First Day of Third Grade -- Check!

If ever there was a child who very desperately needed summer to end so she could return to the land of school, it's this one.

HOOBOY was Mila ready to go back. Summer camp was fun and all of that, but she needs more people. Give that kid all of the people. Can she have hundreds of classmates? Because she would like hundreds of classmates, please and thank you.

So. Third grade.

No, that's not a typo. Somehow we all blinked and that tiny baby is in third grade.

Third grade.

Mila makes her own lunch every day. She gets herself dressed all by herself each morning. She even remembers to brush her teeth without being told. But can she spell "first?" Of course not. She would have to care about those things called rules and she most definitely doesn't care about rules. Spelling and grammar are nothing but a system of rules, so I expect she'll start working within them in about ... never. She's never going to do it.

She loves math, though. Solving problems is sort of a super power, so math aligns with her general goals. While there are rules carefully woven through the math world, Mila can get to an answer without following any of them (uh, she doesn't "new math" - she has her very own way of solving literally everything, which leads to her getting points taken off, but she consistently has the correct result so I'm probably eventually going to have to get in a fight with her teacher about that whole "show your work thing"). It's kind of interesting to watch her work out her results because the path she takes makes sense to literally only her. But it works. So.

Besides math and making new friends, Mila's main concerns for third grade are that she better get to learn about different kinds of clouds FINALLY and she is super looking forward to having swimming classes. I'm super looking forward to dripping wet swimsuits being crammed in her backpack for weeks on end.

The child. She is predictable.

And I predict she'll have a really good year.

Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread

Alexis' love for all things pumpkin spice knows no limits. She is basically asking me to "pumpkin up" everything I make these days, which isn't new. She's been doing it every September/October FOREVER. Which leads to things like this, the recipe for which I first posted a few years ago:

Monkey Bread. With pumpkin spice magic.

She asked for it, and then carefully described what it meant to her. There was a "pumpkin pie like filling" requirement which became the critical part and really. The kid has good ideas. It's a fact.

Pumpkin Spice Monkey Bread

4 small cans refrigerated biscuits
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup butter
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pie mix, just pumpkin)
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon (yes, again)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray nonstick spray inside a fluted pan.

3. Cut the biscuits into quarters.

4. In a gallon storage bag, combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Then toss the biscuit pieces in a few at a time and shake the bag to coat the biscuits with sugar.

5. Toss the sugar-coated biscuits into the fluted pan.

6. In a small bowl, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice then stir until well combined.

7. Pour over the biscuits and smooth out.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. It's done when the top is lightly browned.

9. Allow to cool and then invert on a plate. You'll end up with pumpkin pie at the bottom and monkey bread on top and happy everywhere between.

So, That Happened

Is it too soon for this?

It's too soon for that.

Despite the fact that I was granted my very own driver's license on my 14th birthday (Yes ... FOURTEENTH. Gotta love living in the sticks in North Dakota.), I somehow think it is physically impossible that enough years have passed for that particular child to be allowed to operate a motor vehicle without supervision.

Alas.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania disagrees with me. They think she's perfectly ready to just plow through the air in a 4000 pound hunk of metal and plastic. The only - and I do mean ONLY - reason I'm on board with letting infants drive is that once that kid has her own car, she will be able to drive herself to dance and THEN WHAT WILL I DO WITH MYSELF OMG?

I have spent the past several years acting as Alexis' full-time chaueffer. I literally have driven 30,000 miles in the past year, most of them taking her places. I'm about to have a whole lot of time on my hands. (Shhhh... we're ignoring the part where Mila still needs to be taken places. She's less ... EVERYTHING than Alexis.)

The good/bad news is that Alexis seemed to have gotten the idea that a car would just magically fall out of the sky and land in her parking spot in the driveway. Which hahahahahalololololzzzznoooo. She is going to have to save up some money and at least pay the down payment. That shouldn't be an issue considering she's had a job for a year and a half, but some people spend more at Sephora in one stop than I have in my entire life SO.

Ahem.

I'll let you know when Alexis figures out how to prioritize her spending a bit more so you know to stay off the roads. It's going to get wild out there.