9/29

9/29/99 - 11:59 PM

It's not often that I'm speechless but . . .

My little girl is now 10!!

Happy birthday Brenna Rose!!!!

Back to Business

The school year has started and that means we are back to the usual amount of craziness with activities. I tell the girls that they may choose 2 afterschool activities but somehow that always manages to balloon to 22!

Currently they both take jazz/ballet/tap lessons on Mondays. They've been doing this for a few years and love it. Tuesdays are reserved for Irish dance which Molly is starting this year as well. So that's it - their 2 activities.

HA!

This is where the rationalization comes in. We have a school/parish choir. I have told Brenna that I think it's important for her to do that (and altar servers) as a way of giving back and participating more fully in the church - especially since she's at the parish school and we're going to be at Mass anyway. So that practice is on Wednesdays.

Brenna also takes flute lessons at school. That's no imposition because the lessons take place during the school day. Well, except that evidently (why are parents the last ones to find this out?) anyone beyond the beginner level participates in the full band which meets after school. So that's Thursdays.

And then there's scouts. Who can say no to such a wholesome activity? And since - oh yeah - I co-lead two troops so it's probably good for my own kids to belong! And it's only a few Fridays and nothing conflicts with Fridays.

So there you have it - 2 activities that keep us on the run every day!


The one thing Brenna has begged for for the past few seasons is to play soccer. Umm . . . when do you think you can fit that in? Last week she was able to do a special one day clinic that the women's team from American University ran for some of our school kids. The college girls were wonderful and Brenna really enjoy finally getting to play a bit.

Lucky for her is was on a non-scout Friday! :)

More Molly

Last weekend we were having dinner with my in-laws and somehow we got talking about the names we had considered for each girl when I was pregnant. (For the record I wanted Brenna to be Ainsley but everyone hated it. Our other options were Erin and Meghan which I then decided were too popular. So here she is as Brenna Rose. For poor Molly we never really confirmed anything. We came up with hers on the exit ramp to the hospital! I was convinced she was a boy anyway.) I commented to Brenna that her father originally wanted to name her Dean like him and his father but that I didn't want to. Molly piped right up and said "I would have liked the name Dean. You could have called me 'Dean S'." I told her that actually she would have been Dean M. since their middle name is Michael. She brushed me right off and said "But he (pointing to her grandfather) is Dean Senior, he (pointing to her dad) is Dean Junior so I would have been Dean Sophomore."

I think my father-in-law is still laughing. Molly always has a unique way of interpreting things. :) I guess the only time she's heard the words senior and junior have been in the context of high school, so in her mind if you work backward, sophomore is the next logical suffix to use!

Crazy kid. And one more Mollyism . . .

Yesterday I had to run to the Girl Scout store after school and be at a school board meeting at 6:30pm. Zipping between the two places I saw a McDonalds and decided to grab that for the kids' dinner. I was joking with them going in that they were not to tell their dad what they had for dinner.

Our conversation while standing in line . . .
Me (winking): "Okay, so no one breath a word about this pit stop. It's our secret right?"
Brenna (grinning): "Pinky swear" We all stick out pinkies
Molly (being devious): "Can I say 'Guess where we went?' and then tell him the Girl Scout store?"
Me: "No! You'll give it away because you can't keep a straight face"
Molly (indignant): "I can! I won't tell!"
Brenna: "No way - You can't keep a secret for anything!"
Me (pretend threatening): "If anyone lets the cat out of the bag then they're in trouble!"
Molly (dead serious) : "Oh thank God that won't be me. I don't have a cat."

I burst out laughing. Her facial expression made it a riot because she was so incredibly serious. She truly had no idea what I was talking about but she knew she was in the clear since she didn't even have a cat - much less one trapped in a bag for whatever crazy reason her mother was blabbing about! The man next to me had been listening and he too was laughing out loud. He later thanked Molly for the best laugh he'd had in a long time.

She still has no idea why we were laughing or why a cat had anything to do with it. I forget sometimes that kids really take things literally while we take these phrases for granted!

Back to School

For the past few years now we know that September brings a new start to the school year for us. Brenna is off to Gr. 5 this year and is very excited to have a well-loved teacher as well as 2 new girls in her class. Molly is off to Gr. 2 and if they don't start cursive within the first few days, she's going to rise up and revolt! Forget that she will have 3 great teachers we all love (Brenna had the same 3 teachers when she was in that class) and has all the excitement of First Communion and such. She just wants to learn cursive!!

Another special tradition for us is our first day of school pictures wit hthe girls' best friends. Conveniently these girls are also sisters and they even celebrate their birthdays just weeks from each other. They are great kids and I couldn't ask for better friends for us - because Dean and I enjoy hanging out with their parents too!

Another bonus for us is that both girls will have Fr. Ivany for Religion once a week. He's an awesome addition to our parish and my girls adore him. Here he was playing Sorry with them on a day just before school started when they had to come in with me while I worked.

He also informed me that Molly cheats! :)