HURRAY! Charlotte is freaking out because her teacher said she had to have her planner by tomorrow. Tough for teacher because the school store said they will be delivering them later this week. I'll write her a note to soothe her fears, though. Claire has a hefty spelling assignment due Thursday and a little bit of timed math. She's down there right now writing 21 words 3 times each. That's a lot, peeps. But she isn't complaining at all.

I don't know what to do for Family Home Evening. I am waffling between phoning it in with a story from the church children's magazine or a family game of Battleship. They had a big day full of instruction; I don't want to overload their little minds with even more lessons.

Gabe just wandered in making all sorts of sounds like, well, like cars crashing and stuff crunching. I asked him what he is imagining. Nothing - he is just beatboxing. Yipes.

It's five o'clock. Dinner is in the oven, but it likely won't be ready until 6:30. Andy isn't home yet. Cartoons are over. Claire is plugging away on her work. I wish I had a Virgil's Cream Soda. But I'm pleased with the day and looking forward to tomorrow. Welcome back, Routine!

Countdown almost over...

Monday school starts. SO HAPPY! We have absolutely everything we could need for it, have turned in the school supplies, met the teachers, and now we just wait.

I am not having any strong emotional response to another school year beginning. It is my last year home with Gabe, and therefore I refuse to send him to preschool. I can't hurry my baby out the door. We'll piddle around together as usual. Maybe he'll learn to pronounce his Rs better, who knows? I don't have any big goals for him other than just enjoy him. Charlotte has crossed over into big-kid territory fully and completely. She is goofy and nerdy and silly, friendly and happy and active - she's just wonderful. Claire still falls between the big and little kid groups. She may be entering 2nd grade, but she has yet to have a loose tooth, and that keeps her young.

They are all so tired that they fell asleep in the car on the way home from my parents' house this afternoon. I am going to hustle on down to fix dinner so they can shower and be ready for an early bedtime. Early. Like 6:30.

My biggest accomplishment this summer is tan lines. I haven't had them in YEARS AND YEARS, since I was a kid probably. I feel all islandy. Of course, my brother-in-law still says I'm pasty-white, but the proof is in the lines. Check it out:

Countdown to GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!

School. Must. Start.

These kids are cranky, whiny, and disobedient. They bicker all day. They moan and complain. Just one more week and then OUT OUT OUT!

Not Gabe, though. It is his last year at home. But I'll take one whiny mopey kid over three any old day.

We have one week to buy all Char's school clothes, both girls' shoes, the remainder of the school supplies (a hefty chunk), and school lunch food. With whiny, cranky kids. Grrrrrrr. I don't think I should have to mention the whiny, cranky mom.

Here is the part where I look at the bright side: The bright side is my girls haven't said a word about using leftover supplies from last year. Not one word about the bent up folders with the labels sorta peeled off the cover. Not one word about markers with no box. I love that part.

Andy said he put gas in my car - that's another bright side. Thanks, babe.

Happy Birthday Claire! and other stuff

I haven't been able to figure out my problem this week. No energy, icky tummy, no appetite. I am deciding that I've actually had a bug of some sort. It's too weird not to be. I've also had a tick in my back, like how you get in your eye, but in my back. ANNOYING. I decided it was all the non-eating I've been doing all week causing some lack of nutrients and hydration. Andy bought me some Special K protein shakes to try to force something in there. We'll see.

Today is my Claire Bear's birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is 7 and FANTASTIC! I actually haven't even seen her yet, she went to donuts and soccer with her daddy before I woke up. And I woke up at 7:30, so it isn't just laziness standing in my way. Did I mention that I have a bug, too? Anyway, I can't wait to see her! She had such a hard time falling asleep last night from the excitement and anticipation. I will spend all afternoon making cake and cupcakes for her. She wants a giant leaf cake and ladybug cupcakes. I can't believe it's been 7 years - that is so big! The only thing keeping her little to me is the fact that she hasn't lost any baby teeth so her face hasn't changed. Thank goodness! It drives her nuts and she often asks when she'll get a loose tooth, but it makes me feel happy that she is still a little gal. Little, quite literally. She is pint-sized! She always looks a grade younger than she is. But she has attitude enough for a teenager. This time that year I was driving to the hospital after laboring at home during the night. I was feeling good, not too stressed. When I got there, I was already dilated to an 8, so I felt like a freaking champion of the universe since I wasn't getting an epidural. She came out all pissy and beautiful. Her hair was spiky and dark, but the tips were all blonde. I remember eating my entire lunch with my eyes shut and then falling right to sleep. Here are a few pictures to remind us all of how lucky we are to have a Claire in our world:

Bloggin' it out

Andy finally got home in the small hours of the morning after having been out of town since Thursday. It is a freaking MIRACLE the kids are still alive. [note to cps and the law: that ain't an actual threat, so lay off.] I actually told them not to talk to me last night because I was too angry at how disobedient they have been. And guess what - I woke up still angry. I will be DEPARTING this place when Andy gets home from work to do SOMETHING with nobody I grew. A recharge is definitely in order.

But what to do? I will contemplate it all the day long. Joyously. Longingly. I had planned on cleaning today, but I heard Andy telling the kids they would clean together later. Ha! Saved! So I think I'll just clean my room and bathroom since that is only my mess. With the music cranked up. Because my darling offsprings' voices still grate.

Hold the phone - Gabe just gave me three kisses; I'm feeling better. Granted, they were to pay for sips of my Izze Clementine soda, but they were sweet anyways.

I feel unprepared for August. Panicky, even. Claire's birthday is Saturday, and then school starts up, and Andy will travel again, and how is this happening so fast?? I wish Twix bars really paused your life. I'd still be in my twenties with the number I've eaten in my life. Wait a minute, I don't want to go back to the twenties. But my face would. My hairdresser recommended a place for me to Botox my forehead. Nice, huh?

It is almost noon. I will feed those small people downstairs and then hit up the mess in my room. I can do this. I can.

IZZE Clementine - 24 Pack - BeveragesDirect.com Online Ordering (clipped to polyvore.com)

AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's August - I'm behind!!!!!!!

I haven't been computering because all of July was dedicated to the Summer Youth Musical at church. And I mean ALL of it. My girlies went on a grandparents trip for 10 days, and I divided the time they were gone between the musical and Gabe's abenchures ("adventures"). I foolishly promised him adventures while his sisters were gone, and being four and a half, he interpreted that as every single solitary dang-blasted day. We had swimming abenchure, eating at Sonic abenchure, playing with Minnie abenchure, playing with Lizzie abenchure, and a real actual abenchure at Brazos Bend State Park with his dad. The other abenchures - Hobby Lobby, Arne's Warehouse, etc. - were musical errands in abenchure disguises.

Welp, the musical is FINALLY FINALLY over, and that leaves me behind on everything else in my life! ARGH! And to make matters worse, I've found a series of books that I am way into reading rather than all the real-life stuff that awaits.

Thus, the library books are overdue, the kitchen is a pigsty, the clothes are unwashed, the girls are still packed , I have to ship something and get my car inspection sticker and a haircut and my hair dyed and blah blah blah.

PS I hear the musical went well. I was displeased with the results of my labors, but I think I'm biased against it. The kids did awesome, and they had fun so I hear, and isn't that all that really counts? So they tell me.

In other news... there is no other news. I gotta go make lunch for the kids and actually factually do my errands. But I wish I were reading.