What have I done?

The other day I was getting Ryan dressed. I asked what shirt he wanted to wear. He requested his ball shirt (has a basketball on it). I obliged and put it on him. Then he changed his mind and wanted his fish shirt. Sure, we'll change your shirt. And of course his blue shorts (jean shorts are a must these days). Well, then I got Tommy dressed in the flag shirt that Dick and Sybil gave them. Ryan noticed and here is the conversation that ensued:

Ryan: baby wear a fag shuet?
me: yep, tommy is wearing his flag shirt today
Ryan: me a wah a fag shuet
me: but you're already dressed in the shirt you wanted to wear
Ryan (quite indignant): No! Me a wah a fag shuet! Me a match a baby!

Ryan then commenced to put on his flag shirt and then picked out matching socks for him and Tommy. Then all was well in the world... for a little bit.

what have I done?

po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe

So Sarah's first day of dance was yesterday and they practiced talking into a microphone, put on tutus, made up scripts, learned the parts of a stage (upstage, downstage, etc.) and learned a quick little dance. She loved it.

As we were driving home she told me that a girl there liked tattoos and that's not good. I explained to her that just because Sarah knows they aren't good for our bodies, doesn't mean that other people feel the same way. I realized that I needed to do some explaining when Sarah told me that, "people who have tattoos don't love Jesus." fabulous. But then the real truth came out. She said that she didn't like having to wear tattoos. Now I was truly confused until I realized... she was wearing a tutu... and thought it was a tattoo. Sounds pretty much the same, especially coming from her mouth!

So we had a quick chat about loving Jesus and wearing tattoos and tutus (yes, tutus are most definitely acceptable attire for dance class and you can still love Jesus and have tattoos) and all was made well.

The funny thing about Sarah... if she does or says something wrong, she just smiles, sighs and says, "I was just kidding!" That is her "out" and it makes me laugh every time. So I suppose it is successful :)

School starts

So far the transition to the school year has been very smooth. Ellie started last Thursday and has a friend from the neighborhood that sits next to her on the bus and at school. She seems to be enjoying her class and teacher too which is good.

Surprisingly, Katie also took to school like a fish to water. I thought for sure that she would be scared when it came time to get on the bus and go. But when the bus came, she just marched right on without hesitation! I took some pictures as we did with Ellie. After school, I intended to go and meet them at the bus stop (just a couple houses over) but I slept through it! When Katie arrived, I told her I was sorry that I wasn't there and she just confidently responded "It's ok Mom, I like to walk home". Such a grown up now! I then tried to question her about the day and she said it was "fun" and I couldn't get much more out of her. When Steve got home I mentioned this to him, so he questioned her as well and she said her favorite part was "playing" and "games" and that she liked lunch. So there you have it, we now have two of our kids officially in "school". I think it is going to take me a little while to get used to the schedule though.

We have decided to put the girls in some other activities too. They are all in a dance class which, of course, they all really enjoy. Additionally, we enrolled katie in gymnastics because she has always shown a great degree of coordination and strength since she was a baby and we think she'll enjoy that (plus there is a friend from the neighborhood that is going to do it with her). Lastly, we decided to put Sarah in a play/dance/drama class. She LOVES it! It is right up her "Drama" alley!

Steve continues to love teaching and is finding his "groove" there. He is also doing some ultimate Frisbee with some of his peers. It is fun for him to compete again in sports. He is biking around here quite a bit and even tried to ride down to work and back. Downhill was all brakes due to the steep hills and then coming back up to where we live here was all uphill and about killed him (especially because he though he would take a "shortcut" into the woods that turned out to be an non-groomed trail that ended up at a very steep hill and fence that he had to climb and traverse).

I've decided that I need to get back on the exercise wagon myself, so I have ventured a couple of runs around the neighborhood over the last couple of weeks. I normally do not run and haven't in the past because it usually hurts my knees, but surprisingly, I've been able to run most of the way around the mile+ loop without needing to stop due to knee pain. I attribute this to all the walking/jogging that I did this past winter on the treadmill back in Illinois. This is all very exciting for me to finally be able to run and feel like I'm getting some good calorie burning.

New York Summer

So we did end up moving in on the 13th. It was a little touch and go, but in the end, the keys were delivered at the same time the movers drove up to the door of our new home. The house is really nice. It is technically a duplex but no living space is adjoining, rather the units are connected by the garages which is very nice. It took about 3-4 weeks to get all moved in and we are still trying to find "permanent" resting places for some of our stuff, but overall we are quite settled now.

It it a GREAT neighborhood. There are tons of children all of the kids' ages and it is fun to see them all interact. It seems as though most of the kids gravitate over to our house as the hub of all of the activities. Our kids seem to really enjoy all of the attention and they are not at all shy about going around and knocking on the neighbors' doors to ask if their kids can play. Even Katie who is more prone to shyness knocks on the doors now.

All of the kids have scooters now and we even have one for Ryan and Tommy as soon as they grow into them. They are currently still used as loaners for the other kids that come by. The street in front of our house is used as a thoroughfare for a seemingly continuous run of walkers, runners, strollers and kids on bikes, scooters, go carts...etc (especially at night). What is missing are the cars! It is great to live on a non-through street so that the only car traffic we see are those who live on the road.

We also bought a trampoline for the kids. I'm surprised it has taken us this long to get one. It is a great investment! Between it, a little pool, bikes/scooters, and the kids' social scene, the little ones have basically lived outside this summer. A small miracle compared to the extreme bug phobia that the girls concocted last summer that prevented them from going outside at all! They have also enjoyed playing in the mud after storms, collecting rocks, feeding mosquito larva to the neighbor's fish, exploring, camping, swim lessons, swimming in lakes, tubing in rivers, and daring each other to do new tricks on the trampoline, and bikes. It is fun to watch. Speaking of new bike tricks....bikes here are very popular. Kids are riding them all over the place. Ellie jumped in and soon after Katie decided to drop the training wheels to be like Ellie and then the neighbor's picked up on the trend and then just the past week, Sarah even started to ride around without training wheels! All in all, I think there are about 6 little kids that learned to ride without training wheels in the month and a half. Lots of positive peer pressure.

We have been blessed with lots of friends here. In addition to the Tolmans who live about 10 minutes away, all of our neighbors are really great. Another one of Steve's good LDS friends/roomates from West Point (Matt Radik) is back here and it just so happens that he moved into the duplex next door! Another friend Steve knew back in his cadet days moved in right across the street. Lots of blessings in all from Heavenly Father in helping us get settled here. Our adjacent neighbors are very fun and their kids are always with ours. Another bonus was that my mom just spent 10 days out here with us. It was a treat for all of us to have her here. Also, this past weekend, we made a trip down to Philadelphia to see Steve's sister Diane. We braved tubing down the Delaware river with all of the kids. It was a ton of fun! All if the kids enjoyed it. The girls jumped in and floated around with their life vests and then would climb back onto the tubes when the "rapids" came. Tommy spent the whole time trying to jump out of the tube and splashed the water to his heart's content. A very fun outing! Plus, for a taste of history, we drove by where Washington crossed the Delaware.

Steve and I have been on a few dates since we arrived, but unfortunately we haven't found a permanent babysitting replacement yet for Charissa and Cole Johnson. We drove down into NY city a couple of times to attend the Manhattan temple for a couple of the dates and enjoyed it very much! It is amazing how the temple can keep out all of the noise of even NY city! Parking is the challenge there and the cheapest we have found so far is $35, so that is a little crazy. Steve and I both have been teaching in our West Point branch at church. The branch is a little unique in that we meet in one of the Academic building's auditoriums for sacrament and then in classrooms for Sunday School etc.

Since we arrived, we've had some of the cadets over for dinner a few times and that has always been a great experience. The kids love having visitors to come and play and it is nice for us to have them over. Steve had great sponsors (families in the branch) that took care of him while he was here and is enjoying doing the same for the current cadets.

Steve has been busy with projects at home including building a work bench in the garage and a really nice island for the kitchen. He has also loved his teaching position at work. He did some workshops over the summer that he enjoyed and has now just started teaching this week. He is really enjoying being back here at West Point and all it entails.

Life has been extra hectic, but full. I have been super tired ever since we moved here and had quite a few regular headaches. I decided to go and see a Doctor about it who happens to also do acupuncture. He proposed doing some on me and so far I have done a couple of sessions, but the jury is still out on whether it will work for me. As for projects, I've taken on the backyard hill. Our yard is new sod around the house, but on the hill behind our house, they just put down seed. I've pulled the weeds, watered it, and fertilized it. So far is it making good headway overall. The only probalem really is that we had a storm right after they placed all of the see and all of the runnoff from the hill came rushing down the hill right behind our house making a "grand canyon" and mud "delta". It also carried down a lot of the seed in a 8 foot swath or so, thinning that section significantly. We are hoping the ground's crew will patch the chasm; otherwise, I might have to take matters into my own hands. I will have a nice back yard! :)

Katie and Ellie are both going to school this year, so Sarah will be the lone girl at home. I'm not quite ready to let Katie go to school, especially since Kindergarten is all day here; but, time doesn't wait. She is both very excited and quite scared at the same time. Luckily, I think we are the last bus stop before it heads to the school in the morning which is ideal.

So in all, we are very blessed and very happy to be here in New York and enjoying life as the changes come our way!