The Last Day of Summer Vacation

I'm doing the Happy Mommy Dance. I will slow down and let them "tuck and roll" tomorrow (ok, not really. Gotta take pictures on the first day of school!).

I just wish the insane toddler started sooner than the 8th. But she'll probably be in a much better mood when she's not fighting with her brothers. Today she was such a drama queen, sobbing miserably into my lap whenever Micah took something out of her hands (which he does often).

She also has a new obsession - Angelina Ballerina. YUCH! I bought one DVD of the dancing mouse back when Sam was in his Pink Phase (around age 3, I think). We have barely touched it. I find Angelina to be a prissy snot. But Someone put the DVD on for Sofia one day, and now she's hooked. "Linalina?" "Linalina?" Fortunately Sofia's hearing is very good, so we can put it on when she wakes up and keep the volume really low in our room.

I treated myself to a massage this morning (E stayed with the kids), and then we went swimming at my friend J's pool in the afternoon. Yesterday, my friend N and I brought my 3 and her 2 kids to the Museum of Science in Boston. The three boys were great, and her daughter, age 7.5, was a terrific helper, but Miss Sofia was on a rampage, trying to run-run-run as far as she could. I was exhausted!





I got two nice compliments today. My friend R informed me that David and I are the funnest couple she and her husband know. This took us by some surprise, since we consider ourselves rather boring fuddy-duddies, but I must admit we make a great comedy duo. So we are going to the Jimmy Buffet concert with them on the 6th!

The second compliment was in an email from the lady who runs "Operation Housecall". This program matches medical school students with families where at least one kid has Special Needs. Every rotation, they send 2 kids to a family for a few hours, to see what real life is like with "Special" needs. I've enjoyed being a host family for this program. We have so much experience dealing with medical professionals, and I love to show off my little zoo! But what she said was just so nice:

your family has been a terrific family, the students who visit are filled with hope, amazement, and inspiration. They see family life as fun, "normal", and even better than "normal" at times. Despite the challenges. Every pair of students visit a unique family of course. But they come back and share what they have learned. There is a wide range of valuable experience that they collectively talk about in the last get together when they review what their home visits taught them. I think it is the compassion that you have, and the warmth and humour, that you have that really teaches them. Thank you for making these young doctors so inspired, less afraid, more confident and interested. And very committed to our families growth and good welfare.


Makes me blush!