Riley and Avery

Golden Mountain Montessori had back-to-school night for new students last night. They had a slide show showing children engaged in various activities and told us the purpose of each. Then we broke up into groups and moved around the school to different stations to see hands-on demonstrations of several activities. One teacher told me that the call Riley "Smiley Riley" because she is always laughing and smiling. They also said that she absolutely loves to paint, and they let her do it whenever she wants. She also likes to build the pink tower, which I hear her talk about all the time, so it was really nice to actually see what it was. Maria Montessori was a child development and educational genius, in my book. Now I know why parents who have children in Montessori programs are so passionate about it. I can tell that I am becoming as convinced of the benefits of a Montessori education as I am about the benefits of breastfeeding. I still can't believe how much Riley loves school. She refuses to go potty after waking up so that she can go in the school's potty. Like the wants to honor the establishment by urinating there.

Rudi watched the girls while I went to the back-to-school meeting. I guess that dealing with two children was not as scary as entering a room full of people that he doesn't know all by himself. I don't think that the kids gave him an easy time, but he had the sense not to say anything and I wasn't stupid enough to ask. I just came home and put them to bed. I still don't know if he expects me to quit Starbucks or not. I got a whole whopping $13 in tips last week, which isn't really that bad for 8 hours of work. It's nice to get some cash.

I finally got my driver's license in the mail yesterday. Maybe I'm getting vain in my old age, but the picture is absolutely horrible. Or maybe it's because I've been carrying around my expired license with a picture of me at 24, and no one looks as good at 30 as they did when they were 24. I think that I definitely need to cut my hair, but I need to resist the temptation to do it myself. I also need to buy new pants since I don't have a single pair that don't come off without unbuttoning them. I would like to get back up to 120 pounds, but this new diet has made me begin eating more healthfully, and I don't want to eat junk just to put on a few pounds.

Riley absolutely had to have a tube of cinnamon flavored hemp chapstick from the Whole Foods Market, and she's smeared it all over her face. The smell of spicy cinnamon has permeated the whole house and it's making me sick to my stomach. yuk.