Abby's First Day of 2nd Grade

Today was Abby's first day of 2nd grade and Ben's screening for Kindergarten. The summer is over far too quickly. Our town is talking about an extended school day, trying to add about 200 hours to the school year. I am against it. My kids are away from me too many hours as it is. My husband and I don't like other people having so much influence over them, but they do need an education. And in our town we've seen it before where the budget cuts have eliminted the arts and extras and left only the academics, which I expect will happen once the grant money runs out. So, I fear it will be less hours with the family, and eventually less of the benefits of the talked about grant that we hope to receive for the return of the music programs, recesses, etc. My way of dealing with it all is by volunteering as much as possible in the P.T.O., in the classroom, to the principal, and keeping my kids involved in activities and with their friends. With working and running a business it is exhausting, but it has to be done.

Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea?

We just returned from a vacation in Lake George, NY. If she's going to be sucked dry in an arcade, Abby's money is going to Spongebob Squarepants! I like the squishy yellow guy, but how many quarters can one machine take?

A Cut Above

A few weeks back I gave Ben a haircut which drew blood. This time he cut his own hair. Well, some of it anyway. By the time we got to the sides and back his defenses were down and he was beginning to trust me a little. That, plus the offer of $5.00 to get the ordeal over with ;-)

What's In A Name

Think you can prounounce this? It's the name of our town lake. We call it Webster Lake for short, but I can say it pretty easily. But I've been practicing since I could read. The rough translation for it is "Englishmen at Manchaug territory at the meeting and fishing place at the boundary". It is the longest place name in the United States and 6th longest in the world. Its 15 uses of "g" are the most instances of any letter in a word. The name also contains 9 instances of the letter "a" (not including the "a" in "lake"), more than any other word in the English language. Well, off now to play Trivial Pursuit...

Good Fortune

I've got a couple of new projects in the works related to my volunteer work with Vietnamese adoptions. Now, I don't believe at all in fortune cookies, but Abby gets a big kick out of them, and I think she even believes in them. So, for the sake of playing along with her, I'll apply this fortune towards my new project. I'll announce it when it launches!

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime

I love this time of year, especially poolside. It seems as if time stands still. Hot summer afternoons, the humidity, the cicadas, hot dogs on the grill. My kids have both learned to swim.

I've been working from home a lot. I take my laptop outside to the picnic table and log in to the shop's computer. It takes longer to get stuff done but it's harder to keep the kids occupied in a little office with me if I take them to the shop. Cramped, hot (no air conditioning) and trying to talk business with a television and kids in the background is not too professional. And there's only so much dusting I can get them to do in the showroom area. You know they like to swiffer but a dusty rag only holds so much fascination for a 5 and 7 year old.

We're having a ball

We have a large driveway, and live in a 3 family house. Add a pool to the mix and the result is a yardful of children, which is great for my kids. Here's a picture of my kids with their cousins. Outside playtime starts mid morning (or earlier) and continues until 8:30 or later durning the summer. I love a house full of life.

Mrs. Thuy and her Mom

Last week I took the kids and went to NYC via Amtrak for a couple of days. We went to see Thuy who owned the Claudia Hotel up until a short time ago when she converted it into a retail clothing store. When adoptions from Viet Nam closed to Americans she didn't have the business to sustain her as she catered to American adoptive families. It was a wonderful reunion, and her mother is so nice. I really appreciated the opportunity to visit with them.

I had many firsts: first train ride, first subway ride, first time hailing a taxi and of course there was Grand Central Station, Penn Station, Central Park and Times Square. The best part was connecting with all of our internet friends, and getting re-acquainted with old ones.

Let Freedom Ring

Like so many other bloggers, I couldn't resist the urge to post a picture of our local fireworks. Partially funded by the town, partially funded by a local restauranteur, they're better now than I remember in all of my um, 29 years. (No, you can't have my mother's phone number to verify that!

Wheeeeee!!!!

We took a leisurely Sunday ride today and ended up at Roseland Park in Woodstock, CT. The kids were having so much fun on the slide that Sonny decided to join them. It was very good to see him enjoying himself, he works so hard (see our website http://www.furnitureplusrepair.com/ and our blog http://www.furnitureplusrepair.blogspot.com/ to see what we're always working on).