Just a Few Words

You've probably guessed it by now, but we are back in London, having wound up our trip with a week at my parents in MA. It was fabulous for the kids to go to the beach, to see good friends, to see Uncle Ken (as in my brother Ken) and Aunt Sarah and celebrate the coming (as in future arrival at the end of September) of Jesse and Luci's Ethiopian cousins Fitsum and Melkamu. We cannot be more excited that they will be in K and S's family, and therefore ours.

I was pleased to come home to London and find that the boys had done us well by staying in our place--they had taken good care of Pea, who nevertheless was suffering withdrawal from being climbed on and having her hair pulled at regularly, I had a new yard--that is grass--thanks to Rory. I also had a whole bunch of green tomatoes on the vine--which I still have unfortunately. And our maisonette was impressively clean and welcoming. I feared I would have a bit of a spatial adjustment in our flat as we had stayed in quite spacious American arrangements on our holiday but our flat did not even look as small as I imagined.

Now, our bedroom. It has become smaller than I have ever imagined. I can't bear to deal with the organization of it or dressing in the small space alloted for this anymore and so I am looking forward to moving into our bigger bedroom as soon as D moves into his new office! I have so many organizational (and I don't mean IC) hopes pinned on this moved--it really is exciting. Just to think of simple dressing and to be able to have more than one ambulatory person in the room at once!

The kids have started school. The new changes regarding this school year is that Luci goes full-time until 3 (not sure I like this, but she does thus far) and that Jesse wears a white button-up shirt and tie with a v-neck sweater and ladies, he is so handsome. He thinks it is so cool that he gets to change for P.E. and I think that it is hilarious how obvious it is that they have had P.E. on a certain day because the children emerge with shoes on the wrong feet, dresses on backwards, other people's ties, and sweatshirts on tops of shirts and ties instead of the designated v-neck sweater. The productivity one can have as a parent during these days is amazing and it is great to not have to bolt from IC meetings now. However, it is a marathon twice a day to either drop off both or pick up at different schools, both close, but on foot. thankfully the kids have scooters but today I was hauling Luci's enormous artwork, her jacket, Peanut, and Jesse's scooter from Lu's school to J's, and trying to keep an eye on her and her scootering. This, I have decided is not my cup of tea. But still well worth it I think.

Suprise! to anyone who may be surprised but I am now 11 weeks pregnant with our 3rd and feeling a bit better. Food has often been a turn-off except for the 3 slices of buttery toast I had in the middle of the night last night. Some of you may wonder how we got to 3 and that is just another story....The kids are very excited--Jesse asked me if I could just put a pacifier in my mouth, chew it, and swallow it so that the baby could have it and Luci has volunteered to hold it at night, (It has already bothered me that I now see too much of that particular 3 year old at night lately.) For a while they would ask me if they could tell people our baby secret, usually in front of those people.

I am pooped from my two marathons and my 1 am visitor Luci, and my subsequent 3 pieces of toast that had to be consumed and cleaning the never clean kitchen and being a chatterbox today due to 2 cups of tea and one 1/2 cup of coffee, that I now must go to bed.