First day of 4-year-old preschool and nun-spotting

Here's our big girl on her first day of preschool in the 4-year-old class. She was SO excited to start school again. I was a little nervous because this year it's all day and three days a week and I was afraid it might be too much for her. But she is loving it. She doesn't even complain about "rest time." This was our conversation on Friday:

G: How many sleeps till school again?
Me: Three, but Daddy won't have to go to work for the next two days (a fact she usually gets VERY excited about)
G: (crying-ish) Nooo! But I want it to just be two sleeps till school again!

I'm so glad she's so happy! And I'm enjoying my time with Mark and my alone time when he naps on school days. Big relief!

And I'm so excited that fall temperatures have arrived. How cute are these kids in their fall clothes? This is a dress that Nonna made for Gianna. I think it is so adorable with the shirt and tights! 

And finally, here is a recent conversation with Gianna that I've told many people, but wanted to document it here for good measure.

Me: (seeing a nun in the grocery store and wondering if Gianna will notice; we watch The Sound of Music a lot)

G: (pointing at the nun and smiling with glee when she spots the nun)

Me: Who is that?

G: It's a nun!!! (laughing incredulously) A nun, in the grocery store?! 

Me: Yep. Nuns have to go grocery shopping just like everyone else. 

G: (very excitedly) Oh boy! My first nun in a grocery store!

I didn't have the heart to tell her it may be her last "nun in a grocery store." Since I'm almost 32 and this was my first "nun in a grocery store" I'm thinking this is not a common occurrence!

August in words, but not pictures

We must have been so busy cramming activities into August that I forgot to blog about it or even really take pictures of it! So here it is in summary and very few pictures!

I got a little time away by going to visit friends in Boston, which was lovely. Air travel without the kids is like being a first class passenger. I didn't know what to do with myself. But I had a great time with my friends and their families. Thanks Tammy and Jenny!

We also had a visit at the end of August from Nonna and Pop-pop and Nonna showed me how to make these cute dresses for Gianna. Nonna made her a couple and I made her this one and a couple others. I am NOT a seamstress by any means, so this is pretty amazing. 

We spent a lot of time indoors what with August being monsoon season, apparently. We got SO much rain it was unreal. But the kids played nicely together most of the time! And since we were home so much, we got a little bit started on potty training. (We only had Gianna's leftover pink pull-ups when we started, see below.) Mark likes to go on the potty, but mostly when it's his idea. When we first started, he did great. But he's now lost interest a bit. Once we're settled into Gianna's school routine, I'll have to pick a day and just try potty training for real. I don't have high hopes, but we'll see.

We even squeezed in a visit to Daddy's office for lunch one day. Then Gianna had to come home and build skyscrapers like Daddy's out of her blocks. Mark kept pointing at them saying, "Daddy work, daddy work." He's putting lots of words together. The last month has really been an explosive one for his vocabulary.

 And they like to get in this bin together.