Amazing Weekend

Wow, look at me - posting twice in the space of a week. I'm a regular blogging powerhouse! ;)

Actually, it was just such a wonderful weekend that I really wanted to write about it. Just thinking about it makes me smile.

Friday night, we went to the family bingo fundraiser at Sadie's school. We went last year for the first time and had such a good time that we were pretty excited to go back. Let me just say that this event isn't for everyone. It is crowded, noisy, chaotic and raucus - probably exactly why we love it! Seriously, I just get a kick out of seeing everyone come out to support the school. It is a nice chance to socialize with other parents and the kids love 'competing' and picking out their crappy, dollar-store prizes when they win. As a bonus, I love seeing Sadie work the room - running over and greeting all the kids she knows and just generally acting as if she owns the place. She has really blossomed so much out of the shy kid who was so intimidated by crowds not too long ago. Anyway, as if the night wasn't fun enough - our family ended up winning the 'grand finale' round and scoring $50. Go Team Cotler!

Saturday, I took Sadie ice-skating as part one of Abby's birthday celebration. Four girls, four moms. Oh. my. goodness. Thank goodness we had a 1-1 ratio - those girls got out on the ice and it was just a tangle of slipping and sliding limbs everywhere. It was a lot of fun, though, and by the end, Sadie was really catching on and skating unassisted (well, with frequent visits to the wall to steady herself). I had gone to a pilates class right beforehand, and the combination of the class and the workout I got skating (first time in probably 25 years) had me feeling it pretty good by Saturday evening.

That evening was part two of Abby's celebration. Carolyn and Kenny had a big crowd over for pizza, presents and adult beverages. We had a great time hanging out with some parents we already know pretty well, and some we got to know better while the whole gaggle of kids just ran wild all night. Good times!

I was feeling it (the drinking and the skating soreness) when I woke up on Sunday. But, we had a packed day ahead of us, so no time to lie in bed and recover. We had Evan's parents over for breakfast, then got our act together and headed in to the city for the day. The weather was perfect and we had a super easy trip in, picked up Jeff and headed up to the Bronx Zoo. The kids loved it (as did we). We then headed back down to Jeff's apartment and made a great dinner and celebrated the fantastic news that Jeff and Anonda are expecting!!!!!!!!!!!!! So happy for them.

We came back late last night, and after transporting to sleepy kids from car to bed basically just collapsed into bed ourselves. I got nothing done that I was planning on doing this weekend as far as errands and chores (oy, the laundry pile is frightening as this point), but it was just a glorious weekend all around, that sometimes you gotta just go with it. We were all exhausted this morning (no one got enough sleep all weekend) so I'm going to make a real effort to tone it down this week and have some quiet evenings and early bedtimes and hopefully we'll all be back on track in no time.

Checking In

Over the course of the past month, I've mentally reminded myself that I needed to get here and check in a bunch of times, but somehow, it didn't happen. Eh, what can I say? Life has been busy.

We are really going full throttle with the whole school-year routine at this point, and summer vacation is really just a distant memory. So...what's been going on? Well, for the kids it has been school, soccer, brownies, swimming (Eden), new friends, birthday parties and playdates. Along the way, Sadie has lost a few teeth (she is currently sporting that delicious, quintessentially seven year old toothless grin), and gained her first trophy (for participating in soccer). We decorated, carved, costumed and trick-or-treated for Halloween. We took a mini-road trip to Maryland to help Kayleigh ring in her birthday (and to practice for our BIG trip in February).

For me, it has been a lot of volunteering at both kids' schools. I made a promise to myself that I would get more involved this year, and man, I wasn't kidding! A typical week now has me at one or both of their classes, attending parent committee meetings, working book fairs and bake sales, and just generally running like mad trying to fit all of this in with work. It is definitely hard to be as involved as you want when you've got that pesky job in the way, but not impossible. It is really rewarding, though...to know that you are doing something that so directly and positively impacts the kids. I love getting to see them during the day, I really like getting to know so many of the kids in the school ("Sadie's mom is here! Hi Sadie's mom!"), and it has been a great way to connect with more of the parents. So, it is all good. Just...busy.

I guess I can forgive myself for not updating here as often as I had planned and hoped. I'll be back soon to upload some pictures.