Back to School {2012} and Back to Blogging

Oh goodness.  I don’t even know where to begin.  I feel like I am relearning a foreign language sitting here at my computer putting my thoughts into words right now. 

How do I do this again??? 

I’m sure it will come back to me.  Kind of like riding a bike again, I guess.  I hope so!

All of my family, friends, blog readers and myself will be very glad to get past the Easter post that has been sitting here for the past 5 months.  MOVING ON ALREADY!  Sheesh…

I don’t feel like being very wordy right now and spilling my guts and all of the feelings I have been sorting through for awhile now, but I will say that I desperately needed a break and now I desperately need the therapy that comes along with blogging.  There is something special and refreshing about working on a post and then pushing the publish button.  It makes ME feel alive again and that is what I have missed.  I have missed celebrating my life with others.  Taking pictures, putting words to them and documenting my family’s life story makes me feel like my life is real.  I have proof of this wonderful life and all of the many things we do each day.  Sometimes it doesn’t feel so wonderful.  It feels a little overwhelming actually, but sharing my life with others helps me search more diligently for the good in each and every day.  The good from the great big milestones to the little quiet moments in a day that could easily get overlooked if I wasn’t paying attention.  I want to appreciate all of the blessings I have! 

OK.  So maybe I will back up for a minute after all and make this just slightly wordy.  I am in my own little therapy session right now.  My blogging therapy.  :)  Here we go…

Life can get so busy and I have to make decisions on how I spend my time every day.  Each Spring I struggle with keeping up on everything.  It is my family’s busiest time of year.  Last May I made the hard decision to put the computer behind me.  COMPLETELY BEHIND ME.  I was starting to resent all of the time I spent on the computer and how it seemed like everything had to be done through the computer.  I needed to focus on the voice inside my own head and not pay attention to the voices of others from all over the entire world.  Sometimes in the Internet-world things are at our fingertips too easily.   I felt good about the decision.  I knew I needed to get back to the basics of my life.  I wanted the undivided time with my family and to completely live in the moment with them.  I truly enjoyed our time together and always putting them first – no matter what. 

But then (there is always a but) I realized how much time had passed and all of the things I let go.  I honestly couldn’t remember why I loved my hobbies before.  I was fully aware of how much time they took and how I was always busy doing something, but I couldn’t remember the why’s.  Why were they important to me?  Why did I do the things I did?  I sat on that thought for a long time, waiting for an answer to come.  I knew something was missing, something that completed me. That sounds funny and slightly dramatic because really my faith, family and friends complete me and I have those things, but there was a piece of me that was empty.  I realized  the ache that I couldn’t push away (and trust me,  I tried really hard to push that feeling away) was my hobbies.  They made ME … ME.  They made me as a person, interesting and an individual.  I have something to offer others when I am an individual.  I also realized that my well was completely dry.  For the first time in my life I fully understood the importance of having water in my well.  I needed to give water to others and I needed water reserves for myself so I could get through the periods of drought. 

The light bulb went on.  Ohhhhh…so that’s what they mean by that.  I get it!  Lesson learned.  We as mothers need to provide for ourselves.  For our individual selves.  We are worth it!  Our families and others around us will benefit.  I know this is true.  Life is a game of balance and I need to remember to continually put myself back in the game. 

Anyway, I felt slightly overwhelmed wondering where to start with this blog of mine but then I realized it really didn’t matter.  I just needed to get the first post done.  After a long break from anything the first is always the hardest but it gets easier and the juices start flowing again.  So here it is…

Back to School {2012}  This is a special request from Nana Moes.  Thank you for not giving up on me!  I love you.  This is a great way to stay in touch and I will not forget that. :) 

The kids started the school year towards the end of August.  They just finished up their 6th week of school.  6 weeks already?! 

Drew is in First Grade. 

He is still the same ol’ Drew – loveable, cuddly, sweet and sensitive with the role of “annoying little brother” perfected at times.  His big brother is still his #1 idle and best friend.  He has become quit the reader and is doing great with Math.  He has discovered a new sport – Soccer.  This is his first season playing soccer.  He enjoys every minute and is so much fun to watch on the field.  He keeps telling me he loves soccer more than baseball.  I tell him he is breaking my heart and I just can’t part with those cute little bum hugging baseball pants. He thinks that is hilarious and laughs like crazy!

Jake is in Fourth Grade.

Jake is still our boy full of knowledge and facts.  He enjoys reading advanced books of all kinds and remembers everything. He gives me a play by play of his day the second he walks through the door.  He loves to talk and share everything!  He has the best sense of humor and can take a joke like no other.  His laugh is the best!   He is passionate about football and gathers a group of neighborhood friends together every single day to play football in our side yard.  I hope he remembers these days!

Kaylee is in Sixth Grade.

This is a mile stone year for Kaylee.  It is her first year of Jr. High. Yikes!  She has grown up so much.  Almost over night it feels like.  She is having a very positive experience so far and I am so proud of her for all the things she is doing and accomplishing.   She is taking all Pre-AP classes which means a lot more homework.  She is also enrolled in the off-campus P.E. program with our swim team, which is great because instead of taking P.E. at school, she gets to take one more elective, but it also means she has to attend swim practice everyday after school.  She moved up a level at swim this year so she is spending 1 hour and 30 min to 1 hour and 45 min a day at swim practice.  This girl was exhausted during the first couple weeks of school!  I thought maybe we would need to switch something around because I wasn’t sure how she was going to do it all.  We had a nice long chat about time-management and being able to push through hard things and feel proud about yourself at the end of it.  A couple weeks ago it all fell into place for her and clicked.  She was like a new girl!  This also is a milestone year for her because she is getting braces.  She is in the process of it right now and will probably have them on in the next month or so.  She thought the spacers were going to kill her.  I am dreading what the actual braces are going to be like. :(

Here is Kaylee and one of her BFF’s, Victoria, on the first day of school.  No more walking them in ever again.  Curb side check only!  I was pleasantly surprised they paused long enough for us to snap a few pictures.  This friendship is extra special because her mom and I had the same friendship growing up.  It is so fun for Sara and I to live the dream of raising our children together and watch them form strong friendships.  We have benefited so much from living by one another.  I only wish it could be forever! 

Ady’s 3rd birthday is right around the corner so she will get highlighted soon enough!

Thank you for coming back to read my blog and to support my family in all that we do.  It feels good to be back!

Drew’s Turn

My little man started school last week.  Which meant it was his turn to be the star of his own Back to School photo shoot with mom.  He is fun to have in front of the camera.  He always has his own agenda and I just have to follow along.   Look how big he is!  I seriously love that smile!   

 

 

At this age he still enjoys having me take him to school and be a part of his big day.  I love that!  He clung to my leg a little bit until his teachers greeted him by name and gave him a big hug.  Then he actually WANTED me to snap some photos while he showed me around his room. (unlike his siblings on the first day) 

Here are some outtakes that warm my mothering heart and make me laugh out loud!  He was being silly in between shots. We had lots of laughs!   

 

His laugh and smile are infectious!  When I am grumpy, both of my boys have the gift of laughter that melts everything away.  It really is a gift.  I hope that laughter will always be important to them. 

And of course he waves  to the neighbors as they drive by.  I love this boy!!

 

Drew,

I hope have an awesome year at preschool!  A year that gets you ready and excited for Kindergarten.  You are such a fun boy to be around.  I miss you while you are gone, but I know that you are growing and having wonderful experiences.  I hope that you will share your fun personality with others and always remember to be an example. 

I love you,

Mom

It’s that time of year again…

Back to School!!!  It’s a wonderful time of year.  Summer is wonderful too, but by the end nothing sounds better than a back to school routine.  :)  We have all survived the first week of bedtimes and early mornings.  The extracurricular activities have started already too.  Kaylee was back to swim team practice on the first day of school.  She has even joined the choir.  That hasn’t started yet, but will soon.  The boys are gearing up for baseball.  I have been L.O.V.I.N.G. the quiet during the day with just two at home.  Drew will start school this next week.  I have started exercising and cooking again.  It’s amazing what a little bit of down time can do.

We had a quick photo shoot before the kids left for school.  We don’t order school pictures.  I get their class photo, but not the individual ones.  So here are their school pictures for the year. 

I CAN NOT believe I have a 4th grader.  Seriously…where does the time go?  I remember being in 4th grade like it was yesterday.  Those memories are still fresh in my mind.  She is  so excited and is starting to feel like a big kid.  She loves her teachers.  I love her teachers too.  They are super fun and spunky!  Just what 4th graders need.  She is so good at making new friends while keeping the old ones.  She has already made a new friend that she is really excited about.  I think she is going to have a great year! 

Ohhhhh…My cute little 2nd Grader!  I think he would die if he knew I said that.  He wouldn’t even give me a hug at school on the first day.  I didn’t let it hurt my feeling too much, but I asked him about it when he got home and he said,  “Moooom…That’s embarrassing!”  Oh Jake!  He has the same teachers Kaylee had in 2nd grade.  That happened in 1st Grade also.  Looks like he is following in his sisters footsteps.  I think that is always fun as the parent when they get the same teachers.  I hope it’s fun as the student. :)  Jake and Kaylee are so different, so it’s interesting to hear feedback from the teachers.  Jake is so cute at school.  As you walk down the hall with him he always has kids from all grades yelling hi.  I think he is going to have a blast this year.