I Couldn't Make This Stuff Up!

1st day of school 2011

We made it through the 1st day. There were tears and anxiety and it wasn't just from me. Haha. Sniff. Our day started before 6am getting Benjamin up and out the door to catch the bus. He has to be out the door to walk down and catch the bus a full hour before I even wake the girls. It's going to be an interesting year of dropping off, picking up and waiting for kids.

Back to the kids though. Benjamin was excited this morning and walked down to the bus happily to meet his friends. Today only the 6th graders went to school. Tomorrow I am a little more nervous about the older kids being there and how that will go. Today he came home happy and said his day went well. He looks huge in this picture and I guess he really is growing up. I'm still a little bit in denial that I have a middle schooler. We aren't going to talk about it just yet. For today we'll focus on making it through. Phew!

  Maddie was reluctant and not wanting to go to school this morning. She was grouchy. I know a lot of it was nerves. She dreads the unknown, she's a little like her Mimi. I know this and I also know she is my child that would be perfectly happy being home schooled and never getting out of her pajamas or leaving the house. She is my homebody and that's okay. I also know that once she gets to school and gets into the groove of things she simmers down. She went to school full of anxiety and came home happy and ready to go back in the morning. Another Phew!

And then there is my Sassy. This was the one I've been dreading probably since the day she was born. The day she'd start big kid school. We've done the preschool co-op thing but now today was the real thing. Big kid school. She was excited and has been for a while. She was ready to go this morning and I was trying to make sure Maddie's nervousness didn't rub off on her. Natalie was happy this morning and once we got to school and got to her classroom she was good. I thought for a few minutes she was going to cry. There was another two kids that came in her class crying they weren't going to let go. I gave her a hug and held the tears back as I walked out of the classroom. Natalie and her future husband Isaac.

She held her hands to her cheeks and rubbed her eyes for a second and I thought oh no but she didn't cry. Natalie had a good first day of school. When I picked her up this afternoon she tried to tell me she'd been "naughty" I asked the aid if she had, I know her, and she said laughing, "No but being your kid I was expecting that!" Ha!

Natalie was happy and told Mom and I that she liked school but "I'm not going back tomorrow." Then she said, "I thought you said my teacher was nice." I did, I told her. "Well she yelled at me." she said. Startled I asked her why and again began sweating bullets and felt  the anxiety rush back to me. Come to find out she didn't yell at her at all and she wasn't naughty. Natalie decided she would "tease" Benjamin and I when she told us about school she told Tim tonight but she told him she wouldn't tease Daddy. That kid I swear. Maddie and Emma Lou. Sweet Girls!

So after picking Natalie up we took her to get McDonalds. Mom and I had met about 16 other moms and kids for breakfast after dropping kids off this morning to mourn or celebrate the kids starting school. I was definately in the mourning camp, so we weren't hungry. Natalie's the only one that likes McDonalds anymore so she was thrilled. Then we waited for Benjamin's bus to get here and then went to pick Maddie up from school and we took the kids to Myfroyo before Benjamin had to be to football practice. And that will be my life I suppose for the next couple months with football and for the year with all 3 kids being on a seperate schedule. We'll figure it out but tonight it's giving me a headache.

Tonight I will say I am grateful for the following

• My mom being here with me to get me through this emotional day. Thanks Mom! There's still days I definately need my Mom.
• Great Friends, that meet for breakfast, help get kids to and from school, and generally go above and beyond.
• My aunt who sends beautiful flowers and a note that makes me cry for good reasons. Seriously they made my day. Thanks Barb!!
• Tim for knowing that some days there's no words to make me feel better only a hug will do.
• My kids because even though some days I still look around and think I can't believe this is my life because it's so crazy. Most days it's for the good that I'm saying this I can't believe how blessed we are. And that is really what it's all about. These three kids make my life so much better each and every day. I am lucky to be there Mimi. And that is enough today.

First day of school tomorrow

Tonight there were tears and anxiety in our house. We had a good day full of fun things. Mom is here for the first day of school. The kids played at Kelly's on the waterslide and had pizza. A good afternoon. Then we met Tim for dinner at Olive Garden, the kids' choice and had one last summer dinner. Tim took Benjamin to football practice and we took the girls to get haircuts. When we went to pick Benjamin up he was sitting on the sideline, hurt. He pulled a muscle and was near tears. I tried to get him to walk it off but he was limping. We came home and he went to bed early trying to get some rest tonight.

Maddie is full of anxiety and not wanting to go tomorrow. She is teary and a mess in general. Natalie is excited and ready to go tomorrow. I hope this remains the case when we get to her teachers door and I have to drop her off and walk away. Benjamin has to catch a bus bright and early bound for middle school and he has mixed feelings about the whole thing I think. He's excited to see his friends again but unsure of how middle school will be. I am a mess but will try to hold it together so the kids don't know.

I will miss them terribly. I always love having them home for the summer and am always sad when school starts each year. We've had a great summer full of beach trips and celebrations and I am sad to see it end. I will just have to keep the memories with me tomorrow. They are all growing up so quickly and it breaks my heart a little bit each year to watch them go off to school.

Found this on pinterest and it really couldn't be said any better. Sob. For all the moms out there who'll send their babies back to school with a little sadness in their hearts, this is for you.

Are ya ready for some football?!

A few months ago when Benjamin brought paperwork home about football and said he wanted to play deep inside I groaned. Not out loud of course I wouldn't discourage him that way. I just really didn't want another sport in our family life. It would take over where swim team left off and overlap at times and the gap where we had nothing but taekwondo before basketball begins in the winter. I don't want sports dominating our lives. I know it's good for kids to be active but with school and our other activities I don't like being overbooked. I have a very firm belief that my kids need down time as do we as parents.

So I groaned but looked into it because Ben really wanted to do this. I asked him several times just to make sure because it was a bit of an expense and I wanted to make sure he would stick with it and I pulled the trigger. He's been so excited about it and has really been enjoying it. That is definately saying something because it's been over 90 degrees most nights when they're out on the field practicing for an hour and half each night. We're finding our way through the practices now and making it work. But I've told Benjamin if we decide to take a trip or anything he'll just have to skip practice or a game whatever it may be. He's good with that.

I like his coaches a lot. They're fairly laid back and they're a great fit for Ben. They call him "Benji" just as the taekwondo kids did.I think it's important to commit to doing something but at the same time realize that family is more important than sports, and other fun stuff, and sometimes even school. Yep I said it.

Anyway off the soap box. Today was Ben's first football game so Tim took him down to the fields an hour early and the girls and I got there in time to get our chairs set up and watch him. I really loved watching him play! He did really great. I think that his team will come together the more they practice together. They didn't win the game but they really had some great plays and Benjamin came home smiling and had a great time and that's I think almost more important. Natalie was in an uproar after the first quarter and declared, "Alright I'm ready to go home now. It's hot and it's got to be over, right?" Not so much Nat. But the girls stuck it out and cheered Ben on through the whole game and it was pretty hot out.
Gosh he looked so grown up in his gear.


Hustling off the field. He played offense today as well as a little defense because they were missing a few kids.

So Saturday mornings now this is where you'll find us. Cheering on our #45. Go Benji Go!

Open House Back to school night

Thursday night was back to school night. I needed to be there early so that I could set up t-shirts to sell and the PTO table. The kids helped me a bunch and Benjamin had to take his gear for football so he could be ready to go to practice.

Natalie was very excited to go take her supplies to her classroom and meet her teacher. It was so hot in the school though. They had the air conditioning turned on in the classrooms but not in the cafeteria or the foyer where we were. Yikes!

We went through 725 hot dogs so lots of people showed up which was good. A lot people just came and dropped their supplies and didn't eat so I'm sure many more actually attended. It was a good turnout.

Natalie got so excited and I was slammed from pretty much the minute the doors opened so she ended up going with another mom to her classroom. Sob! I was so sad. Kelly showed up a little after that and went to find her and got a great picture of her and Isaac, which saved me. I never did get a picture of Maddie but did make it into her classroom. She is still very nervous about school and wants me to homeschool her. I hope once she gets into the groove of things she finds her way.

Benjamin's back to school night at the middle school was at the same time of course. We needed to be in two places at once so we split the difference with Tim and I. I kept the girls and he took Benjamin to figure out his locker and where his classes were. Again no pictures. Ugh.

Anyway that was our night. Busy and probably a pretty good indication of how this year will be. All for now.

 

The beach

We're at the beach for a few days before we wrap our last summer vacation. We headed over here yesterday after dropping by Vancouver to visit for the afternoon. The kids swam and got to see Shepherd and Charlotte for a little while. It was really hot on the west side and we were so looking forward to the cooler temperatures of the beach. As we dropped into town last night it was foggy. Awesomeness. It's the typical when it's hot in the valley that the coast gets socked in fog. I love it.

Mom got here late last night and Barb and Sara got here after she did. So excited to see them all. Sara is visiting for the week and we only have half the week to be here but we wanted to see her and I was needing my beach fix before school starts.

We didn't go to bed until late and we sleep wherever over here. Tim ended up on an air mattress and about 5 this morning he came looking for the pump to blow it back up. He had rolled off the bed. Poor Tim. We're sleeping a bit different tonight.

We're relaxing here and fired up the Margarita maker tonight. We made shrimp and crab bisque which was really good. Recipe is on the blog. Having a good time here.

More later.

At the farm

The windows open tonight

It smells like fall is around the corner outside tonight. I can smell the fresh cut hay and it reminds me of late summer nights growing up on the farm and traveling home from the state fair with the windows down and that was the sweet smell outside. It is a bittersweet reminder that fall is just around the corner. I'm going to grab onto what is left of our summer and squeeze every last drop of it out before the kids start back to school. We're headed out in the morning in search of a little more summer.Tim got a few days off and we're taking advantage of it.

Yesterday we hit the free movie and saw Mr. Poppers Penguins. It was okay, not the best movie ever and definately glad I didn't pay anything to see it. We were in good company with Kelly and the kids and that made it worth it.

Today we ran a few errands and stopped by the kids' school a couple times. The kids got their schedules for school another reminder it will be here soon. Everyone is happy with teachers and such so all is well.

Benjamin had an orthodontist appointment this morning and we hit Myfroyo this afternoon for a summer treat. Yum! Tonight Benjamin had football practice and I had a PTO board meeting. We're trying to get things organized for this coming school year. Lots to be done. Everything will come together.

That's it for tonight.

Dinner out

Tim's job now has a lot more dinners that he is invited to. This is something new to us. Tonight spouses were supposed to attend also. This meant trying to figure out who would pick up Benjamin from football practice and where the girls would spend the evening. Thank goodness for great friends! We got that all arranged.

As I was driving back from dropping Benjamin off at football Natalie asked fromt he back seat, "Mimi? Do you and Daddy just need some alone time tonight?"

I told her no not really. Truth be known we'd rather go out with the kids.

"So are you going on a little date?" she asked.

Nope Natalie I told her, we were going out for Daddy's work dinner. I told her again if we could we'd take the girls with us.

"Well I'd rather go to Kelly's tonight." She said. Funny kid. I don't know where she got the term "alone time" so wierd.

We had a nice dinner but honestly I'm happy with any dinner that I don't have to cook or pay for. Awesome! I had shrimp and steak, it was yummy! Kind of like a belated anniversary dinner. All in all a good night. Honestly I hadn't been looking forward to it because I didn't know anyone that was there but I got to meet the people Tim works with and it went alright. I didn't embarass Tim or anything.

All for now.

 

13 years ago today

We woke up and it was drizzling and I was freaking out because our wedding was to take place outside and we had no back up plan. It turned out to be perfect weather and a very memorable day for Tim and I. Good memories and we were surrounded by everyone we loved.

13 years and as I looked at our wedding picture today I couldn't help but think God, we were so young. We've been through a lot and I feel like we've been so blessed.We have a wonderful family and friends. It's a good life.

This morning was Natalie's kindergarten assesment day. They want to get a general idea of what the kids know before they start kindergarten. As we walked into the school she looked up at me while holding my hand and said,"Mimi, I feel a little nervous."

We got inside and she started to cry. I had to carry her into the classroom and Maddie sat in the room while she tested. I stayed outside the door with Benjamin and she could still see me. She warmed up pretty quickly and told the teacher about Lucy. She's been to school so many times but it was real this time and she wasn't so sure. I hope she'll be okay on the first day because I know it'll be all I can do to not cry and if she's crying I don't know what I'll do. We'll get through it though.

Tim brought me home a rose tonight and then took Benjamin to pick up his football gear. I'm still fighting these dang allergies so he stopped by Taco Bell on the way home and picked up dinner. Yep we're pretty fancy around here. It was a good day and like I said earlier today, 13 years ago today I made one of the best decisions of my life when I said I do to Tim. I love him more each day.

All for now.

Wrapping up the week

I'm fighting allergies now after recovering from my cold a couple weeks ago. I woke up this morning and there's something in the air that's got my eyes burning and me all sneezy. Tim's fighting them also. All the more reason to head to the beach again one last time before the kids go back to school.

Mom, Barb, and I had a really good time in Spokane at the Michael Buble concert last week. He is an amazing entertainer and is so humble and I just adore him. I'd see him again and again.

I had asked for restaurant suggestions on facebook on our way to Spokane and we had some fantastic meals. We pretty much ate our way through town. We hit The Onion, Tomato Street, Chaps Coffee Company, Wingers Bros, and Twigs. They were all wonderful. Chaps Coffee Company was one I found on pinterest and it had been featured on Drive ins diners and dives on the food network. They had the best blueberry muffin french toast and it was the best breakfast I think I've ever had. The atmosphere was awesome and it was great. We didn't have a bad meal all the eats were great.

We stayed at a hotel with an outdoor pool so we laid out by the pool and relaxed. We also took in two movies. We had all read or  listened to "The Help" and were looking forward to it. It was probably one of the best adaptations I've ever seen. Usually I walk away thinking the book was much better than the movie but they did an awesome job of getting most of the details in the movie that the book had. We sobbed through the movie. It was really really good. Definately go read the book then go see the movie.

We also found "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" playing at the theater up in Spokane. It was really different from the book but still a great movie.We shopped a bit too and had a really relaxing fun time. It was  a good trip.

Tim and the kids were originally going to come up and Friday but decided to stay home instead as Tim had to work late on Friday. Mom and I dropped Barb off at the airport yesterday afternoon and then drove back down to our house.

Pam, John, and Daryl came by for the night to stay with us. Tim fixed a great dinner of kabobs on the grill with veggies from our garden. We've had lots of walla walla sweet onions and our zucchini hasn't done well because of bugs but we've gotten some. The cucumbers are going crazy now. The kids swam and we had a nice visit with everyone. This afternoon everyone had to head home and we are back to just the 5 of us for a few days.

Maddie and I were going to go see Miranda Cosgrove this Friday but her tour bus was in an accident this past weekend. So now we're waiting to see when that gets rescheduled. I think we're going to sneak away to the beach for a few days instead before we have to be back and school starts.

All for now.