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Images of fall from around the neighborhood.......Lucas and I captured them on a stormy, muggy afternoon, in a break from the rain, we watched the leaves falling. Beautiful.

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Afternoons.......after being away from each other all day each with their own, they really do enjoy each others company again.

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Fall in Maine......

brings us indoors more b/c it get's dark earlier. That gives us a new appreciation for home and all the comforts of it. After a long day of school, or hiking in the woods and playing outdoors until our cheeks are red and our noses are runny from the cold, we love coming home and slipping into our cozy pants, and smelling what's for dinner in the crock-pot. We love coming home and making a hot cup of something and sitting on the couch and reading the paper or books to each other. We love coming home.

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10 things.......

• You love everything to do with Thomas the train and are quite obsessed.
• You wash your hands independently when asked:)
• You have friends at school and on the bus (and I love how EVERYONE seems to know you!)
• You take ballet every Saturday and have met several friends there
• You re going to be Thomas the Train for Halloween (because a girl should be who she is, and unfortunately you are not a big fan of being a princess or a ballerina)
• You are almost SIX!
• Cheese sticks and apple juice are your staples, but you eat everything on your plate usually (two or three helpings!)
• I love how you wear barrettes in your hair now.
• You get on the bus ever morning and smile and wave goodbye from your window. That smile makes my whole day:)
• I love how you always smile for pictures now and then want to see the picture on the camera afterward.

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a brisk fall day to come out and support the Maine Down Syndrome network Buddy walk.

The buddy walk 2010....smiles, friendship, acceptance and inclusion....not to mention family fun! Thank you everyone who has supported us on this journey!

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Today.

• A soccer game and ballet class.
• Just passing the time on the VERY warm Saturday in September while Mom and Dad put up an new fence in the backyard.
• making small progress on the fence and finally starting to love our previously swampy backyard (It's taken 4 1/2 years!)
• A really fun evening in our last run for ice cream this year and a trip to the very large Memorial park for a walk and to play on the skateboard ramps-I LOVE our town.
• A little more working on the fence in the dark after the kids went to bed.

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10 things......

1. You say, "I love you Mom" spontaneously about 50 times a day (I love that!)
2. You ride your bike down to the bus stop every afternoon to pick up your brother and sister
3. You love juice in a box, and milk in a box....anything in a box.
4. You want to be big and do everything your big brother is doing (including riding your scooter at the skateboard park).
5. You are the first one up every morning and the first one to jump in to bed with us, your feet pitter, pattering down the hallway, into our room, smiling all the way, and giving us GREAT big hugs (love that)
6. You play soccer, take swimming lessons and go to preschool two days a week
7. You don't know all your letters yet, but we're working on it.
8. You melt down quite easily when you don't get enough attention, when you have a runny nose, or when you want to do something for yourself that someone else "accidentally" does for you.
9. You love gum.
10. You are all done with naps, but I love that you are still little:)

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10 things.......

• Every day when you get off the bus, you love to either go over to a friends house :( or ride your scooter or both and you say you are not ready to walk home alone yet (even though you are allowed to) and I'm happy with that.
• You always have seconds (and sometimes thirds) at every meal now
• You are still trying to find your way in remembering everything you need to about going to a new school (homework, papers to turn in, a lost water bottle, speaking up and asking for help).
• size 8 pants are still a little too long and you don't like khaki pants or jeans
• Your best friends are Nick and Niall and you play military every day at recess (and you say the game never ends)
• You like soccer, but might want to try football next year after a seventh grader told you that you have a "good throw"
• You actually like "fishburger" for a school lunch
• I love the way you say, "hi Mom"
• In bright light, your eyes look more olive green than brown
• If I would have known what a caring person you would turn out to be (esp. toward your siblings) I would have rejoiced even louder on the day you were born.

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Evenings.

I cherish the family dinner. I really do, mostly because we don't get it every night b/c I work and the kids have "stuff". BUT, when the sweet, extremely cute three year old has been particularly challenging ALL DAY with no break, the grown up dinner (which kids were required to take at least one bite of) was burnt and then fixed and not ready until 7:30 PM, a bottle of wine needed to be bought, and the lawn needed to be mowed......we ended up with a quiet dinner alone with only an eight year old quietly reading nearby and some Norah Jones playing on the IPod. It's these times too, that I cherish.

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Every once in a while, take the scenic route.

― H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

One of our favorite after school things to do (this year....no backpacks needed!). It brings us all back together after everyone has spent all day going in a million different directions. We breathe, smile, discover, talk and laugh no matter what type of day everyone has had.

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Anatomy of a third grade homework assignment:

• He takes out his OWN orange folder without any reminders:)
• Let's get started, Mom can you come outside with me? (he likes to have someone with him wherever he goes these days)
• finds his tree, sits down and writes a few words, then erases. "Mom I need to go inside and find a better eraser"
• Comes back out and has a broken eraser and a pencil grip. "Mom can we go to Wal-mart and get a better pencil grip?"
• Notices the unique characteristics of the tree (it has acorns and a squirrel lives in a hole in the bottom), this of course is the last question and he is still on the second.
• "Mom, I"m cold, I need to go in and get my sweatshirt" Comes out with sweatshirt.
• writes a few more words, asks for help with spelling (squirrel)
• lays down to look up at the tree, wants to get a photo from that angle., "Mom can you get the little gray camera?"
• "Mom, I want to make a movie....like Narnia with swords and stuff, How do they make that Lion talk.....Can we make our own movie?"

Finally, he finishes the questions, takes a picture (not part of the assignment) and goes inside to finish writing his last paragraph about a tree. It's too bad he had to be restricted to the tree for this homework, I was all about making the movie.......Dream big, boy! I Love eight.

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SERIOUSLY........

Our neighborhood rocks. We really did have a TV set up outside in the cul-de-sac watching the Pats game. We ordered pizza. We stayed until it was dark. We're already planning next years party. The kids(ranging from two years old to high school ) played like cousins (duck-duck-goose, football, biking and pulling each other around in wagons). I'm so glad they are all going to be growing up together. For Josh's job.....we could move anywhere in the country anytime we wanted. We love our neighbors, church, schools, ocean and woods. We choose here.

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Today......

A second soccer game, he got to play goalie:)

The first day of ballet, making new friends :)

Putting the fence posts in for our new backyard fence (with a lot of help from family) :)

a really yummy family dinner :)

Weekends:)

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Just because.....I love this picture.

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Making my way........

and figuring how to keep track of it all. Three different schools, homework, lunches, two fundraisers, PTA, PTO, special services PTO, volunteering, sports, clubs and activities. We're not too busy, or too over scheduled (we try hard to keep it that way, after all kids need to be kids, not heading for pro football at age three!), but just keeping track of all that is out there and available to us, and what I want to do and help with and make our schools better places, it blows my mind sometimes.

And tonight.....we had Bre's open house. Everyone (kids and teachers) seemed to know Bre already (who didn't have a care in the world except for her plate of food!). The kids in her class, they do have questions like, "Why is she so small?" "how old is she?" and "why doesn't she use her words like we do.?.." But mostly, the teacher said, she is just one of the gang. She's a rock star, and I feel so lucky to be in her life!

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evenings.......

we listen to Nora Jones or ocean sounds.

We do homework and color

We play games and read

We pack our backpacks and lunches

We put on our cozies

We try to organize ourselves

We brush teeth and get tucked in

WE clean up all the messes of the day

WE all go to bed at different times

WE give hugs and sometimes rub feet.

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First day of soccer....you loved it and couldn't wait to wear those shin guards over your pants. Next year you get to be on the BIG team (pre-K), oh my! It's a completely different group of parents than I see at Trevor's events. Most of them, with lots of younger children, trying to manage their two to three year old on a soccer field and one to two other children, babies, carseats, strollers and diaper bags. As for me, I remember those days all two well struggling with two in a stroller in diapers(actually, b/c of the complete exhaustion.... I don't remember clearly most of Lucas first year, but I have pictures!) Now, I'm happy to be able to focus complete attention on my littlest, and savor every last minute of him being at home, hanging around town and going places like I have an only child AND help those other moms out as much as I can because I remember how hard it was.......

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Sunday........

Our wonderful little church had a very nice service down on the beach. I didn't bring my camera, but a friend wonderfully e-mailed everyone out their pictures. A baby was baptized with the sea water. Guitars played and we sang. All the kids played running on the beach and building sand castles. We made our communion circles among the boats and clam diggers. There was a cross made of two sticks. It was a crisp cool, early new England Fall morning, but we left feeling warm and toasty inside:)

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Apple picking at our favorite traditional family spot, Dole's orchard. LUCKILY, they were't hit hard by the late spring frost and they had TONS of apples. We sat by the pumpkins, went for a hay ride, rode in the wagon, picked raspberries and fought over who got to use the stick to pick apples high up in the tree. We picked out a pink Mum for the front porch and devoured THE BEST pumpkin whoopie pies on the way home (I look forward to those all year)....This afternoon we'll be enjoying the first Pats game and filling the house with yummy smells of those baking apples and homemade applesauce. We'll be celebrating our littlest boy's half birthday. It's really my favorite time of year!

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Trevor's First soccer game! We were so proud of our little guy, he hasn't played soccer since Kindergarten and he had some great plays out there on the field. He is on a team with and played against 3rd and FOURTH graders. It was a PERFECT day to be out there, blue skies and cool temperatures (but not too cool). Breanna even tried to run on the field to play with the third grade girls next to us. It was so good to see Ruth from Shooting Stars and all our other friends and neighbors from around town. And tonight to celebrate (because every day one should celebrate), we made chocolate chip cookies and ate them right out of the oven. We all sat around the table, all of us, and dipped them in milk. Nothing like chocolate to bring a family together:) Then three chocolaty faces were bathed and tucked into bed and fell asleep in almost two seconds. I love weekends:)

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First Day of Preschool at Willoughby Woods!

You said....

You got to play in the tree house and walk in the woods

You got to paint red and blue (but the painting belonged to the school)

That you had graham crackers and apple juice for a snack

That you made a friend named Emily and "Nee"

you got to play on the playground

that it was really fun...

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Notes from school.....

Every day we receive a full page written report of Breanna's activities at school. Honestly, we didn't even know a quarter of what Trevor did all day in K. It seems that things are going way better than expected. She's shattered my expectations actually (and I thought they were too high to begin with). I think it helps that I have been in the special education system for almost 6 years now. What I have learned is that it is just wrong to expect perfection, and I don't. I don't know what it is like to be a teacher, I want to be involved, informed, but I will never tell them how to do their jobs and I will leave them alone to do so. I know I will come across so many different people that I will need to work with in our journey in raising Breanna, it is better to have an open mind. Anyway, Breanna is talking, participating, and trying all the really hard stuff (really hard for her) that all the typical Kindergartners are doing. All of the staff so far (especially the bus driver) have been going just above and beyond for Breanna (I think it's partly because she's just tiny, so cute and so lovable, and partly b/c they just love what they do). I couldn't be happier:) I LOVE our school.

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New Routines.

two different buses in the morning (about 45 mins apart), it's more relaxed but it makes for a long drawn out morning, and on Friday we will be adding a preschool drop off after the two buses. We went to Lucas' preschool open house tonight. I LOVE it there as much as we loved Shooting Stars for Bre and Little People's for Trevor. I'm glad each child will have their own unique preschool experience. It's only 5 mins from home. There is a huge outside space, woods path, tree house, gardens, chickens, and huge sand box. Her inside space is very simple and small, with lots of art stuff and caterpillars in a fish tank that they will watch turn into butterflies.. Pretty much what any three year old would ever need.

In the afternoon. Lucas always rides his bike down to the bus stop to wait. He is so proud of himself that he is starting to climb the tree down at the bus stop like all the big kids. Usually he is a little tired from not napping, but happy from spending the whole day alone with me. Usually we read, play games, build things, play playdough or paint,bake banana bread, take walks or bike rides, and have playdates. The buses are soooo late this year. Trevor gets home at 3:30 and Breanna almost 4. Pretty soon, these routines will just be all we ever know.

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My Baby is almost three and a half!

and read this.

Our Summer

This summer We.....

• Celebrated the last day of school with a special dinner out
• Relaxed at Quimby pond TWICE falling in love with the log cabin smell, the quiet, the kayaking and being in the woods.
• Celebrated our anniversary at 555
• visited Watercountry TWICE and went on the Geronimo once for bring a friend day (with Nick) picked strawberries and made jam
• grew the biggest garden ever overflowing with tomatoes, cucumbers, wildflowers (and weeds)
• Learned how to play solitaire and poker
• learned how to do a canon ball off the dock at Gammies lake house
• learned how to swim in deep water without a life jacket
• grew several inches
• ran in the Beach to Beacon
• spent evenings at the shore with picnic dinners and lobster rolls
• slept with sand in our sheets
• begged, bribed and pleaded two small children to use the potty (and they did it!)
• Went to the concert in the park, dressed in matching tie dye shits (that we made) and had a picnic dinner
• Played Capture the Flag
• Went to the sea dogs game and saw fireworks
• built sandcastles and sat in the waves (it was a HOT summer!)
• went out for ice cream lots (vanilla with rainbow jimmies or gummy bears)
• went to aquaboggin
• Perfected our marshmallow roasting skills around MANY campfires
• listened to books on tape (Curious George and Thomas the Train)
• Watched thunderstorms from the front porch
• Played on the swing set and had dance parties (Lucas likes to swing his butt!)
• Completed the library summer reading program
• went in the sprinklers and played with the hose
• Geocached and hiked (once for 5 hours!)
• took swimming lessons
• built a new deck
• entertained good friends
• Made homemade pesto
• waited for our new nephew to arrive
• tried playing the guitar
• had an eighth birthday and party
• celebrated a 36th birthday
• got a new fridge
• went to Cub scout Funpack weekend
• got ready for Kindergarten
• went to summer preschool
• visited with friends and played and traveled with our cousins (party of NINE!)
• held a new baby and soaked up all of of his new baby smells and cuddles
• ate pier fries, Bills' pizza and rode the cheezy rides at OOB
• Got rid of the last of the baby stuff
• ate lobster, corn on the cob and, blueberries and fresh strawberries
• played street hockey, trains, star wars battle, and castle
• Celebrated the wedding of Jess and Jason
• Went to Storyland
• Lived, Laughed and Loved
• Made amazing memories we'll take with us our whole lives......

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Soaking up the last few rays of summer....school is back in FULL swing next week. I'm committed to doing this, every day....because they grow up WAY too fast, and nothing else really matters anyway.

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Home sweet home.......and as fun as summer was (especially the last few weeks) we're happy to being staying put right here for a while so we can get used to the new routines of the school year. Especially since one Eight year old boy has big plans to build his dream tree house (maybe next summer). We are just in the design stages he says.....

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Storyland....the absolute best time that we have had traveling with these kids in the past three and a half years. It was the perfect park for our family, we could all go on EVERY ride together. We rode the bamboo Chutes (Trevor's favorite) three times, and the Polar coaster (Lucas' favorite) six times! Even though I miss baby days (and am not wishing it away by any means) there were no naps, no diapers, and no baby food, snacks or nursing to worry about, unlike the last time we were there. There was no one parent sitting aside with a smaller child while the bigger child rode the rides with another parent. There were no lines, and it was a sunny, cool, early fall day in New England. So, except for forgetting the memory card for my good camera (AT HOME!) , trying to shop in a few outlet stores (these kids weren't a big fan...), the fact that the GPS doesn't work up there for some reason, and getting a couch for a table at our favorite pizza place, the weekend was fantastic! I'll be sad when they outgrow this place......

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My new favorite snack indulgence-salty sweet!

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I have been thinking about this day since she was born (seriously). I've been waiting, worrying preparing and worrying, and having meetings, and getting resources and preparing more and worrying more. Now......I can let all of it go. Today she surprised all of us. She has been saying that she will not ride the bus for a while now. She wouldn't even go to the bus stop last year when Trevor was getting on. This year, she just walked to the bus stop, put her backpack on got in line with the other kids and hopped right on. There was nothing different about her, and a little boy even sat with her on the bus! She looked a little nervous, but then smiled and waved as the bus drove away. I held back the tears of absolute joy, my prayers have have been answered. I'm not even sure how the rest of her day will go....and I know school will be far from perfect for her. But she did it (and on the mainstream bus!!). Look for an update about the rest of her day later......We're soooooooo proud of you and we love you Bre!

Update: I spent the whole afternoon at the shore with my littlest. It was so HOT, we just sat in the water, and let the waves run over us. As the waves crashed over our legs, we made mudpies on our legs. It seemed like hours we did this. We took a walk, collected shells and rocks and chased seagulls with our loud roars. For the first time in a very long time, we had found the stillness. I can't remember the last day when I felt like I was walking on top of the clouds.

All day I couldn't believe that Bre was actually gone at Kindergarten. It seemed so wierd thinking that she was going to come home and play with all the three year old stuff with Lucas. She just seems so much bigger all of a sudden.

We got a call from the lead special ed teacher after school, and we also received a full page journal entry in Bre's communication book. I don't think the day could have gone any better. Bre was the model bus rider and was smiling as she headed in the front door. Bre was a little stubborn at first , but then by the end of the day was following all the rules of the class. She was attentive during story time and a short movie that they watched. No recess today due to poor air quality and 95 degree temperatures (and no air conditioning in the school!). Bre loved gym class and used the bathroom regularly. There were no issues in the crowded lunchroom and she ate her whole snack and lunch.

Well, so far so good. Now she has the next 4 days off and has to go back on Tuesday. We will see how it is when the newness wears off and she realizes that she is going to school every day. When I asked her if she loved school when she got home, she said...."Love school". (and I think school loves you too Bre:))

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I try to remember to put a note in your lunch box every day (because I miss you already!) I love Lunchbox Love. And the on the back, I put these 8 important things that every third grader should know (love this.)

and tomorrow is the big day, my little Kindergartener gets on that bus for the very first time. I'll post about it as soon as I breathe out.......