Many Milestones That Happened to Us This Fall

Life, it rolls along, whether I report it here or not. That's because the characters in this blog are not fictional. See, after the end of The Scarlet Letter, Hester's cute little girl does not go on to become a grandmother and entertain the little ones with funny stories about the Puritan days. It's not that we've lost touch with the Prynne family. It's just that they cease to exist when the words stop coming.

But not this family. We've been living all along. Here are the things that have been happening:

1. Pebbles started nursery school.

For 3 years, Pebbles lived in Nutmeg's shadow, playing what Nutmeg wanted to play, and tagging along with Mommy and Toth here an there. But now, Pebbles has her own school, teachers who are charmed by her, and her own friends too. Her only regret about nursery school so far is that in just 2.5 hours, she can't do "everything." I know the feeling well.

2. I hired a mother's helper.

We now have this lady who comes over four afternoons a week to help me with the housework and the children. I can afford this, and need this, because of some new work I'm doing that I will reveal here in a future post. Actually, that new thing hasn't started yet, but in the past couple of months, Frugalista has started paying off somewhat, main thanks to the daily deal craze. (Groupon and all that.)

I love my mother's helper. She's a sweet lady from Chile who is proactive with the house and the kids, energetic and fun to be around. Should have done this years ago.

3. My brother got married.

Seriously! And it was beautiful. Would it surprise you to hear that I cried? Well, you might cry too if you see this picture.

4. We got two dogs.
OK, just kidding. We are dogsitting my brother and his bride's two dogs while they take their honeymoon. Still, quite a lifestyle shift for the week. What we have learned about these dogs so far:

a) They are much sweeter than we realized since the only time they really behave badly is when they first meet someone and jump all over them.

b) They are, however, oafs who like to dump over their water dishes and walk through their own poop.

c) Husky and lab mixes are way too big for cuddling on the couch.

5. It got to be fall.

So, that's the news from Lake Woebegone. There is more to come, when I can share, and yep, it's good. And nope, I'm not pregnant. As if.