Soccer mom

Ever since we met, Brad always had a comment about soccer moms. Driving around in their minivans, etc., etc., etc.

Well now he's married to one, minivan and all.

Susanna has started practicing with her new soccer team. There are nine girls on Team Pinkalicious (love the name!) So far it seems like a great group - both the girls and the parents. The girls come from several different schools, and the variety is nice. The team started with a five-hour "mini-camp" led by a former professional soccer player, and then had one regular practice session. The girls will practice again next Thursday, and have their first game next Saturday.

I don't know much about soccer, but its fun to watch. They just look so cute running around together, and I'm sure the matching pink jerseys will only help!

I pledge allegiance...

to the flag...

of Texas???

A few days into the school year, Susanna said she likes her new school because she gets to start her day with coloring. She said they can't do any work until after they say their "promises" to the flags of both the United States and Texas.

Of course saying any pledge at all is new to her, but saying a pledge to a state flag is new to all of us.

This is the Texas flag pledge:

"Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas,

one state under God, one and indivisible."

Maybe Texas will become it's own country yet...

Ben's first day of school

Today was Ben's first day of school. He was ready to go! He will go four days a week, from 9 until 2. Ben loves having lunch at school so this schedule is great for him. Also, it will prepare him for all day (7 hours) Kindergarten next year.

He was happy to go in this morning and happy when I returned to collect him. I didn't get too many details, though he did learn one thing: You have to be quiet in the hallway. It's a start!

And then there are fire ants...

So I've been sitting around freaking out about black widows (which have been spotted in and around my house), and mice (I'm pretty sure I've seen droppings in my garage), and cockroaches (my friend assures me they will come because I live in the South now). But fire ants didn't seem like such a big (no pun intended) deal.

But then I saw them in action. A little girl was attacked at the bus stop the other day. She was playing in some landscaping, and then screaming. I didn't actually see it happen, but the other parents who were there said her little hands were completely covered in ants. Nasty biting ants.

So, one more thing to worry about. The kids want to run and play in the yard, and who needs shoes? Its summer!

Everyone needs shoes! Not like they'll provide tons of defense, but still...

This incident at the bus stop happened the day after I had my house sprayed. I mentioned to the bug guy that I'd seen ants in my closet (along the perimeter wall on the ground floor) and he assured me that they would get sick and die. Then, while reading about fire ants, I learned that its harder for them to take over your yard if there are other types of ants, so you shouldn't kill the others. Oops. Too late.

When it comes to ants, you just can't win.

Quote from Ben

"If you're a wife, you need to get dinner ready as soon as people get home."

Now where did my son get an idea like that??

All moved in. Kind of.

Today we received our third and final shipment - our furniture, etc. from England. It came impressively fast, less than a month after it left our old house. I guess we are just not exciting enough for U.S. Customs to want to dig into our belongings. Fine with me!

We had five men here bringing things in, trying to figure out where to put them, unwrapping and assembling various pieces of furniture, and dumping (or lovingly unwrapping) the contents of all boxes. I think they were here about 5 hours, including a break for pizza.

So now I have lots of piles. All over my house.

Actually, I thought it would be worse, considering last week's shipment of stuff from my old basement, and no basement here in which to put things.

The thing I hate most is washing every. single. dish. before I put them away. They were clean when they were packed, but they're dirty now. Ugh.

I'll get right on that... In the morning...

But for now, a few photos:

Last week's delivery truck:

The truck on which my minivan traveled:
Kitchen/family room combo:
Dining room/main unpacking headquarters:
At least Brad has what he needs:

Susanna's first day of school

Yesterday was Susanna's first day of first grade. We got a chance to see the school and meet the teacher last week, but the whole thing is still very new for all of us.

Susanna was excited to go. I wasn't sure how things worked with dropping off, so I decided to park the car along the road and see how far I could get.

I made it all the way to the classroom. Apparently that's not a problem - I wasn't the only parent in the building. Susanna went right in and put her backpack and lunch on a hook and took her seat. She was fine - I was the one who wasn't quite sure...

I went back at the end of the day to pick her up and she was happy. I didn't get too many details but she said she had a good day and liked her teacher.

The second day of school went just as well as the first. And now she is riding the bus home in the afternoon, which she is very happy about. I plan to keep taking her in the morning, at least for a while.

Two days down... how many to go??