- John started preschool at Miss Lisa's Montessori School on Wednesday, September 3rd. He started going there last spring, so it wasn't totally new to him. He was excited to start again. It goes without saying that I was excited for him to start again too! He goes three mornings a week. Here he is on the first day of school before leaving:
- Peter works a lot, and we have no family close by, so John and I spend a lot of time alone together. One warm, sunny Friday afternoon at the beginning of the month we went to a nearby park to hang out. I miss the warm, green summer weather, but I can't whine too much because we're in the middle of a beautiful fall right now.
This little monkey loves to climb!
Then we walked down to the river and did one of John's favorite things, which is throwing rocks in the river. He's developing his throwing arm for baseball in a few years.
- On Saturday, Sept. 6th, we had a lobster bake at our house for Peter's family. It was fun, and the food was dee-lish, especially the poor (delicious) lobsters.
- On Saturday, Sept. 20th, my mother and I spent the day at a Time Out for Women conference up in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was very good, although I thought that last year's was a little better. I got to buy some great Deseret Book loot. The whole thing was our little taste of Utah out here in the East. I also ran into an old friend from high school who I hadn't seen in years. It was so nice to see Rachael and her wonderful mother again!
- Because one preschool just isn't enough, John goes to two preschools. On Tuesday mornings he does Joy School with three friends from church. It's such a good program, teaching about the joys of the earth, the body, and good values like honesty and kindness. My mom taught it for me and my siblings with a group of her friends when I was little. I taught it for the first time on Sept. 23rd, and I was so tired afterwards. It was harder than I thought it would be! But it's a lot of fun and I'm enjoying it, and so is Johnny. He really likes the music, so I get the Joy School songs stuck in my head all the time.
Sami, Adam (Alyson's son), Wyatt, and John during "rest time" (Yeah right!)
The boys love to wrestle. I love it that Sami, our lone girl, beats them all here!
- My visiting teachers, Candace and Christie, came to visit me and brought lovely treats. They're so wonderful! I ate all of the delicious pumpkin muffins that day because I'm a pig.
These were my favorite product discoveries made in September:
- Benefit's That Gal Skin Brightening Primer. I've never bothered with primers before; I just figured it was a way for companies to make more money from a product you don't really need. But I finally decided to give primer a try, and I've been nicely surprised out of my cynicism by how well this works. It's very light, and don't let the pink color fool you. It sinks right into skin and instantly brightens it up! My complexion hasn't looked as nice as it does now in a long time.
- Another beauty product: Mario Badescu's Hyaluronic Eye Cream. It makes the skin around my eyes glow. It's wonderful! I use it at morning and night, and seriously, I can't tell you how smooth and glowing it makes the skin around my eyes look. This will probably become a cult classic in my life!
- Tropicana Coastal Groves Lemonade. It's so good. I LOVE lemonade, and this one is my new favorite.
Other random things that happened (or didn't) in September
- I had a somewhat big career decision to make this month. Make the commitment to return to a freelance editing job or not? I'll write more about this and what I decided to do sometime soon.
- I didn't get pregnant again this month. Again. Aaargh! So John continues to enjoy the benefits of being an only child, with lots of one-on-one attention focused all on him. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Probably a little of both, but we make the best of it that we can. If it were up to me, I'd have two kids by now and be pregnant with the third, but that's just not the way things are shakin' up.
- Best book I read in September: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. This book was so good and I recommend it to anyone who loves a good, classic mystery in the vein of great classic literature (think Jane Eyre).
- Best movie I saw in September: Nancy Drew. Don't laugh! It was the new one with Emma Roberts (Julia's niece) playing Nancy. I thought this movie was so cute. I loved reading all of the Nancy Drew books when I was younger, and I think she's such a good role model for girls.
- My biggest addiction in September was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I don't know why, but all of a sudden I couldn't get enough of these!
And last but not least, here are some of my favorite pictures that I took in September that haven't been posted on the blog:
Is this shirt presumptuous? When I saw it at The Children's Place, I had to get it. He needed longsleeve shirts anyway.
Seatbelts can be very confusing. (Maybe he's not a future Ivy League student after all.)
Christy's silky-soft head in the sunlight
I love John's expression here. It's so glum and funny, especially with his little ear sticking out. He's very excited for Halloween and has already dressed up in his dragon costume several times.
How funny is this expression I captured on Brody's face? He looks like a demon kitty! 
So that was my September, in a nutshell. It was a pretty good month overall!
