Small Successes-September 15th

Celebrating the little things in life that add up.

1. I cleaned the van this week.  I dusted the interior, vacuumed the carpet, shampooed the floor mats and washed the windows.  I even washed the exterior.  I'm sure this qualifies as one of the strangest ways to nest.  I simply couldn't bear the thought of installing the baby's car seat in a dirty van.  Now I just need to figure out when I should install the car seat.  I'll be 37 weeks along on Sunday and the midwife told me last Friday that she doesn't think I'll make it to 38 weeks based on the fact that I was already dilated and thinning out.

2. I took the pile of things we set aside to donate to Good Will this week.  I also found a new home for several bags of outgrown clothing.  I'm very happy that I could find someone who could use the clothes.

3. I spent part of this morning removing clothes that either don't fit Madeline anymore or aren't seasonally appropriate from her closet.  This freed up a lot of space in her closet and will hopefully lead to her being a bit more organized.

4. I'm almost ready for my first religious ed class of the new year.  I got the folders, crafts and coloring pages for my students ready to go for our first class.  I just need to print out my welcome letter to the parents and do a few more things, like update the class blog, and I'll be all set.  This year I have 15 children in my class.  It's the biggest kindergarten class that I've had so far, not counting the massive kindergarten VBS class I taught last year.  I'm looking forward to getting started.

5. I haven't blogged much this week, but Madeline turned 10 years old on Monday.  It's so hard to believe she's in the double digits now.  We had a party for her at the craft store on Saturday night with her friends.  They made beaded bracelets and had a good time.  Then on Sunday my parents and brothers came over and had pizza and cake with us.  On Monday, we took Madeline out to the Olive Garden for dinner.  She was thrilled when she discovered that the pumpkin cheesecake was back on the menu.  Apparently the cheesecake was the reason she wanted to go there for her birthday dinner.

6. On Saturday I survived sitting out in 97 degree heat for Madeline's 12:30 soccer game.  The weather forecast said it wasn't supposed to get above 78, but that was obviously wrong.  Amazingly, the temperature by our house a mere twenty minutes away was 10 degrees cooler than the town where her game was held.