Ahh!!  Just one more week and it's back to the old back-to-school routine in our house.  You know, the routine that starts with the whining in the morning:

 "I don't WANT to go to school", "I HATE that cereal", "These clothes DO match!",  "Sean put my erasers in the toilet!", "He hit me!" and,  "We ALWAYS have to do chores!"

And ends with more whining in the evening:

"I don't WANT to do my homework!", "We're having THAT for dinner?", "How come HE gets to stay up later?!!"  and "I was on the computer first!!" 

In the middle of the day, there are only 3.  I will cart them along to the grocery store where they will grab things off the shelves and the 4 year old will race around to the next aisle and try to hide behind the cereal boxes.  Little does she know that I have to buy ALL the cereal in the store and I'll find her eventually!!  This is the child that is showing the 2 yr old the ropes.  She is becoming a perfect clone of her big sister.  Next year, when Sophie is off in Kindergarten, Margaret will be the one hiding out and running off.   Once Sophie is found in the cereal, she will reluctantly mosey along behind me, stopping to have conversations with people along the way:

"How OLD are you?  I'm 4.  My name is Sophie.  What's yours?  How did you get so fat?"

"You have big boobs.  I don't.  I bet they're fun."

But Gabriel is mine.  He's the youngest.  He will be lucky if I ever let him leave the house.  School is completely out of the question!!  How could I possibly let the last one go?  And he will have to invent new ways to be naughty and make his mark, because it's all been done before.  

Have I mentioned how excited I will be when they're teenagers??!?

One more week till school starts.  Ahhhhh.