Most Precious

For the first few weeks of school, Elijah was walking Hannah to her Kindergarten line at the front of the school before going to his class line. Thing is, his 3rd grade line is completely at the other end and behind the school. He didn't mind one bit. Each morning we drop them off together and watch as Elijah escorts Hannah to the proper line. Then he turns around and starts the long trek around the building - looking back to Hannah several times until he disappears from her sight. It's adorable and I can never get tired of watching that each morning. This week marked Hannah's first week going to the line by herself. We drop Elijah off closer to his line and then drive Hannah to hers. This morning I watched her as she walked to the front of the line and stood there quietly waiting for the bell to ring. These are moments a parent will never forget....

Tonight also marked Elijah's first day of Hebrew School. He's been going to Sunday school for a few years but now he's going on Wednesday nights as well. He's going to start learning Hebrew and he really loved his first day. I got a little nauseous tonight when I realized it was just five years until his Bar Mitzvah.

Sadie likes going to the "synagod" as well. She has the run of the place while she's there - doing laps around the inside of the building and stopping once in awhile to join her friends at her Sunday Training Wheels program. "Daddy, can we go to the synagod and go twimming?"

HOT SAUCE

Most of you won't care a lick about this but for those that like senseless acts of stupidity, read on.

Today was Sandwich Day at my office. Everyone brought in ingredients to make the perfect sandwich. The centerpiece of the event was an intense "eating event" that we called O.U.C.H. This stands for the Organization of Useless Chile Heads. Anyway - if you want to see what happens when grown men and women play with lethal hot sauce, click here. Otherwise, enjoy the rest of your weekend in slapstick free peace....

Back!

Thus ends the longest break in the five year history of Jawdy's Basement. I guess I've just been too busy or otherwise distracted to put it all on the blog. Either way, we are back at the keyboard and won't be going away again anytime soon.

The big news of the week is Hannah starting Kindergarten! This morning, Deb, Elijah and I took her to the doors of Ridgecrest for her first day of real school. As Elijah and I watched Deb walk her inside, I could not help but think, "man..this is the first day of about 17 YEARS of school for her..." She ran right into her class happily. Ms. Carter is her teacher and she's a legend around here. She happens to live just a few houses down from us so she recognized Hannah from the neighborhood, which certainly helped. Hannah is in morning Kindergarten, which means she will get bussed to The Winner School for her afternoon daycare every day. The bus went great today and everything went smoothly! We are proud of our little girl!

Last week was Elijah's big day as he started third grade at Ridgecrest. I cannot begin to explain how far this little boy has come. He's grown up and I am amazed by his progress from last year to this year. The best part for me is that he KNOWS IT. He talks about it. He is so proud of himself! He tells me when I pick him up at karate, "Dad, I have TWO PAGES of homework tonight. AND we have to read!" When we get home, we have dinner and he takes out his homework and does it perfectly. We've been reading an Indiana Jones book and he's doing great with that as well. Yesterday, the Sensei at the dojo told me that Elijah had "matured" since last year and acts as a mentor to the new kids in the Kickin' Kids program. He teaches them the rules and takes them under his wing. This could be the beginning of Elijah really "getting it" and taking the oldest child thing to heart. He calms Hannah and Sadie when they are upset and he genuine about it. He's just been adorable and he is amazing me every day.

Sadie is, as usual, unflappable. She started at The Winner School last week and she has preschool two mornings a week there as well. She's already made that "Sadie Impression" on her teachers and is as well adjusted just two weeks in. Oh yeah, she's cute as ever...








Candice, Scott and Mick were here in Utah for a week! They brought Elijah and Hannah back here from NJ and then, after spending a few days here at the house, left for several days in Moab at Arches National Park. After their time at the park, they returned for another few days here before heading back home to NJ and celebrating Mick's second birthday. The kids absolutely LOVE Mick and they miss him a ton already. Elijah was like a big brother to him and looked after him. Dad told Elijah last night that Mick looks up to him and that he's a good influence on Mick. That made Elijah happy.

Besides all that...the big news here in Utah is the weather breaking. We had a hail storm on Monday and patches of ice remained throughout the day. The mountains got their first snow and we are in the 50's at night. There is NOTHING like fall in Utah!

So, friends and family, there you have the long overdue update. I am sorry for the delay!! We will be back with more very soon.