Katrina

What a surprise to wake up this morning to the news that she is now a category 5. I can't imagine how torturous it'd be watching and waiting for a storm like that to hit. My thoughts will definitely be with the residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida over the next few days... God help them.

Another 1st Day of Kindergarden

Monday August 22nd was the first day of Kindergarden for my 5-year old daughter.

It was my 6-year old son's second 1st day of Kindergarden. He completed one year of K in 2004-2005. He did incredibly with the academics (much better than I feared) but we decided to have him go around one more time. There are a few (important) things he really needs to work on before we feel like he'll have a chance at succeedingin 1st grade. Both kids attend the morning session (from 7:30 until 11:15 AM) but they are in have different teachers/classrooms. They see each other at recess and during lunch. We're on day #3 right now and everyone is doing wonderfully so far!

My son had aides and shadows with him last year as he mainstreamed from special-ed into regular-ed but has been released from all services and is doing this year completely on his own. I worry a bit about him getting "bored" with the curriculum (all review for him) but he enjoys repetition in general and really needs the extra year, I feel, to grow and mature.

I'm still getting used to the quiet house. I have 3.5 whole hours to myself now every morning of the week! More time to blog perhaps?

Halfway to 70

Today is my 35th birthday. My Mom said to me this morning "Boy - you're halfway to 40 now!" (meaning halfway there from 30). I laughed and told her "No - I'm halfway to 70!" - hah! I've been asked if I "feel" older. I don't really - I feel great. I'm starting to notice visible signs of aging, of course, and I'm not so thrilled about that - but I don't "feel" any different than I did 10 years ago.

I often find myself in a reflective mood on birthdays and anniversaries. I sit here today, with a heavy heart, watching on the news what is happening at that Neve Dekalim synagogue in the Gaza Strip between Israeli forces and the Jewish settlers and I feel so very thankful for the life that I have. I look forward to my next 35!

My little Jack-O-Lantern

My sweet little boy lost his first tooth (bottom left) 6 days after his 6th birthday. It happened during breakfast one morning towards the end of our trip to Maui this Summer. It's been almost 2 months since that day and still no permanent tooth! How long do these things take to come in? You might notice from the picture that he's missing a top tooth as well. *sigh* That one didn't come out via Ma Nature like the bottom one did. We were at a friends' house for a BBQ and he was running around in the backyard with their new Weimaraner puppy when he tripped. I wish I'd have seen it - I can't figure out, for the life of me, how his face hit the ground before his hands did! Ouch. Anyway - the impact with the ground (according to the one person who witnessed it) sent the tooth flying straight out of his mouth - in one piece! He bled like mad and screamed for a good long while but a quick visit to the dentist the next morning showed that no real trauma occurred. The dentist predicts that the permanent tooth (still up in the gum) is just fine and will come down normally - in another year or two!

My first!

I've decided to join the masses of people blogging! I have always enjoyed writing and journaling and look forward to sharing my thoughts here on family, life as a busy stay-at-home-Mom, politics, current events, Autism (my 6-year old son is affected), friendships/relationships, parenting and just life in general.