Well.. they say a picture is worth 1000 words, then need I say more! I feel like these 2 pictures sum up our first true week of school! The Lucarelli Family is wiped out! No more fighting over bedtime, nope they crash! The 3 of them have settled nicely into the back to school madness! They all love their teachers, love their new friends, love the bus, etc. They wake up with excitement each day and are truly ready to go to school! Though I think these pictures show, we are excited about a long Labor Day weekend! We could all use some rest! (especially mom and dad) P.S. I know some may think it strange that the two girls sleep together, yes they all have their own rooms, but these sisters are joined at the pillow! I have tried to separate them for years now and it is just not happening! This too is o.k., I never had a sister, so I love it! plus I am sure the day is coming when they lock each other out of their rooms! ohh!... I hope not! I'll just show them these pictures!hehehe!

couldn't leave these out

Back to school

Well! I did it! I sent my baby, my youngest, the little completion if my family off to Kindergarten! I mean... my baby! Where did the time go! I know all moms say it but it truly went too fast! I could have kept her another year! I know she is ready, but not me! Thought I was, but nope! The only consolation prize is that she is in such a great place! She has Jennifer and Andrea as her teachers and I know that is better than anything I could have imagined! She will come out next year a completely different little girl, but I will still call her my baby! OMG I think I just started to cry while I blog! WTF is wrong w/ me???? I sit here, the house is quiet, I have waited for this day for 9 years! I feel like I am forcing myself to stay here and just get used to the quiet, the focusing on me and what I need to get done does not come easily! I am not a "me" person! guess I,ll have to work on that! I am a very proud mama! I love sharing these pictures! I am so excited for the next two years w/ these teachers! ( for those of you not familiar w/ our new school, it is multi- age) they combine K-1, 2-3, and 4-5 classes together! 2 Teachers, teaming w/ other great teachers! what that means for us is 2 years w/ the same teachers! So for two years I get to watch them become these amazing little people w/ the same teachers! Abby has the two that Jackson had last year, They are awesome! She was a little apprehensive yesterday, a few tears, anything new is very scary for her! But They all got off of the bus yesterday w/ Big smiles telling me it was "the best first day ever!" Jackson is w/ Mr. Mazzora and he came home all excited! He is playing it all cool as he is in the 4th grade now! I think he will do great w/ this team of teachers! He said it was great and that is all I wanna here him say on the first day! oh yea he did say it felt like he was only there for "like 5 minutes" that's good right? So to all my mom friends... Cherish your time w/ them cause it really does go fast, but when you finally get to the point of them all off, I just hope your little guys are half as lucky as mine to be w/ such awesome people to fill their days! for now I think I'll clean, organize, all of those things I said i can't do w/ them around! Then they will come home and we will talk about their days, the friends they met, who likes who, and I will just soak it all up! yep... life is good, a little too quiet, but good!

Just Rain

Well, we not only made it thru the tropical storm, we had a ball! Last night we all got cozy turned the AC down really cold (in case we lost power the house would be cool) and settled in for a rainy night! About 5 a.m. the winds really picked up and the power started to flicker on and off! That had me up for a while, then the power went off for good around 6 a.m. and stayed off until about 10 a.m. I have to say I really enjoyed the quiet and listening to all of the wind and rain! With the kids playing out in this mess all day, I feel that I am even more ready than I was to start the first day of school tomorrow! The kids are really excited w/ their outfits laid out and their backpacks are overflowing w/ supplies! So with the extra day Jackson decided to do what any boy would do! We are lucky enough to have about 10 acres behind us that belong to Jack's family so it is the perfect place for Jackson to ride his ATV. He had so much fun splashing thru our new now waterfront backyard! I couldn't help but snap a few shots of my boy, just being a boy! When I say that.. I mean REALLY awesome boy full of all of the stuff that makes them boys! by the way totally loving this new editing for my photos! thanks Kelly, one more thing to get totally obsessed with and do nothing else that I should be doing! but it's soooo fun!

Back to school

Well, we went and met our teachers for next year, toured our classrooms, got to see old friend, got to see which of our friends we will be in class with next year, and all of the other stuff that goes along with back to school! Hell, we have even laid out our "first day" outfits! I was totally gonna write about all of the excitement and then... BAM!... new plan! They say a Fay is coming right for us! Yep our first hurricane and it is totally gonna screw up our first day of school plans! I am so happy with the teachers my kids have for next year they are so excited! I am so lucky to have one of my best buddies from high school teaching Olivia next year! Andrea Chaney along w/ Jen Briggs will get to spend the days shaping and molding her into the little student she will become! They will not only teach her how to read and do math, these two gals are soo awesome. I know that the compassion and love that they give her over the next 2 years are giving her an awesome foundation for the rest of her life! I remember my kindergarten teacher and how sweet and fun she was, and that is exactly what these two have been called to do! Ya know when you meet someone and say to yourself "she should be a kindergarten teacher" well these two are just that! With their soft fun little teacher voices and their creative juices always flowing I know Olivia will still be talking about her first teachers for a lifetime! So meet Mrs. Chaney and Mrs. Briggs! Then let me go on and on about Abby's teachers for next year! Mrs. Steel and Mrs. Conforti! I have been blessed to have had them last year for Jackson and I am soo excited for Abby next year! These girls are tough! But also loving sweet and SO MUCH FUN! They not only teach these kids math and reading and writing and science etc., they have fun doing it! Jackson is having a hard time saying good-bye and moving on to 4th grade because he will miss them sooo much! That just makes me sooo happy for my Abby! So here is Mrs. Steel and Mrs. Conforti! Sorry I have none to post of Jackson with Mr. Mazzora and Mrs. Vidauri, but getting that shot is a little hard w/ a way too cool 9 year old! So I promise, when we finally have the first day of school you'll get to meet them!

Go Team U.S.A.

With all of the excitement of the opening ceremonies tonight I thought it appropriate to write about swimming! All 3 kids swam on a swim team this summer, the oldest 2 this is their second year! They swim for the Montereys and I have to say it is quite cute! Jackson has become pretty good and I must say the breaststroke is his thing! Abby is coming along, but the smile on her face when she finishes a race(last every time) is so worth it! She thinks this is the greatest! Olivia was a little nervous at first, but we have to say she is a natural! She swims so hard and then when she takes a breath... she stops! then start again! It is hysterical! All of them have been watching their time, and they are all improving pretty well! It is a huge commitment, practice on Mondays and Tuesdays w/ meets on Thurs. nights! For now they only swim on the summer league, we will be moving on w/ hockey soccer, piano lessons and all the other fun stuff back to school brings, but as we watch the games over the next few weeks... they will be encouraged! Who knows maybe we will have another Michael Phelps in the making! HA!

Well as I promised... my post on fishing! We went over to the Lintzenich's for a family dinner w/ old friends (and new ones) and I think "Doc"( Jackson's new name for Amy's dad) had been planning this one for a while! I don't know who enjoyed it more the kids or him! As the Adults enjoyed things like brie w/ grapes and shrimp cocktail and awesome wine (or beer for some) Dr. L taught the kids fishing 101 in the lakes at Kensington! He had it all planned out, where the adults were to sit and watch and the two trees that the kids would stay between! Youngest to oldest they went, Madison first followed by Olivia Abby, and Callie! Jackson and Reese were baiting their own hooks before long and the fish were a bite in! We all hung out until well after sunset watching them shriek and giggle! A little piece of me missed my dad for them! But what a better person than "Doc" to be the one to put his hand so gently around my babies and calmly teach them about something that means so much to him! We laughed and took lots of pictures and just enjoyed being together doing something quite simple! Then as it grew dark we headed in for a yummy dinner and MORE yummy wine and more laughing! Oh that's right... not every one... Jackson and Reese stayed out w/ their flashlights until they caught the big one! The most awesome catfish! In which Doc promptly put down his wine glass got out a fillet knife and showed them the how to of filleting the fish! These were memories that will not be forgotten! I so love the man that made these memories for them! Oh by the way... Jackson is now consumed w/ fishing! We had to go buy the exact pole we used that night, only we used shrimp this time and he fished all day yesterday off My bro in law and sis in laws house! Caught 3 mangrove snapper and a teeny tiny snook! Yep.. he's got the fishin bug!

Good Times

My BF Amy and her family came in this past week! Whew! What fun! We always revert back to our 16 year old self when we are together and it is like a huge release of stress to hang out together! She came w/ her husband Hyden and his girls Reese and Callie! We had pizza at the Deli, then we were out for Jack's b-day! We went to the water park and all sorts of fun! One highlight was fishing at her parents house! That will be another blog because it was so special! This one is for Amy! I am ready for her to live closer! My kids adore their Aunt Amy and it hurts my heart that we can't experience our day to day challenges of life together! Jack knows, when we get together the sound decibel will be broken at some point! The cool thing is she married a guy who ( I think ) truly gets a kick out of it! So for the next week we will recover, we will slow down hang out and pretty much miss our Aunt Amy!