Whatever it is, name it after me.

It's the child-photographing equivalent of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. 

According to Heisenberg, you may either determine the velocity of a particle, or it's position, but you cannot know both at the same time, because by observing either, you are changing the situation.

I hereby postulate that any time a child is performing some adorable or hideous or adorably hideous act, they will repeat it for hours...until you find the camera and the right camera setting.  Then said child will freeze and stare dully at the device, as if all sparkle and sunshine have left them entirely.

Cuteness and permanent record are mutually exclusive, except in rare and amazing circumstances.

First Day of School and Tonsillitis.

These kids had the fun one, I had the other.

I have heard a lot of memorable things from the kids this week.

Ivy, looking around her kindergarten classmates:  "I didn't know I had so many friends!"  I have raised a sociable child!

Maggie, in her best cute matter-of-fact voice:  "Friday is our new Thursday."  (The day Aunt Laural visits.)  I have raised a kid who likes routines!

Hollis, in the back of the car:  "I'm going to spend all day Saturday reading!"  Oh, it warms my heart to see that reading has finally caught fire inside him.  I have raised another reader!

Liv, also in the back of the car:  "We finally got to play our instruments in band and have new really hard Can-Can music."  She has been very dedicated to her trumpet this summer and has practiced without being reminded to do so.  I have raised another band geek!

Lochlan:  "I want to wash my hands."  I have raised a hygienic child.  For a kid who refuses toilet #2's, he is surprisingly fastidious.

Cora:  "Puppy!"  Also, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhh!"  It means up, but she's not very polite about it.  I have raised another impatient English-speaker!

A New Hope.

Bonus points for laughing at my nerdy title.  So, as you can see, I've sucked a bit lately at posting every day.  We've been super-productive at work and trying to get the kids back to school and taking a mini-vacation to St. Louis with my parents.  More later on all that, if you're lucky.

I've been wanting to do something fitness-wise for the past several months, and today we started doing it.  I found a simple "Couch to 5K" schedule and we did the first round today.  Five minutes of brisk walking to warm up. Then, 60 seconds jogging followed by 90 seconds walking until twenty minutes have passed.

Friends, it sort of kicked my butt.  All perfectionism aside, I know that as much as I would like to be in decent enough shape to set the bar higher...I am not.  But I am doing something, and that's where the hope is.  I hope in a couple of weeks a few minute-long intervals of jogging won't fry me.