It's the most wonderful time of the year..

Or is it?
I am happy that school starts tomorrow but not because the boys have driven me crazy, merely because they are very bored with us. Bike rides and parks, shopping and adventures have lost their appeal, the weather this past 6 weeks has been disappointing, not one single day where we could leave the house and stay out all day in glorious sunshine, we have been dashing out and back in again, in between rain showers, we have been brave and gone out even with dark grey skies and threatened rain, we have tried to make fun where it would appear there is none to be had.
I love the going back to school time because it is the start of all the things I love. Birthdays behind us, we now get ready for autumn and winter, now I hate cold weather, my soul shrinks when the sunshine leaves, when we have had little sunshine to speak of I am oft left feeling incredibly hard done by and perfectly able to whine and grumble right through til we see some sun the following year. I love sunshine, I never tire of it, I crave the warmth and feeling of well being it brings to me.
I do, however, love the long nights, I adore cosy. Curtains drawn, hot water bottles, hot chocolate, warm towels on radiators. Stew and dumplings, vegetable soup, baked potatoes and sausage casserole, all things that bring comfort and secure feeling when the weather outside is harsh and unwelcoming.
I adore hosting the Halloween party every year, this year I am thinking we might do things differently, I'm not sure how yet, but somehow make it better and more fun, more memorable and BIGGER than ever before ( in a hall perhaps, rather than my poor battered home) I am SO excited to be able to hit Target and Walmart for Halloween goodies this year.
Only a few short weeks until Sophie and I go to Boston for a whole week, so many things to look forward to there.
I usually do a Thanksgiving dinner here but this year, H and Seth will be in L.A so we Englanders will skip it this year.
Christmas is my favourite time of year and this year, I want it to be more meaningful, more thought through and more memorable for the boys, old enough now to understand the joy of giving as well as receiving, the weeks before Christmas will be filled with doing things for other people.
Somehow the beginning of school starts all the excitement for these lovely times for me. It is the most wonderful time of the year.
I am feeling a little stunned about where we are though, Seth is starting year 5, just this year and next and then he will be in SENIOR SCHOOL! Tiny, feisty, smart, wiry little boy, already beginning to look older, with his developing shoulders and chiseled little face. When he got out of the bath last week I noticed his legs..he has the longest legs and looks like a foal! I measured him and his legs are 27" long, his body is 16" long! His arms are 21.5", he is all legs and arms and attitude.
Side by side Isaac and Seth look pretty much the same size, so I measured Isaac too, his legs are 25" and his body 16" he is much sturdier than Seth, bigger build, stronger looking but not actually stronger, Seth is like a little power pack with his 6 pack and bulging biceps ( giving his arms the appearance of knotted cotton!) Isaac is solid and less physical than Seth, happy to sit and drive trucks online, quiet and steady.
Elijah is just Elijah, he is the clumsiest child I have ever come across, it seems it is impossible for Eli to walk from one end of a room to the other without tripping, dropping, falling, breaking, spilling of tumbling. Never a meal eaten or a drink enjoyed without a spill of some kind.
He has been an animal all summer long, literally, a lion or a Jaguar, a leopard or a dog, he has been crawling everywhere for 6 weeks, I have tripped over him more times that I care to count.
At church today, as the meetings ended, he crawled on all 4s to the door and I hear myself say
" Elijah! Will you PLEASE be a human " It seemed a perfectly reasonable request at the time, scores of people all trying to leave at the same time and one little boy holding everyone up as he crawls through the imaginary jungle. It was only when I heard the appreciative snorting I realised it might have sounded bizarre to anyone but Eli's family. ( he has been known to try and eat Isaac because Isaac was sitting still and was fair PREY to a hungry Leopard. )
We are lizard ready, Seth, who for months has been preparing and saving for a tortoise, suddenly decided that actually, a lizard would be more fun. He has a vivarium, heat lamp, feeding bowl, impressive lizard ladder, sand, rocks and the money to pay for his Lizard.
Tomorrow, after school is the day. We are going to buy his Lizard. Oh we are so excited! ( I say we, I mean they, I am more nervous than anything. I am not an animal lover. At all. I am, however, very keen that any creature, mice aside, in our home be well cared for and looked after. I do not hold at all with people having pets if they are not prepared to care for them properly. I hope that this creature will not become my responsibility, I will admit to being the one to purchase the lizard ladder so it can have fun and not be horribly bored. I worry that I will find myself going in there to talk to it, so it isn't lonely. I'll be getting cats any day, baby replacements, I can see it coming. )
The boys seem ready for school, Isaac seems calmer than he has ever been, I suspect it is the promised return of routine and order that he is happy about, I am sure he will be up in the middle of the night, fully dressed and on the sofa, in anticipation of his new classroom, new teacher, new classmates. He is so brave and I am so impressed by the way he faces up to all the challenges he has to face.
Yes, indeed, this is the most wonderful time of the year. I am ready.