And the good news is...

...that Lauren, Miranda's case worker from the Mt. Laurel School District, called me yesterday to say Miranda has a place in Ms. Barbara Borden's class at Springville Elem. That means Alex and Miranda will be in the same building and should be able to take the same bus in the morning, starting in November, after Miranda turns 3. I know Ms. Barbara from field trips as her class usually joins Alex's whenever they go out and think the world of her. This is really great news!

Our IEP meeting was supposed to be next Monday morning but was moved to Sept. 14 to give Lauren a little more time to have everything spelled out in black and white. But now that I know where Miranda will be, I feel so much better.

Surviving Here (God Bless Grandma)

Last week was such fun that my mother agreed to come and help me get through the rest of August and she arrived Monday afternoon. Of course, both kids screamed for the 25 minutes before we left for the airport (late!) but were happy to see her when we finally got to the airport 35 minutes later. And we have decided traveling to San Diego for Thanksgiving is just not a good idea (the thought of Miranda on an airplane for untold hours still gives me the horrors!) so we have invited everybody to come here. Of course, if everyone comes, we'll be full up and sending people out to sleep at the houses of other friends and family, but it will still be fun. Boyle's love a full house and my husband is an indulgent man.

So now I need to make my wish list of things to do while she's here. We may try to clean out the garage on Saturday. Fun, fun, fun!

And now for something completely different (revisted)

In March, I wrote up the movies we were planning to see in the spring and summer. I thought now would be a good time to revisit the list with short reviews and add a few:

March 6
Watchmen
I found this movie fascinating even though I haven't read the graphic novel; afterwards, I realized it was the first "R" rated movie I've actually seen in the theatre.

May 1
Wolverine
Passed on it because of poor reviews.

May 8
Star Trek
Saw it twice in the first week and still want to see it again!

May 22
Terminator: Salvation
Passed on it because of poor reviews.

May 29
Up
LOVED IT!

June 24
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Did see it. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Had a few moments I liked. Of course, Roger Ebert's rant against it has been pretty amusing to follow.

July 17
Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince
Really liked it, although for the first time, I didn't reread the book before the movie. The actors were really wonderful but my biggest disappointment was no good kiss between Harry and Ginny.

August 9
G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
Still looking for a sitter so we can go see it.

Dec 18
Avatar
This is all that's available.

Additions:
Moon
We saw it the Fourth of July and loved it! Second "R" rated movie for me in theatres.

Hurt Locker
Opened mid-July. Dying to see it. I'm a new fan of Jeremy Renner.

District 9
Opens tomorrow. Marshall really wants to see it and I'm interested.

And our favorite sitter leaves for Disney early Saturday morning. Dang.

The To Do List just keeps growing...

So, in the last week, FINALLY, Marshall and I wrote our fundraising letter for the GoodLooking Foundation Strides Walk on October 4, 2009 (Alex's 6th birthday, in fact). I had decided months ago that I wanted to walk to help raise funds for GLF since they have been SO good to us! So, if you haven't received the email, click here to see our page. Of course, I was supposed to have set the page up in May, but we got busy and tired and...it didn't get done. Same old story. I'm sure it's never happened to you. :)

I know I've been hardly posting for months, but Alex (accidently) broke my laptop in June and Miranda broke Marshall's (not so accidently) in July, so we've been surviving on Uncle Brandon's old one helpfully donated by Grandma and Grandpa and updated by Marshall, but it means we have to share and so the times when I used to be posting, Alex is using it. Or, in the evenings, I'm out walking to prep for the 5K walk on October 4th, or I'm just too darn tired.

If you haven't seen new pictures of the kids, the candid ones are here and the formal ones are here. They are still two of the cutest kids on the planet.