Happy Fall!

This has been a very busy Fall around the Schroeder house...between C and H's birthdays, the beach trip and my school we have not stopped for a second! First things first...Happy Birthday Lil' Pea! Here she is...on her birthday:

Reading a very ratty loved copy of brown bear brown bear....I guess tattered doesn't really matter when you can't read the words right? And while Hannah had a great birthday, complete with not one, but TWO mylar balloons...Little C did not have the best day. In fact...Im going to go ahead and say that it was the worst day (sartorially at least...which for Caitlin is pretty much everything) of her life. Yesterday she had to dress up as...A SCARECROW. For those of you who know Caitlin know that she is...shall we say...into, clothes. She likes everything to be just so, and while her choices are not always conventional (or even matching) she likes it a particular way. Evidently having straw (that was picked up from an empty parking lot hahaha) sticking out of your oversized, made for a boy, flannel shirt doesn't cut it.

I know you are not going to believe this, but this outfit took me at LEAST three hours to make...and by gosh the girl was going to wear it! You can see how she feels about it though. Isn't she the cutest little scarecrow you ever did see? So, she did end up going to school...and being the concerned parent I was, I decided to check in with her to see how she was doing as a scarecrow at school...so I went to have lunch with her. I almost didn't recognize her because she had shed the shirt (she wore a butterfly shirt under it) and had made an attempt at rubbing the freckles off. Little stinker.

Anyway, as further evidence of fall...we have put up our fall wreath, (thanks Granny) and carved the pumpkin:

Of course Pea thinks those round orange things are balls...her second favorite kind of toy...and keeps trying to pull them off. Lets have a close up:

Guilty! She knows shes not supposed to touch them.

Matthew really seems to love the fall...he got a webkinz bat and his very own little pumpkin which he likes to carry around and decorate the house with. He also likes to put it in his play house:

Which is cute and all, but what it really means is that mommy has to go around the house searching for this tiny little pumpkin right before bedtime when Matthew can't remember that he put it "in the back of daddys truck so it could go for a ride". Good times.

Chassie also loves the fall..she has resumed her most favorite-est activity..chasing the leaves as they fall. When she gets tired of this, she enjoys the bounty from the nearby tennis courts:

Here's a random picture i took of the three little ones...(four if you count Matthew lil' pumpkin)
And Pea..in her new jacket: ('Hannah in the 'hood', if you will...)

I really should be studying/writing a paper/reading chapters right now, so Ive gotta run, but Im going to leave you with one more of C the Scarecrow: (in her best, "If I Only Had a Brain" pose)

Y'all have a happy Halloween!

A Lil' Helping of Hannah....

Haven't posted the Pea in a while...here she is! She is growing so fast!

She is about a minute away from walking...she'll stand up, use her walker (we call it 'mowing the grass bc her walker kinda looks like a little lawnmower), and yesterday I swear she jumped off the ground with both feet and landed! She gets so excited when you cheer her on and can't help but bounce up and down, whether she's standing up or sitting down. I guess yesterday she just got so excited that she actually jumped! It was funny.

I'm off to pick up Matthew and have lunch with Caitlin at Kindergarten...Happy Thursday!

Dear Granny:

Although this letter has been rolling around my brain for the past 72 hours, I find that as I sit down to write it, the words just won't come. There's so much that I want to say to you! I don't want to forget you or forget all the joy you brought to my childhood, and your kindness to me as an adult. So I guess this letter is my way of not forgetting.

I want to remember your old house and that week I spent there with mom and Ginny. I can remember taking a walk with you on a trail that ran through the woods behind your house. And your basement! The "pachinko" games; and the chair that you could sit on and it would take you right down the stairs with just the push of a button. And Clay. That big sweet collie dog...who loved to have his snout "scritched". And when you took us to the Smithsonian. We rode a train or a bus to get there, and while we were out you bought us those little capsules that turn into dinosaurs when you put them in water.

I want to remember how we shared a room on vacation once, and we had a game where if you found something of mine on the floor you would get to put it in the hallway; and if I found something of yours I could put it in the hallway. Not unexpectedly it was always my clothes books and toys out in the hall! I can remember just putting your old taupe colored shoes out in the hallway even though they were supposed to be on the floor...just so I could watch you pretend to be upset at having left them there.

I want to remember you coming to the lake house and buying all of our favorite treats...a giant jar of dill pickles, a "romantic" prime rib, and blizzards at the dairy queen. Nothing was ever so good!

I want to remember you forgetting that we kept koolaid in the milk carton...and morning after morning pouring it on your grape nuts. A muttered "damn!" was the only sign of your irritation before eating the tropical punch flavored bits of cereal.

I want to remember the cans of velvet creme popcorn that you never forgot to send for Christmas; it was such a treat to be able to share the tradition with my own family and to have my own kids look expectantly in the mail for the big cheery tin filled with caramel, butter and cheese flavored popcorn.

I want to remember the kind words you sent; telling me how much you enjoyed my blog, and reading about how my children were growing up. I'll always be thankful for the trip I took two years ago with Caitlin and Matthew so that they could meet "Great Granny Mccaw" at the Jefferson. Hannah will never know what she missed.

But most of all Granny, I want to remember you. Your warmth, and unexpected sense of humor; and your kindness. And while it's too late to tell you how very much I love you here on earth, I just know that you are watching me from up there in heaven, and you know.

Lot's O' Love,
ML

Soccer Pix

Big kids started soccer last week...they love it so far!

We Survived!

The first week of school was a huge success. Caitlin was a little nervous on the first day and did say that she cried a little toward the end of the day "because she was tired"...but she handled it beautifully and was happy to go back the next day. She's such a big girl now! We have a few issues to work out with her still...for example; she gets very upset when other kids are not being good...it makes her genuinely unhappy. Also she doesn't like to get to school too early because if they get there before about 7:20 they have to wait in the Cafeteria instead of going straight to class and for some reason waiting in the cafeteria is a fate worse than death to her. Overall though she loves kindergarten...she's already made a few friends and has some kids from last years preschool in her class. However the biggest Caitlin news of the week? SHE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO TAKE "JEFFIE" HOME!!!!! Let me explain: Every time you behave or follow a rule at school you get a "pink strip" of paper. At the end of the week the kid with the most pink strips gets to take the special class stuffed animal home...Jeffie the stuffed cocker spaniel. AND CAITLIN HAD THE MOST!!! She had 14 pink strips...more than anyone else in the class. I am ridiculously proud of her. (can you tell???!) Here she is with Jeffie:

"Jeffie"...a wrapped up in one of the couch covers.
Matthew is also thriving in preschool. I am so very glad that i decided to send him for five days! He loves it and seems to really like his teacher. He earned a "sticker on his chart" every day for good behavior and has made quite a few friends. This year is better than last year because there are quite a few other boys in his class. (last year there was only one other boy). He also has his favorite little girl friend in his class from last year, so that made his transition even easier. He does get tired and sleeps every day when he gets home from school-and actually he got his first cold already this week! He had to stay home with me on Thursday...and he was so bored- He kept asking where Caitlin was and wanted it to be time to pick her up. Here's a picture of my big boy:
All of the sudden it seems like Matthew's art skills have been kicked in to high gear. I had to take a picture of my favorite drawing lately...he was drawing a kitty family for me, along with a lot of hearts and "something for the kitties to ride on" at the top:
(ok, so maybe only a mommy would consider him a skilled artist...but i love it) If you look closely you can see where he wrote his name and my name...and he put a little heart right next to mommy: (im gonna save this picture :))And now on to the Pea: This picture pretty much sums up her behavior lately:

See the little devil horns??!! Thats because she is in to EVERYTHING!! TWICE!!! There is aways something in her mouth (usually dog food or the rocks from the fireplace) and she wants to be in on whatever Caitlin and Matthew are doing. Unfortunately she's so darn cute that we let her get away with quite a bit....
She is an expert cruiser and has started to say "dada" and "mama"...but she doesn't know what she is saying. She has finally started to sleep through the night and eats just about everything. Her favorites are still bananas and blueberries though.



Thats about a the news fro, this week...I have finished the application process for Brenau and will hopefully be starting the Masters program at the end of October. Wish me luck!

First Day of School

I just dropped Caitlin and Matthew off for school...(sniff)...I can't believe my little girl is going to KINDERGARTEN!! And Matthew....five day preschool!! Here are a couple of pictures I took this morning of their "first day of school outfits":

I love love love Caitlin's teacher...she seems very outgoing and friendly...just what you would expect from a Kindergarten teacher. (I forgive her for spelling Caitlin's name "Kaitlin")

Matthews teacher? hmm. Lets keep it nice and just say that I do _not_ forgive her for spelling Matthew's name "Mathew". Or for the 85 spelling errors she made on the welcome note. (Did you know that you actually spell history "hisstory" ? and quiet? doesn't actually have an "e" in it?) Seriously...you are a teacher. And they have spell check these days.

ANYWAY....Caitlin did very well when I dropped her off. I could tell that she was nervous, but she did not cry or make a scene. I was so proud. Matthew almost forgot to give me a kiss goodbye! He was just ready for preschool!

Best Family Weekend

First of all...HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! Thus begins the biggest birthday month in the Hertz Family. We kicked it off a little early with a big family reunion at Mom and Dads and it was FUN!! We had 25 people there! The cousins had a wonderful time getting to know one another while the parents swapped stories about what we've all been up to. I managed to take 153 pictures, but im pretty sure blogger would cancel my account if I tried to post them all at once, so this may take a couple of days :).

When we first got there Grandpa had set up the slip and slide and was in the process of setting up the baby pool for the kids-and they were all excited! Here are some highlights:

There were also squirt guns...intended for the kids...but often abused by the adults (Uncle Gus):

Uncle Gus terrorizing his own children....

Lil' Gustav out for revenge....

Matthew is about to squirt Grandpa...who has no idea. Uncle Stephen looks like he's trying not to laugh...

After all that excitement it was time to eat! And boy did we eat-mom had so much good food (stored in her be-yew-tiful new fridge :))...in addition to all the deliciousness that Andree brought-I will be dieting for months to recover!

Little Termites!

That is one tired little boy....

Sarah...who is as sweet as she is adorable!

SOPHIA!!!

Later that night we had a big crawfish boil-courtesy of Gus and Steph and Steve and Jen...it was so fun!! (Matthew was a bit traumatized by the fact that when it started the "mudbugs" were alive and well, but after being put in the pot...they were dead. Caitlin had no problem with the whole thing and kept asking for more)

Crawfish hottub. Really hot tub.
Overlooking Uncle Gus cooking the crawfishDinner's on!
Um...mom? I think there's something wrong with this one...He's not moving anymore!

Caitlin was facinated! I think she preferred them after they were cooked...much less wiggly-

The rest of the visit was just fun fun fun! Caitlin and Callie played a lot and even had matching bathing suits! Matthew just ran around like a crazy man. These next pictures are just a sample of all the fun-

Dad and his (second) favorite dog....

All right, thats enough for now. More later...maybe.