We
have had our first month completed of Allison in kindergarten and Sarah at
preschool and I’ll tell you what, we really underestimated how good it was to
have them both in the same location.
Having your “drop-offs” and “pick-ups” go from 2 to 4 is taking some
adjustment for us, and by “us” I mean Deb because she takes care of most of it
and keeps us in line!
Let’s
talk a little bit about Christ the King school and everything where we have
found ourselves involved. First, Deb has
volunteered to be the room mom and that mostly centers on planning parties and
interacting with the teacher to see what she needs. Debbie also has volunteered twice in
September to be a playground volunteer (which they ask each family to do it
twice per year, so she has me covered!).
She and the girls also went to a “Moms of Young Kids” group that met for
a cookout during a Colts game.
Nevertheless, she is meeting many parents and having to tell me “who is
who” every time we are at mass or school.
My activities started with volunteering to help out with the KG through
3rd graders at a basketball clinic which had about 8 sessions. After that, I was asked to coach some of the
older girl’s teams and got matched up with another parent to coach the 4th
grade girls. It has been quite the time
commitment, but it has been fun to meet other parents in the school and also
some of the older siblings of the kids in Allison’s class. I always remembered going to church as a kid
and knowing everyone that was there, but I had no idea how fast we would
quickly get to know that many families one month into Allison being there. At the end of September, Allison’s class also
celebrated “Grandparent’s Day” and she was really excited to have Randy, Anna
and Kathy in attendance. They all went
to mass together and then did different activities around the school.
Randy
& Anna came to visit for “Grandparents Day” and stayed for the weekend to
catch up with everyone. Anna came loaded
with Halloween costumes, WVU dresses and bedding for the girls. We also put her to work on fixing Allison’s
jumpers for school since they are supposed to go almost down to her knee and
she seems to be growing. Randy and Anna
also took Sarah out to lunch after they completed their morning with
Allison. We also switched the girl’s
beds around and put some plants in around the house. Anna helped Deb on her ideas for the
kindergarten Halloween party.
One
busy Saturday had several things going on in the middle of September. I met up with Anderson, Watkins and Foulke
and we did the Warrior Dash. It was lots
of fun and it would have been much more enjoyable if it hadn’t rain horribly
the night before. It is supposed to be
muddy, but it was a sloppy mess and we were in one of the first waves of
runners. After that, we took an Uber
downtown with the Sniadecki’s to Canvitational to enjoy beer from all over the
country (but the beer had to be in cans).
We went to dinner on Mass Ave. and then met up with the Steffeys,
Bassetts, and Lawton at Flatwater for a nightcap (or 3). Needless to say, Sarah was up at 6 the next
morning and what I wouldn’t have given for her to know how to use a remote and
just take care of herself.
Sarah’s Thing of the Month
Sarah is back playing soccer again at her preschool with
Soccer Shots. She really likes and seems
to enjoy it. She doesn’t appear as
coordinated as Allison, but with my genes, neither one of them had a chance at
being coordinated.
Allison’s Thing of the Month
Allison finished up her basketball clinics and it really
seemed to help her make some new friends.
Allison also got her eyes checked as part of her normal appointment and
they are continuing to improve. Of
course each “improvement” costs a new set of lenses…but as long as her sight
gets better, that is the good news.
A few more items from this
month:
- We went to Joe Wahman’s wedding over Labor Day weekend. It was a great ceremony and a good time was enjoyed be everyone that was able to make it.
- I went to Chicago for a tradeshow for work and was able to get a few chances to hang out with Pete. He was there for the same show and we shared some late night drinks while we were both there without kids!
- I went for a week to Minnesota as I’m still working on helping out on the finance side with some of the turnover and things that have gone on over the last year. I don’t know when that “one week a month” average will slow down, but I hope it will at some point soon.
- We participated on our neighborhood’s progressive dinner where we bounced around to 3 homes and everyone takes advantage of the close walk home!
- I had lunch with Brian Geddes and it was great to catch up with him.
- I went out for beers at BW3’s with Naab, Gareth and Norris. It is always good to catch up with those guys.
