aaahhhhh......"cooler" weather today

Today at my parents church was a "guest speaker", well he was a guest to some folks there, but to me it was so nice to see/hear Pastor Stertzbach (uncle David) at church.  I wish he was able to stay longer, but he does have his own church in Arizona, and I am sure he would like to go home where his wife is as well.  Josh and I (and the kids) had the opportunity to spend some time with him the other day and we wanted to take him to lunch. anywhere he wanted....he picked Als.  We loved that we could take him somewhere that was special to him, and it of course is a place we all love. Its also where Josh and I had our first date :)
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Last night I mentioned that we were watching a movie -Life as we know it- and I feel the need to give an update on that.  So, here it is:  While it was a very good movie, had lots of good acting, funny moments. I was not happy about the way it was advertized as a comedy.  I seriously, was depressed after watching this movie.  Josh and I ended up staying up late talking, and literally going in and giving each of the kids hugs (while not waking them up of course!) Josh ended up having some bad/sad dreams as a result of watching the movie.....now seriously, I feel like I need to have a conversation with the kids godparents and make sure everyone is on board just in case! And it also left me feeling completely helpless when it comes to the safety of my family. God forbid something happened to me, Josh, Athena or Caleb. I truly do not know what I would do. I guess I would do my best to continue life as we know it, but seriously, i am tearing up writing this, and thinking about the unthinkable. so anyway....Life as we know it. NOT a comedy. Do NOT watch this alone, do NOT watch this if you have children, of any age, and seriously, drive safe!!!!!
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Ok, now that I am slightly depressed again, and you are thinking what is wrong with this girl, why is she so upset about that movie?, just go rent it and see for yourself :)
Today Josh was off, so after church we went to my parents and had a cookout, and let the kids swim. It was so beautiful out. not super hot, but still sunny and nice.  then the boys went home and athena and I went school shopping. she wanted to get every pencil,eraser,marker,crayon notebook etc.. that they had, but I managed to contain some of her enthusiasm! we also had to get a lu nchbox for her brother so that "he wont be sad when I [athena] go to school"  anyway, that was a new thing for me, buying school supplies with my daughter. not ready for this. want to keep her little. want her to stay home with me where it is safe.....but at the same time I cant wait to see her grow up, become independant,show her teacher how smart she is, make new friends...... Yep, I am still adjusting to this new stage in our life.  those of you with older kids...any tips for me on surviving the first day of school, and any other helpful hints/ideas/tricks to make everything go a little smoother?