The rest of August in a Nutshell

At the beach with Grandma




Hurricane Bill moved up the Eastern Seaboard, so we picked up breakfast, headed to the beach, and watched the waves come in.





Lavallette, NJ-where my friend Karen's parent's have a home on the water. This is the Jersey Shore, and a way of life for many here.





Our garden went crazy-cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, okra, strawberries, and herbs.

Swim lessons at the YMCA

While I was away this summer

B had about 3 weeks to work on the kitchen without little ones demanding his time. Chris came up to help and not only installed the cabinets, but in their spare time, helped the elementary school install the preschool playground. Thanks Chris! We appreciate your help. You even made it onto the PTO slide show.

The Before


The contents of my kitchen

Chris probably wondering what he's gotten into

The first cabinet





Looks great!
Now for the hard part; figuring out where everything should go. And notice, I still have no counter tops.



You'll have to hold tight for now on the end result. We're still not 100% done. You'll be amazed, I promise. Stay tuned.

Busy-that's where I've been

Life hasn't slowed down one bit since I returned from our summer trips. As you know, Lise' started PreK, and she loves it. She goes 5 days a week in the afternoon, and she's already looking forward to all day next year.

There are 8 kids in her class, and only one is a boy. They all live to be the Line Leader. Lise' goes to gym on Fridays, and she came home telling me all about it. "Mommy, my teacher's name is Mr. Wolfe, but don't worry, he's not really a wolf." I happen to know that Mr. Wolfe is marrying the music teacher this coming year, so I can't wait for that reaction.

My least favorite thing about school is the introduction of words and phrases that I know my kids didn't learn from me. The first one was "Missed me, missed me, now you have to kiss me." The second was, "Look at my butt" followed by a giggle. I know it's only the beginning, but it's still the loss of innocence.

She's learning a lot of great things too, so I can't complain. Each and everyday she comes home with some sort of paint on her clothes, so I know she's having fun. The most noticable change is the sounding out of words to determine the letter it begins with.

Overall, it's been a great first school experience. Did I mention I'm the class mom too? My first responsibility is the Halloween party this coming Friday. I'll let you know how I do. I have to be creative because it's NJ law that all food in school must be healty. In other words, no sugar. How can you have a party without cupcakes or cookies? For now, I'm planning on bringing apple chips. If you have any suggestions, send them my way.