Year: 2007

Most schools don’t give holidays the second week back into fall. And Covenant didn’t intend to either, but power outages at the lower school yesterday and today have resulted in canceled classes for grades E-6. Which has facilitated some opportunities for us moms to help one another out. Yesterday morning I sent three of my four charges to a friend’s while i took Jonathan along to a Moms’ only organizational meeting for the start of Chapel School (Nicolas’ preschool co-op this year). Jonathan sat for ALMOST TWO HOURS on a couch and was an absolute angel while the mommies talked on and on and on. He had Cricket in Times Square to keep him company, as well as his Webkin, “Chow”, but still, it was a feat for my six year-old ball of energy, and I was proud of him for this display of self-control.

On my way home, I grabbed not only my three kids back, but two of my friend’s children, as well as another little girl whose Mommy had to work for part of the day. So I had seven children in my home from lunchtime on. And it was fun, if a little noisy at times!!

We have no huge plans for today, but I’m thinking it will be great to just hang out together. And now, the troops are asking for pancakes, so I must close, and oversee the mixing of ingredients and the splashing of batter. Here’s hoping you and yours have a wonderful day.

Tonight we have a fully operational plumbing system again. We have had much to be thankful for in the past 24 hours. Some of those things are:

• Abigail….who spent a full hour last night with me dealing with the kitchen full of soiled dishes that could not be washed in the sink or dishwasher. We transported the dirty load in a clean laundry basket back to the master bath where we sanitized the tub, and then filled it with LOTS of soapy water and all the dishes. As I washed dishes in the large tub, Abigail carefully rinsed each piece under the faucet in the sink. We dried each item, and put it all away before bed. Abigail made this job so much more pleasant, and was a patient and diligent worker. As well as excellent company!

• Jay….who this morning treated us to breakfast out at a restaurant – such a rare treat that I cannot recall a time except on long road trips when we have eaten breakfast out as a family. This saved me tons more work. And was lots of fun!

• Drain Doctor…who gave us a sound estimate for the job over the phone, then came out and fixed the source of all the trouble, and spent time on a holiday to do so. They have also done good work for Jay’s folks in the past, so we can recommend them highly.

• A home cooked Meal in a fully functional kitchen…to celebrate the ability to wash dishes again, we made a whole bunch dirty by eating platefuls of brisket, cob corn, watermelon, broccoli slaw, and peach cobbler! Dinner was merry, and everyone helped to clean up afterward. We used nothing short of scandalous amounts of water!!

Here’s hoping all of you have had a peaceful and relaxing Labor Day Holiday.

…is a sinkful of dirty dishes that YOU CANNOT WASH!!!

Because you have a block somewhere deep down in your sewer line…

That you discovered whilst trying to get a houseful of six ready for church early this morning…

And consequently were freakishly late to worship, but that was ok;

And despite your good-looking, resident handyman heading to the Lowes and picking up a “snake” (after worship of course),

And subsequently wrestling with the beast in the sewer line for a couple hours…

The clog is still there…rendering not only Abigail’s shower and toilet unusable;

But also the Laundry Room sink and of course, clothes washer;

Plus the precious kitchen sink and it’s next-door neighbor, the dishwasher

(Which, despite being thirty-something years old is still a highly valued part of your household. And you miss it. And apologize to it for ever entertaining the idea of thoughtlessly replacing it with one of those modern, pleasingly quiet models, which actually also clean and sanitize dishes much better than it ever will again. But now it cannot even have water run into it to rinse those dirty dishes)

And so your huge pile of food-caked plates, bowls, cups, pans, and utensils is laughing at you,

Which leaves you wondering which of the remaining functioning bathtubs would be most appropriate for cleaning all these mocking dishes.

But, on the bright side, this whole crazy situation is bound to result in a few shed pounds, on account of all the running back and forth from the kitchen to the master bath on the other end of the house, for every time a cucumber needs rinsing, utensil needs washing, or your hands have to be cleaned due to handling raw meat.

Needless to say we will happily pay the $15 additional fee to our plumber tomorrow for coming to visit us on a holiday, because it will hopefully mean we can use all the sinks and large washing appliances in our home again.

And now I have to close this little entry – and go splash around in my soaking tub with the Lemon Fresh Joy.

Happy Labor Day!!

Since Abigail has more than outgrown her first bike, given to her a few Christmases ago, we decided it was time for a larger one. I’d checked out what was available in a 20inch girl’s bicycle at Walmart and Target, but just last weekend came across a slightly used Trek Mystic on Craigslist for much less than most of the bikes at either of those “bargain” stores. Abigail and her Daddy went to check out the bike, and arrived home an hour later with her new wheels! Perhaps most exciting, Abigail paid for a third of this “new” bike with her own saved money. She and Jay spent a little time giving the bike a tune-up, and then Abigail got to pose for a picture (though the chain guard is still removed for fixing). I think she is going to like cruisin’ along on her cool Trek!!

It has finally come: the end of summer, the beginning of a schedule, the return to early morning wake-ups, backpacks and homework, and the excitement of a new year of learning in front of us. While I am hesitant to say goodbye to summer, my two little students are ready to go, and happy about being off to school.

Jonathan will be at school every day of the week for first grade, a substantial increase from two days a week last year (though he will still enjoy short Mondays and Fridays), and is thrilled beyond measure to be under the tutelage of the same teacher Abigail had in the first grade. Of course, Jonathan thinks every year that he will have whichever teacher Abigail previously had, which is hardly a given with three or four classes in each grade. But so far we are two for two, and he thinks that is just the way it ought to be! There are only eleven students in his classroom, which feels very cozy, as well as very conducive to learning. Here is a pic with him and his teacher, as well as one with a couple of his school chums:

Third grade feels like a pretty big year too: Abigail and her eleven classmates were sort of shy and quiet (highly unusual for this group!) as they got out their very large binders, tab dividers, composition books, and looseleaf paper. As a third grader, Abigail will begin studying Latin, as well as staying for full days, every day for the first time in her school career. Mommy is a little sad over this development (the longer days, not the Latin!), but knows Abigail is in good hands and among sweet friends. We didn’t get a teacher picture today, but a friend took a shot of Abigail and I:

As we do at the start of every academic year, the entire family attended all-school opening chapel for what promises to be the last time in our rented synagogue facility…ground has been broken on the new campus, and we look forward to the entire K-12 school relocating there within the year. How exciting! We continue to be so grateful for this community of families whom we love, and for faculty who are nurturing and teaching our little ones with grace and excellence.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and oversee my first grader as he unpacks his Spiderman backpack and attends to his first afternoon of homework!