We're late this week

For good reason. We were out of town for the weekend. Dan intrepidly led (well, helped lead) a group of students on a geology field trip down to California (including Death Valley and Yosemite). Since Dan was gone, I took the kids up to see my family, where we witnessed Jacob's baptism (the first baptism on our side. Enoch announced, after Jacob emerged from the water, "Jacob was baptimatized!" Then, "that was short"). We hung out at the Tolleys home for a while after that, then back to my parents where Evelyn took a much-needed nap. After she woke up, I took the kids to a Grandview Hill celebration. I was grateful for the free food, which meant I didn't have to prepare dinner. Andrew was mostly interested in seeing how many cheap prizes he could score. Evelyn was just happy to be there. I think we all had fun.

Sunday we went to visit Sarah and her gang. (I love having so many cousins around). And this morning, my mom and I went shopping (shocking, I know), then the kids played with Jacob, Emi, and Enoch one last time before we drove home to a happy reunion with their dad. The one good thing about brief separations like this is that it really gives you a chance to remember why you like each other! I kept thinking that having Dan gone was sort of like missing a finger--it doesn't keep you from working and moving on with life, but every time you think about it, it hurts.

As for the rest of our week--well, Andrew started kindergarten (pictures to come next time, since I'm too lazy to go find the camera in my suitcase) and Evelyn started preschool. I think Andrew likes kindergarten, although after the first day he asked if he had to go back the next day.

Last week was also a crazy soccer week, with two games in one week. The first game didn't go so well (and we had a vivid demonstration of Andrew's hyper-competitiveness). His team lost, and Andrew cried. The other parents were all solicitous, asking if he'd been hurt, was he okay, and we had to say, "he's fine. He's just upset that he lost." The only good thing about this is that Andrew is getting opportunities to learn how to deal with his competitiveness before he's old enough that it really matters. In another year or two, crying because his team loses will definitely NOT be acceptable (not that it is now, but at least he won't get made fun of for crying). Any other parents out there have good tips on helping competitive children learn to accept losing? The second game, Andrew scored a goal and his team won, so of course he was much happier.

And there you have it. Our late post. Hope everyone out there had a lovely labor day weekend!