Steady as she goes...

The Adorables have hit a lull. A lovely, lovely lull. It's kind of nice to just go with the flow for a little while! Between the house hunt and the girls both starting school, I think it's safe to say that there was a little stress floating around the household. Now that we've all found our little grooves, the breathing is a little easier.

To the left you see the girls playing in the yard one evening a few weeks ago. They had the best time just chasing each other around, sometimes even daring to go barefoot. :-) We've had some interesting weather the past few days -- last Friday we spent a good part of the day at a friend's pool, and by Sunday I was scrambling to find the girls some long sleeves and TIGHTS! And today, Grace wore a sweater to school but by the end of the day she was very comfortable in her t-shirt and shorts!

Gracie and kindergarten are like peas and carrots. :-) Today she brought home her library book and her Book-It book, and she read her Book-It book to me without any help at all. I will admit that I was a little relieved that she still needed me to read her library book to her! Report cards come out on Thursday, and we have our first parent-teacher conference next week. So far, the only difficulty I've found with kindergarten is figuring out what to pack for her lunch -- she confessed to me this morning that often much of her lunch ends up in the trash. ACK! Although, I helped in her classroom today and then stuck around for lunch, and it was obvious that I'm not the only parent with this issue! Those kids threw out SO MUCH FOOD! So if you have mastered the art of packing a lunch that your kids do not waste, clue me in!

Gracie's favorite activities during the week at school are P.E. and art, and her favorite daily activity is coloring at the literacy center.

Right now the big deal with Rachael is potty training. After the (mostly self-inflicted) fiasco I had with Grace and potty training, I made the very honest statement that I would rather go through labor and delivery with BOTH GIRLS than have another potty training experience like that. But Rachael, of course, is a do-it-yourselfer. Not long after we moved, she initiated the training. She was doing very, very well, but then I think we may have had a setback after everyone got sick (Gracie came down with the flu and Rachael had bronchitis, then all of us -- Grace included -- picked up the bronchitis). Now it's hit or miss -- but I have learned from my mistakes, and I'm not pushing. She's still showing interest and doing it on her own, and I think soon we'll institute a rewards system and that might give her the extra encouragement she needs!

Rachael is still loving school, she loves any and all art that she gets to do, and she is happy to talk about what she did during the day. She talks about her friends and her teacher the rest of the week. I love how much she loves it! We have no problems getting her up and ready on her school days, that's for sure!

Nothing really new under the sun for Mommy and Daddy. :-) Well, Chris just had to do a little traveling for work -- they sent him on a very brief trip to California... first class. I could not even try to hide my jealousy! But truthfully, he works so hard, and I think he's more than earned a little upgrade like that!! They are going to be sending him out a couple more times for longer trips, but it's a good thing -- he learned their new software well and trained those in his department, and they're sending him off to do the same elsewhere! As for me, I've started walking regularly, and soon I am going to attempt running. Please note I said attempt. :-) I am still teaching Sunday school every other week at church (3-year-olds), I work in childcare, and I'm beginning to think that having a house may be bringing out the housewife in me -- and I like it! :-)

Hope you're enjoying some beautiful fall weather where you are!