8/21/12

Here we are.  August 21st.  The day before the first day of school.  Kindergarten.  And Colter's birthday.  Three.  I wish I could skip ahead to the weekend, because all of this is too much for a weekday.  A Tuesday, to be precise.

Last night was kindergarten orientation.  We took Elora to meet her teacher, a nice lady named Miss Redmond, and we know the little boy sitting next to her via Thad being friends with his mom for a long time.  So we keep racking items up in the "plus" column, immediately followed by a little ice cream and a quick trip to the YMCA to Meet the Counselor night.  Elora is going to be attending their program after school, and after seeing their facility and getting a run down of the process I am way less nervous than I was even during my drive home from work yesterday.

Nervous.  That's how I am for the first day of school.  I am trying very hard not to let on that I am, and I think I've succeeded thus far.  Elora expresses nothing but excitement.  We have talked about not talking when the teacher talks, raising her hand, saying her first and last name, I think she will be well prepared for the first day.  But I will probably spend the day with tears in my eyes.  Like I'm typing, right now.

And Colter B.  Wow, three years old.  I am conflicted on this age, because it feels like I've spent years telling him "no" and "stop", but also no time at all from when we was the teeny little spud who made all the summer heat while 10 months pregnant worthwhile.  He speaks, and says things like "I carry you drnstairs" which means I need to carry him UPSTAIRS.  We giggle during the upstairs trip, because I always argue with him that I carry him, and he argues back that he carries me.  He is a laugher, too.  He was chuckling over something during a car trip and said, "Mommy, I laffin".  He is his own commentary.  Still working on the potty, he will sit, but may have a touch of daddy's ADD because he doesn't want to sit for long. 

And me, well, I'm looking forward to this week being over.  I want to be a few weeks away from today, when our routine has been established and we are falling into it easily.  For now, I had better get moving if I plan to go to Walmart before daycare to get this poor kid some treats.   Mommy didn't homebake shit.  Sorry, bud, but you know your mother.

Finally, a recap!

First let me apologize for waiting to post the last few weekends' worth of events for your enjoyment.  I'm living a life, here, get off my back.  Haha, I love being snarky with the few readers that come to this wasteland of the mundane.

There have been many firsts in the last few weeks, and I think 99% of them were fun firsts, like the first time we went to Georgetown Lake (great first), first time taking the kids to the new Heights water park (also a really fun first), first time making a DIY dress from Pinterest (fun, easy, and way cute).  I'm failing to think of a first that hasn't been fun since the summer began, but I'm finding it difficult at the moment.

So Georgetown Lake was... awesome.  Amazeballs, if you will.  We ate, swam, boated, ate more, drank, sang, boated, slept in a woodshed-cabin that was surprisingly comfortable for a family of 4.  Here is a brief picture recap.

From georgetown

It's a thing of beauty, this here lake

From georgetown

The deck was enormous and extremely safe. Perfect for Colter "The Tornado" Swan.

From georgetown

Our beautiful view from the deck

From georgetown

The dock below the deck, along with some of our "crew"

From georgetown

I love this picture of Morgan and I. Love. It. Happy birthday, bestie.

From georgetown

Our little slice of heaven (aka the woodshed-cabin)

From georgetown

You can't really tell in this photo, but the steam coming off the water in the morning is gorgeous.

From georgetown

Elora and daddy heading out for a tube ride... she loooooved tubin', now she knows all the hand signals (especially the heavy metal devil horns, that means you're having a good ride, apparently)

From georgetown

A view of the mountains from the end of the dock

From georgetown

See that stud out there wakeboarding? That is my stud, thank you very much.

From georgetown

Between the tree and the feeder is a little hummingbird. If you squint you can't miss it.

So we got home from Georgetown Lake and the following weekend was my mom's family's reunion in Colstrip.  My mom is the youngest of six kids from an Irish Catholic family.  If guilt were gravy they wouldn't have enough gravy boats to go around.  The differences between our branch of the family tree (as in my mother and her offspring compared to my other aunt/uncles and cousins) is best illustrated by the following conversation between my cousin and I regarding karaoke:
Cousin: We thought about bringing the karaoke machine but didn't think anyone would sing.
Me: I would have totally rocked the karaoke machine, maybe sing some Meatloaf or "Ballroom Blitz" (goes on to sing a verse into an imaginary microphone I grip with both hands)
Cousin: I was thinking more like "Angel of the Morning" would be more my speed.

That sums it up folks.  My family is Ballroom Blitz.  My mother's family can only be described as "Angel of the Morning".  That concludes the illustration of that lesson.

From family reunion

This picture is of my mom's family, probably in the mid to late 60's based on the tie and my aunt's beehive.  The three gentleman on the left are my uncles Dirk, Dallas and Danny Joe, then my grandma Mary Alice and grandpa Jack, with Debbie on the right, then my uncle Donovan is on the bottom besides an oddly-Elora looking Darla.  They share a grin, I found out.


So after the conclusion of the family reunion we returned home to prepare for an invasion of awesome. Bestie Jen from the West Coast returned last Thursday, bearing only the gift of her smile and her pleasant company. But I think I'm going to save the Jen photographs until after a barbecue we are attending in her honor on Friday night. I love that her visits are like their own meteor shower. Unlike the actual meteor shower last night, I never miss one of her visits.

 I'm off to bed, but I've been meaning to get a blog up for a while, so I'm happy I could get one monkey on my back. Stay tuned for Elora's first day of school pictures. My little lady starts next week!