BilikFamily.com

Boys - Yesterday was the first day of school for the girls. The boys visited the classroom and teacher that they'll have, but it was just an open house. Today is the first day the boys actually attend school … by themselves … without mom nearby. We suspect that the twins will do fine. It's Timothy that we're worried about. He thinks he's a virtual triplet. He should be able to do anything his older twin brothers do. Unfortunately his preschool is in the morning, but the twins' kindergarten is in the afternoon. Pray that they all do well today. Quoting Marvin from the Hitchhiker's Guide, "this will all end in tears, I just know it…." Michelle has a camera ready, but doesn't anticipate it being a photogenic situation.

France - I took Michelle out to dinner last night at The Black Forest Cafe in Amherst. I had to break the sad news. I'll be spending a week in Grenoble, France on a business assignment. I know it sounds insincere, but I wish I didn't have to go. I've been on these business trips before where the destination sounds exotic, but often times you are so busy with work, it isn't nearly as exciting as it sounds. And with today's travel security, it's only more of a pain in the backside. My supervisor did this trip a few weeks ago and it was 26 hours out and 23 returning!

Cyprian - Hey! Today's Saint Quote is from St. Cyprian, patron of our alma mater:

“Whatever a man prefers to God, that he makes a god to himself.”

Stats - I was looking up something this morning and found a site that compares city data. See River Grove, Milford, and Benton Harbor. Wow! It looks like mom and dad will get to deal with even more snow than I do?! Perhaps it's not as bad as their new home is a bit more inland from Lake Michigan.

Evening update [9pm] - The boys made it. Timothy cried initially when Michelle and his brothers didn't leave the van with him and the van drove away. I can't say I don't blame him. He's only 3 1/2. If it weren't for the speech therapy, we wouldn't have him in school so soon. Later Michelle and the twins picked him up and played for a short spell at the nearby park. Then it was the twins turn. They left the van and had no qualms. They were eager to go and by all reports had a good afternoon.

In the evening I emptied both cameras and made an album with ten pictures. The first is a bit of a vanity shot of the VW. I was testing whether our old digital camera was still working and realized I'd never taken a shot of my daily driver. About half of the pictures are from that older camera. Many of the pictures are shots of the girls. Michelle didn't take any pictures of the boys, mainly because the school is sort of a drive-thru drop off. It might have been different if she parked the van and got out with them.

Weekend ahead - This weekend is a three day weekend since I get Monday off. The office was nice enough to also give us early dismissal on Friday. Who-hoo!