I am blessed...

...to have four amazing little people, whose wonder never fades, to call my own.
...to have a husband who encourages and supports me in striving for my dreams, and who can make me smile and breathe just by being around, or, when he's traveling, just by the thought of him.
...to not be going through the craziness of moving this year (this will make our townhome the place we've lived longer than any other since we were married--by next June it will even be longer than our time at Riverside).
...to be riding the waves of the excitement and business of school and family.
...to be studying a period of history that speaks through the dust with its own wisdom and all that came before and yet is somehow so present in our world still.
...to have learned that I love to teach (being an editor could never be so fun!).
...to have learned that even when I only have a week to prepare a 50 minute presentation on a topic I know nothing about (Medieval Geography and Topography as it relates to Eden theme) I can learn enough to do it fluently and articulately and come off like an expert.
...to have family and friends who can take my breath away with their uncanny ability to know how to love and support me and my family (if only I could do for you all what you do for me, but my love is always with you, at the very least).
...in my life and all that comes with it.

What are windowsills for?

Forester, this morning: "What are windowsills for?"

me: "What do you mean?"

Forester: "Well, I know that they are for cats to sleep on, but we don't have a cat, so I don't know what else they are for."

me: "Some people put plants on them..."

Forester: "Oh, maybe we need a plant, then."

Hello, Hello? Yes, we're still here!

:P

Well, almost two months since my last post, and we are, umm...collected again. So, let's run through it, and later I'll highlight what I can with a post about it and some pictures:
Hawaii for a week
French Reading for Research (class for me--really great)
Best friends moving to Utah (Kelly and Rus in June, Michele and kids in August)
Summer ending
Doctor appointments for everyone under 8 (sometimes more than one--we had 5 in two weeks)
School starting (for Ilana, two weeks later for me and the other three to daycare)
Writing my first syllabus
First week of classes--including my very own Humanities 101 to teach
Figuring out paper topics for the semester
Soccer for Ilana and Forester (they love it, but what was I thinking--did I forget that we have no time as it is?)
Oh, and at the end of the month we're moving.

Ok, so we aren't moving far, just across the street and a few doors down--same rent, bigger kid bedrooms, one more bathroom, two-car garage, and an extra living room. With four busy kids we figure more space is fantastic. So, a bit of a pain to pack up and move, but worth it.

And finally, trying to choose schools to apply to this winter for PhD work, and even then, still not sure if we'll go right away or defer a year and stay here for Justin to work a bit...

Ah, it's always so exciting. But everyone is healthy and happy and growing (yippee, Ronan is actually on the unadjusted 2-year old chart for length: 10%--but at 18 mo. he was still WAY below it), and with the first real week behind us I think we'll make it through just fine.