End of summer...

I feel like it's winding down... now that I can see, just by glancing at the calendar how much time I have left before school starts. I've got another week with Harrison, another two and a half weeks with Jordyn. Then my babies, the two children I started watching when they were babies are going off to preschool. I'll still have Harrison two days a week, and probably Jordyn will still pop over periodically, but a period in my life is ending, in a real sense at the end of this month. In September, I'll start having to ferry the kids to after school activities, and constantly be doing something.

Mondays and Wednesdays - I'll drop Jess off at school at eight twenty, and then drop Marc off at work. Then I'll drop Sam off at preschool at noontime. Pick up Jess, Sarah, Lilli at Flagg Street at two thirty, pick up Sam at his school at ten of three, drop the three girls at Hebrew school at four, pick up Marc at six and back to get the girls by six fifteen. Tuesdays and Thursdays will sort of be my off days - Sam will be home here with Harrison, and Lisa said that she'll take care of getting Jess to dance on Thursdays. Fridays, I'll be repeating the M/W routine, with the only difference being that I'll probably pick Marc up before getting the kids from school and have all five of them home here for Shabbat dinner Friday night.

I hope Julie learns to like the car seat more than she does right now.

In other news... I have been adopted by a cat. He followed us home from Elm Park Community School on Saturday night, was lonely and crying and seemed to be very hungry. So I gave him a turkey burger and some water, but he stayed outside all night crying to come in. My downstairs neighbor gave me a litter box and some cat food so we let him inside, and he's moved right in.

We haven't officially named him - because he might still have an owner out there somewhere. I put up signs everywhere yesterday, posted ads all over the internet. And Harrison's Mom, Joy, is really allergic to some cats, and it might push her over the edge. And if it comes down to choosing between having Harrison or the cat, I'd have to get rid of the cat. But I'm really hoping I don't have to - I'm really, really liking him. My kids have never had a pet, and I've had a nagging feeling of guilt about it forever. And this kitty is adorable, super friendly, very affectionate. He likes to curl up against me while I nurse the baby :-)

Jessie is officially washing her own laundry these days. She threw in her first unsupervised load today - and is very proud of herself. I'm also proud - she's the youngest girl in our group - Lilli, Sarah, and Glennys are all older, and the first to assume responsibility of washing her own clothes. At this point, she's only washing it - she's not tall enough to reach into the machine to scoop the clothes out, so I'm still drying and folding - but we'll get there. Very proud of my big girl...