Is it really time to go back to school?  Apparently so!

This morning, my dear friend, Sherilyn, dropped off her daughter, Dallas, at our house. Side note here: Sherilyn is my best friend from college. She and I worked radio together, did our senior communication recitals together, and spent countless hours talking and bonding. We were bridesmaids in each other's weddings. When we were poor newlyweds, we would spend Friday evenings at each other's homes, eating dinners and playing cards. Then came the babies. First, Emily. When she was newborn, Sherilyn was pregnant with Dallas, and when we'd go to their house, Em would sleep in Dallas's future crib. A couple of years later, Sherilyn had Danielle, the same day I went on bedrest with my pregnancy with Matthew. Dani is 6 weeks older than Matt. Then Mikey came along.  When we moved to TX, and I became severely depressed, we lost contact. When we came back, we called their old number, but they weren't there anymore. I Googled them, and was SO GLAD to find that they live less than a mile from my house! We've been busy re-bonding over the last couple of years.

Anyway, so Dallas came over this morning. She and Em are tight buds, so I had offered to take Dallas to the middle school, so she and Em could finish organizing their lockers. Of course, we had to go shopping for goodies before that. Being the cool Mom that I am, I first stopped at Starbucks for fraps for the kids, and a soy raspberry mocha, no whip for me.  THe girls got vanity mirrors, a message board, and matching bead for their lockers.  After our shopping spree, we went to the middle school, where we proceeded to "cool out" the lockers, and visit the teachers. We were hungry after that, so we drove to Red Robin for lunch. On the way there, we passed Emily's future car :::::::wink wink:::::::::::: It's a 1968 convertible Volkswagon bug, painted yellow with pink and blue fenders, and big daisies. It was so cool, we drove Darren there tonight!  But I digress...after lunch, we went back to Dallas's house, where I got to visit with Sherilyn and the kids got to goof around. I mentioned to them that they HAVE to come on a cruise with us sometime. I hope that planted a bug in their ears. Of course, with both Mom and Dad in college, they aren't ready to finance a cruise right now. But maybe someday!

Tonight was Meet the Teacher night at the boys' school. Now, that's kind of funny in our school, because it's so small, that you really know all the teachers before you get started. Mikey has Mrs. Hertenstein. Matt had her in 2nd grade, and WE LOVE HER DEARLY! She was excited to have us back in her classroom. She took a picture of Mikey, and he grinned like he had won the World Series! She had us fill out paperwork about Mikey, and one question was, "What do I need to know about your child." Our answer, "He is NOTHING like his brother." See, Mrs. H. thinks Matt's writing is phenomenal. She would often send him to the office to read his stories. She was amazed at his creativity. Matt is pretty cerebral, very creative, and incredibly sensitive. Mrs. H brought out all the good in that, and you could tell that she thought Matt was something special.  So, to illustrate the fact that Mikey is NOTHING like Matt, he marched up to her and said, "I want to master square roots this year. I'm already off to a good start. The square root of 9 is 3, because 3 times itself is 9. The square root of 25 is 5, because 5 times itself is 25." Now realize, he's GOING INTO 2nd grade, and they haven't even started multiplication yet. Her mouth dropped. She said, "Yes, I see what you mean!"  We love you, Mrs. H!  We are glad to have you again!

Matt has Mr. Hoyt for 4th grade. He is a 2nd year teacher, and very enthusiastic. Matt really hoped to have him, and he was very happy when he found out that he got him. We got the chance to talk to Mr. H about Matt's sensory and motor skill issues, and he is fine with Matt using a mechanical pencil (just, no pens, not yet). He is excited that Matt's a writer, because he enjoys teaching that aspect. We told Mr. Hoyt that Matt's sensitive, and he said, "Yes, I know. We have already discussed that in meetings. We are aware of that." I think this is going to be a great year for Matt.

Of course, I signed up for PTA committees. I'm doing Family Movie Night, Carnival, and Dad's n' Doughnuts. The VP made sure I signed up for Hospitality. Of course, I told her that I would only do Hospitality if I could head the committee for Teacher Appreciation. She said, "Of course! We wouldn't dream of having anybody else do it!"

Gosh, it's hard to believe they go back Thursday! What will I do with myself during the day?  Oh yeah...work!