I love summer, but...

I am so looking forward to fall here in the inferno we call home. In terms of weather, fall really starts in October in Houston, so we have a couple more months of sweating around here. The good news is that school starts next week for Miranda (yay!) and the first week of September for Mitchell. We have had a great time this summer with Miranda's various camps, vacation bible school, our massive road trip and simple things like setting up lemonade stands and hanging out with good friends. But it is time to get back into the normal routine of things. Miranda is itching to go back to school and can't wait to see all her friends. She'll be in first grade this year and is growing up so fast. She actually has her first slumber party this weekend! Here's hoping we won't be getting any late night calls from the host.

Mitch is definitely acting like a two-year-old these days. "No" is his favorite word. He keeps me hopping, and laughing too. His latest obsession is the Cyberchase rocket we saw at the Children's Museum last week and of course, Nemo from Finding Nemo. He saw a clownfish at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and is now obsessed with them.

As for me, I'm looking forward to doing some more work now that the kids will be out of my hair for awhile. Just me and my computer and my coffee (or Diet Coke). Heaven.

My first post!

Today is my first attempt at journaling after a decades-long aversion to the practice. You see, my best friend in high school wrote down all our teenage escapades in her journal, which her parents happened to read. The consequences for both of us were not pretty. Since then, I have been reluctant to lay my soul bare in print.

But now I have a daughter, and she is starting her own journal. So to encourage her writing, I thought I would do the same, but in blog form.

"But what do I write about?" she asks me.

I tell you, I am equally stumped. Does the everyday minutia of my family's life merit a place in cyberspace? The proliferation of blogs these days would suggest so. So let's just start with the news of today.

Today we are driving each other crazy inside the house as the rain continues to pour. I think we are getting what's left over from Hurricane Alex. We played with Playdough, the new Buzz Lightyear Operation game (Mitchell is obsessed with anything Toy Story), and then started in on the timeouts. The kids are bored and restless. Luckily, Miranda has a play date this afternoon, so I plan to take Mitchell out for a little treat and some playtime at Chick-Fil-A. He loves the indoor playground there, especially the car, which is suspended from the ceiling. Hopefully, he will come down willingly this time. I refuse to climb through the tunnel to pry him out. To quote many an action movie, "I'm too old for this stuff (OK, I cleaned it up a little).

Earlier this week, Miranda attended a fine arts camp run by Theater Under the Stars here in Houston. She loved it. In four days, she learned four songs from Oklahoma, together with motions and some dance moves. Miranda even had a line, as the character Karly, "That Will Parker is sure going to be angry when he gets back from Kansas City." She had such a good time, that we signed her up again for next week's session, which will be "Once upon a Mattress." Don't worry. It is G-rated material based on the Princess and the Pea.

Tomorrow will be the first Saturday we have had without a swim meet or a soccer game for what seems like ages. I look forward to sleeping late, say 6:30 a.m. instead of 6 a.m. Did I mention my kids are early risers? Sunday, I think we will celebrate the fourth by pulling the kids in our decked out little red wagon, in the neighborhood Independence Day Parade. Then hopefully we'll find some fireworks to see somewhere in town.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Anissa