Life Gets In the Way

It's been a moment since I last updated this blog, but just had to come back to it. As I read my past entries, I realized how key writing this stuff down really is. The moments flutter away like the butterflies we raised from caterpillars this past spring and then, in the blink of an eye, they are gone.
After quitting a job with hours that exhausted me, I enrolled in Villanova's Master Certificate program in PM and began a new chapter in our life. Unexpectedly I got a job in my new field much quicker than I imagined and have been balancing 45-50 hour weeks (billable that is!) with completing my school work and raising these great kids of mine. = Little time to blog. But I wanted to capture some recent memories before they fly off and are gone forever.

• Ashton was outside the other day, looking for a spider to bite him so he could become Spiderman.
• Kate thinks that a red princess dress-up dress, pink fairy wings, a pink boa, sneakers and a t-shirt with a wand is the perfect ensemble to hold a video conference call with grandma.
• Our recently acquired cat's new official name, courtesy of Ashton, is "New Kitty Candy Cane Cupcake Christmas".
• Paul ran over a baby turtle the other day while mowing the lawn. Somehow, it survived the blades, and the kids really did think it could live in our empty sandbox and subsist off bananas. After careful reconsideration, we placed him back in the yard to go and "find his mommy and daddy".
• Ashton spent a great [GREAT] summer at a new daycamp. They focused on going outside 3 times a day, not a huge focus on academics, let the kids be kids, and he thrived. The kids all great him by name when he arrives and he even has a "girlfriend". I know this because he made her a bracelet at home, gave it to her in front of me, then denied it with a "Come on Mom! I don't want to talk about this!"
• We are struggling to get Ashton into school. Even though he got his 2nd and 1st choice in the Magnet lottery, though a technical glitch, he's going to his home school, the very scary Piney Grove. Paul is trying to work through it with one week left before school begins.
• The family across the street, Richard's family, moved due to a criminal neighbor invading their house. A week later, the criminals moved. Ashton has been heartbroken and will suddenly drift into silence with a sad look on his face exclaiming "I miss Richard Mommy." followed by a sigh. We try to get them together as much as possible, but Richard's parents each work a few jobs and their schedules are all over the place.
• Candy Cane cupcake eats when he's bored, according to Paul, and apparently the cat is b-o-r-e-d. It looks like he's swallowed a basketball and he sleeps on his back with his giant stomach stretched out like a stripped landscape.

We are planning a vacation soon, Ashton starts Kindergarten and Kate will have a pony birthday party for Kate. Look for more posts soon!