Let the Madness Begin!

I realize I haven't posted in a while, and the fact is that school has begun and life has gotten busy! And it's about to get even busier!

Starting tomorrow, Niko has soccer practice on Mondays and Wednesdays, with games on alternate Fridays. He continues to have karate on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and will likely have Boy Scouts (Tigers) on Fridays as well. Meanwhile, Maya has ballet and tap class on Wednesdays (starting tomorrow!), soccer on Saturdays, and Girl Scouts (Daisies) on Mondays. Oh, and the kids are supposedly starting Greek school in there somewhere, but we don't know the schedule yet. And of course, both kids have SCHOOL in there, and all school-related events coming up (ice cream social, curriculum nights for both grades, fall festival, etc.). In other words, we have activities pretty much every single day but Sunday, and I am not sure how it is all going to work out. Yet I have faith that it will, somehow! It will be a lot better once soccer is over at the end of October. But thinking about it now is enough to give a person a panic attack!

In preparation for the madness, I spent the day making dinners that I can pull out of the freezer, toss into the crock pot, and serve at dinner time (since soccer ends at 6:30pm and I need to get everyone fed right away). So I feel a little better about it now. And if we get pizza a few times from the place across the street, then so be it. We will survive. DEEP BREATHS.

Anyway... Change of subject... We had a nice weekend! On Saturday morning, we all went over to the track so that Maya could practice riding her bike (and show her daddy her skills for the first time). She had done great when we'd gone over there with my parents... but had gotten even better in the few days since then! I was amazed! She really didn't need us for anything other than moral support. She was starting, stopping, and pedaling on her own. Like so: And ever since we started this whole effort (of getting her to learn to ride her bike), we've promised her that she could get a pink and purple big girl bike once she mastered the little one. So... she got her new bike on Sunday! And she was nervous about it, but took off like a pro! She still needs to practice on it a bit more to get comfortable, but I think we really might have family bike rides in the not-too-distant future. And I can't WAIT! We live in a great place with miles of trails! It is going to be a blast!

On a related note, Maya has really amazed me this summer. She is only 18 months younger than Niko, but she is also a girl... and she has been hot on his heels whenever he learns something new. When we were working with him a few years ago, getting him to wipe his own bottom after using the toilet, she started doing it on her own, too! When I taught Niko to tie his shoes, she learned a few minutes later. It's happened time and time again. When it became clear that Niko was a skilled bike rider, she suddenly felt compelled to learn, too. It's almost like having twins, because they learn everything at almost the same time. They're close enough in age that they have this peer pressure thing going on. But it's been amazing. When one learns something new, they both learn it! Incredible!

Anyway... the rest of the weekend was spent running errands and going to two birthday parties-- both pool parties. Niko is a fish these days. He was trying to do flips off of the diving board and everything! That's one thing Maya is still working on: swimming. But she is so close!! We might sign her up for indoor lessons this winter/early spring-- and I'm pretty sure that she will be good to go after one session.

Today, however, it was back to the school routine. Both kids are LOVING school. Maya has a few new friends she's been talking about. Niko, too. The guest list for his birthday party gets longer by the day, with these kids I've never even met! He loves his teacher, and came home SO EXCITED to do his first homework assignment today (haha! We'll see how long that excitement lasts!). It's due on Friday, but he's already done. First graders get specials every day (art, music, gym), which he LOVES. And he loves recess, which he didn't get as a half-day kindergartener. He still plays with all his old buddies, plus his new ones. I'm fairly certain they just run around like crazy the entire time. And he has enjoyed eating his lunch at school-- he even bought pizza last Friday for the first time. He's getting so big. I can remember a kid not too long ago who would have been way too shy to even consider buying lunch. But he did it and was so excited! We told him he can buy lunch once or twice a month, so we will look at what's on the menu each month and pick out a few days.

Anyway, it's all been going very smoothly. Both kids are happy-- I just hope they hang in there when their schedules get crazy for the next 8 weeks! Fingers crossed!!