The First Day

Alexandra ~ 2nd Grade









Lorelai ~ Kindergarten







Lorelai was out of sorts yesterday. And that's putting it mildly. She was almost in a state of depression due to her broken arm; sad, angry, and just plain mopey. Luckily, her first day of school was nothing more than an hour long Kindergarten orientation; I don't think she could have made it through a real day of school (she'll start full time on Thursday).

I was worried about her. Once we were home from school she perked up a little when some friends stopped by to pay her a visit, but then she slumped back into her depression.

In the afternoon I called our pediatrician and talked with her about Lorelai's condition - because something just did not seem right. She thought that her behavior might be a reaction to the pain meds. So a few hours later, when it came time to give Lorelai her next dose, we switched to a different medication. And then, shortly thereafter, my Lorelai came back; my cheery, spunky, lovely little Lorelai.

And Donald exclaimed, 'all is well in the world again'.

I second that.

***I think that I will re-do Lorelai's first-day pictures on Thursday when she starts school 'for reals'. Because while the pictures above were true to that moment in time, they are not true to who Lorelai really is. So stay tuned for re-takes.

Back to School and Broken Bones

Is it just me, or does everybody kind of skip ahead to the next season a few weeks early? Here it is, the first day of school, and I am in full Autumn mode - even though Fall won't truly be here for another 3 weeks.

And it's not just this season that I jump ahead on.

In my mind, Winter begins as soon as Thanksgiving is done, and Summer starts the day school lets out. Sorry Mother Nature, I know that's not how you have it planned, but that's the way my brain works.

Come to think of it, Spring is the only season that I don't jump the gun on. Probably because the winter chill lasts forever in my neck of the woods....long into Spring.

Boy oh boy, did I just go off on a tangent, or what?

So that whole rant started because it's that time again - time to change seasons, time to change gears.

Instead of wet towels from the pool hanging on the hooks in the front hallway, there will be school bags and sweaters. And my empty calendar is once again going to be packed with engagements; ballet, soccer, violin, piano, school.....

But we are ready to take it all on. More than ready in fact. Because even though it's back to structure in the Sorenson household, I myself will be enjoying a new found freedom; both Lorelai and Alexandra, in school - all day long. Even Elisabeth will be heading off to school a few days a week; school bus and all.

What will I do oh what will I do?

I get giddy at the thought.


Time.


Time to myself. Time to get things done.


Time to relax.


Hello to my new life....

***

In other news...

Lorelai broke her arm yesterday.

Broke it bad.




And that is why I say no rough-housing.



Still to come this week:

>Back-to-school caramel apples.
>First day of school pictures.

> Broken arm details.
>And more good stuff.

P.S. Happy Birthday David!

The County Fair: 2010

Every year the county fair marks the end of summer break - the last big hurrah before school is back in session. And quite the hurrah it was. The children went on dozens of rides, ate ice cream cones, pet the animals, and their favorite - did flips on the bungee jump (they've been talking about doing that again since last year).






Lorelai and cousin Abbey.


Alexandra, the sorceress.




Lorelai with a brand new baby cow.


Alexandra and Abbey - the sky's the limit!


The children will be off to school bright and early on Monday morning with their hair neatly combed and their new book bags stocked with sharp yellow pencils. Last year we made caramel apples as a back-to-school treat. I'm thinking we'll do that again this weekend, you know, make a tradition of it.

See you Monday!

Lizzy Long-legs

Elisabeth is on track to be our tallest child. Ha! Isn't it funny they way things work out sometimes? The one that I would prefer to be petite is growing like a weed - and the one who loves to play basketball (Alexandra) is the shortest in her class.

That's how life is, you know? We don't get to choose these things.

So Lizzy Long-legs it is. And I mean it; those legs go on and on and on.

Making it difficult to do things like put her in a high-chair --- or a swing. Swings are the hardest. Especially when Elisabeth keeps her legs curled up like a baby. Usually I have to call one of the older two over to pull her legs through the holes. Donald, however, managed this task all on his own the other day.

I was impressed.


Left leg stuck.


Left leg still stuck. It looks like Elisabeth is thinking, 'uh, Dad? Are you going to do something about this?'


Success! Now...buckle up for safety.


Let the swinging commence!

A Little Bird Told Me...

I stumbled upon this lamp while out shopping yesterday and was quite sure it was one of the cutest things I'd ever seen:



That little bird looked me in the eye and I'm quite sure I heard him say, 'take me home, take me home.'



And you shouldn't say no to a little bird....I'm quite sure.



So home with me it came.

Red and Yellow

This caught my eye as I walked in the kitchen.

Tomato, anyone?

(Fresh from the garden, of course.)

A Morning Adventure

At 5 AM Saturday morning I awoke to a downpour outside. And then there was a bright flash of lightening. And then a few seconds later a roar of thunder so loud I was sure we would have the children running into our room with fright, but somehow they slept through it.

I dozed back off.

An hour later Donald and the girls were up. The rain had stopped and they were heading out fishing for the morning.

I fell back to sleep. When I woke again the house was quiet; Elisabeth still sound asleep in her room upstairs. So I stayed in bed reading until 8:15 when I heard the sweet sounds of my baby waking up.

'Time to get up', I told myself.

I quickly got ready for the day and went upstairs to pluck Elisabeth from her crib.

'Elisabeth,' I said, 'do you want to go for a Taga ride?'

And while she didn't really have any idea what I was saying, she bounced up and down in my arms and smiled and squealed like she always does.....a bundle of joy that one is.

I took her downstairs, dressed her, plugged her in (g-tube), and set off on a morning adventure through the neighborhood. The summer downpour a few hours earlier had left the air cool and crisp with a slight breeze; it actually felt like Autumn, which made my heart go all aflutter. Autumn is my season of choice and it's just around the corner. Oh happy day, oh happy day.

10 Year Anniversary

I was married on the 19th day of August in the year 2000

to

Donald Reed Sorenson.


We became husband and wife.

That day was the beginning of something magical.

~2000~

~2001~

~2002~

~2003~

~2004~

~2005~

~2006~

~2007~

~2008~

~2009~

~2010~

Happy anniversary, to my love....

Weekend Roadtrip

Last weekend we took a last minute roadtrip to Seattle when Donald's co-worker offered us his tickets to the Seahawks first pre-season game. So off we went to the west side of the state (also known as the 'wet' side of the state, though miraculously it was all blue skies for us).

As we approached the stadium we passed many independent parking lots trying to lure us in with their signs advertising $20.00 parking. 'No thank you', I informed Donald. I would much rather pay a little more, say $25.00, and not have to walk a mile back to the car after the game. So we kept on driving till we reached the official stadium parking lot. That's when I saw it. The sign that read: Parking, $40.00. What?! Seriously? $40.00? Who in their right mind would pay $40.00 to park there? Why are people pulling in the parking garage? Of course they will charge such outrageous prices if people will pay it.

Unbelievable.

So we drove on by and found one of those $20.00 parking lots a mile away and called it good.

As we walked back towards the stadium Donald lifted the flap to my purse and peeked inside.

"You brought a book?! To a Seahawks game?! Lisa, you can't read a book at the game. The people around us will have a fit. Someone will probably take your book and throw it over the balcony."

"Oh Donald, nobody will care if I have a book," I replied.

Fast forward to the end of the 1st quarter. I had enjoyed a respectable amount of seeing people tackle one another and was ready for a distraction. So I reached in my bag and pulled out my book.

Immediately, the man next to me spotted it.

"You brought a book!? Isn't the game exciting enough for you?" he questioned.

And then he proceeded to inform everyone around us that I had in fact brought a book.

And they were all outraged.

Donald was right.

But I read anyways.

And......the Seahawks won!