First Day of School

Finally. The day we've been waiting for all summer. We were up early to beat the rush and got to school with plenty of time to spare. We dropped off our supplies and took quick pics with the new teachers and that was that! Elisabeth is in 3rd grade, her teacher is Mrs. Crow. Catherine is in 1st grade with Mrs. Marder. It's going to be a great year!

(Because of the ridiculous overcrowding in our 2-year-old school, the entire third grade is out in the portable classrooms. They couldn't put kindergarten, 1st or 2nd grade out there, since it's a 10 minute walk to the bathrooms inside. They didn't risk putting 4th or 5th grade out there because they were afraid they'd leave campus. So the 3rd graders won! It's like a little village out there. Complete with puddles of stagnant water breeding mosquitoes in the incessant heat. Hopefully this will be the last year with this portable business, as a new elementary school is being built about two blocks away. But I digress ... )

Anyhoo, I am excited to be back into a routine, although these little girls will be very, very tired by the end of the week.

My conversation with Matthew after we returned this morning went like this:

Matthew: Where are the sissies?

Me: Uh, Sweetie, they are at school.

Matthew: No, they are in the game closet. (Looks in the game closet.)

Matthew: They are not there. I know! They are hiding under my bed. (Looks under his bed.)

Me: Sweetie they went to school, they'll be back this afternoon.

Matthew: Oh.

He's been wandering around aimlessly this morning. It's awfully quiet around here ... It may take Matthew some time to get used being the lone man in the house again. Poor kid.

A Conversation with Matthew

We spent yesterday at the pool, enjoying our last day of freedom before school starts tomorrow. Matthew and I were resting on a chair and having a snack. I was distracted, watching the girls in the water, when Matthew turned my face toward him and began this dialog:

Matthew: Mommy, listen to me.

Me: Yes, Matthew.

Matthew: Mommy, I have a very important job.

Me: You do? What is it?

Matthew: I make people happy.

Me: Yes you do, Matthew! And that is a very, very important job.

Matthew: That's all.

It's incredible to think that just a few months ago, we were struggling to understand anything Matthew said. And now, out of the blue, such insight! Such wisdom! I wish I could say this was his "full-time" job -- it's temp work, at best. But it's almost enough to help me forget the time-outs and trips to the naughty step. For a few minutes. (The picture above is, obviously, not from yesterday. He and Brad were feeding the Lories at the Lisbon Zoological Park a few weeks ago. At that moment, Matthew was definitely making us -- and the birds --happy.)

Leone Family Makes Its Way Onto the Web

Hey, y'all! We're finally online -- though it seems like we must be the last family in North America to start a blog.

I, Tiffany, have been married to my husband, Brad, for 12 years and we have three incredible children: Elisabeth Rose (8), Catherine Eleanor (6) and Matthew Scott (2).

As a family, we've lived in Utah, Orange County, Calif., the San Francisco Bay Area, and northwest Ohio. I'm not sure if we'll settle in Texas for good -- it only has two seasons as far as I can tell (really, really hot and rainy) -- but we're giving it the ol' college try.

Like most moms, I spend my days running a shuttle, short-order cooking, cleaning and tutoring. But before devoting my every waking moment to my offspring, I was an editor in the great big world of publishing.

As a family, we are museum and historic-site junkies. Constantly in search of good Italian/Mexican/Thai/Mediterrean food and hole-in-the-wall barbeque joints, we love good eats. But not as much as we love to travel. We are very lucky to have been to the places we've been and seen the things we've seen.

Humidity and hustle and bustle aside, our life is good. With this blog, I will attempt to document all the goings-on of the Leone clan -- perhaps I'll be more successful in this venture than I have been with scrapbooking (my personal albatross). Don't expect too much by way of links or multi-media elements, and I'll try not to disappoint you.