New Routine

This is now Marlene's third week of school and we have developed our new routines. So far we have been really good; we have been walking to and from school every day. We were lucky that the downpours happened before and after. When Marlene is in school, Amelia and I spent the morning running errands. We have to be back by noon for lunch and her nap. If I am lucky she sleeps until about 2pm, so I actually have some time to myself. I can not do much in the house because she tends to wake up. So I am doomed to read books, work on the computer or just watch TV. It is really tough. When she wakes up, we play a little and get ready to walk back down to the school to pick up Marlene. Marlene is usually very tired when we get home, so she eats a snack, watches a little TV and then we start homework. That usually means reading, which is quite difficult, with Amelia trying to take part. After that it is time to get dinner ready and then we are facing clean up and bedtime. The days move fast this way. Amelia's nap - as nice as it is - takes a lot away from the day and it is hard to get things done. One of the things we like to do, is to go to Lynnwood to Alderwood Mall. There is a great playground for the little ones. Especially on rainy days this is a great escape. After playing for a while and wearing herself out, she is usually content in her stroller to let me walk the mall and have a latte. It is her treat for having to come along when I do the groceries or run other errands. On Mondays we still have Totwatch, but we have shrunk to only 4 children, since the older ones are all off to school. It felt totally weird on Monday, when Julie and I just sat around, had coffee and the little ones were playing quietly. Yesterday (19th) was "International Speak like a Pirate Day". Marlene and I went in the evening to an author reading at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. Dave Palmer and Ridley Pearson read from their book "Peter and the Shadow Thieves", the second prequell to Peter Pan. The event was over Marlene's head. I thought it was great. I love when children get to ask questions to their favorite authors. They are relentless and they come up with great suggestions. Before the actual event, they had an open stage for pirate-talk. A lot of people were dressed up as pirates. It took Marlene a while to work up her courage to go on stage to tell her Pirate joke (how much does a pirate pay for an earing? - a buck-an-ear). We were lucky that just week we had bought her pirate costume for Halloween. Originally she wanted to be Captain Jack Sparrow, but I encouraged her to be more original. So she decided on "girl-pirate". I guess this is a good follow up to the "girl-knight" of last year. We are getting in gear for our Halloween Open House. We are slowly getting out the decorations and making a few new ones. So far for today.