First Day of Preschool/First Day of School Eve
I wish I could update you on all kinds of exciting and fun things we did in August, but there's nothing to report. We did the usual, mundane, everyday things to round out the summer and had a great time doing it. All of a sudden I woke up this morning to The First Day Of Preschool and First Day of School Eve. My little Willie J was up bright and early at 7:30 this morning after having spent the night in our bed coughing. ALL . . .NIGHT . . . LONG!
I thought it would be awesome to take a picture on the new outdoor sofa I got at Rogers Auction for only $1. It desperately needs repainted and new cushions, but it is very sturdy and my attempt at a slip cover and pillows brightens it up and hides its flaws. But, it was in full sun and Willie was not cooperative.
So we moved to the side steps where the impatiens look so beautiful. And of course, everyone had to get in.
I have a picture of Walker sitting similarly to this on his first day of Preschool. I love those little guys.
I also wonder if they will ever look at these pictures and the ugly insulbrick on our exterior and ask, "When did our house have that green stuff on it?" Strike that. I HOPE they look at these pictures and the ugly insulbrick on our exterior and ask, "When did our house have that green stuff on it?" because I hope by then we will have finally finished the exterior!
Willie at school.
I'm not sure if this coughing is illness related or allergy/season related. Maggie went through a bout of it after the Farm Show earlier this month, and still has coughing spells. Now Willie has it pretty bad and he decided it would be best for him to keep his dad and me up all night because of it. Apparently that made him feel better because he slept like a log where as his dad and I were not so chipper this morning. The fact that Willie went to preschool this morning is beyond belief. I don't feel like any of my children are old enough to even be in school, let alone three of them.
Yesterday, to celebrate, Mimi came over and took the kids on a quad ride picnic lunch. She always comes up with fun things for them to do and I really appreciate her doing that for them. I allowed them to take the little camera with them and they had a great time and some of the pictures are so funny.
This day has been creeping up on me all summer, yet I am still surprised it is here. I've been doing all the required paperwork, completing forms, making appointments and still, the fact that Maggie and Walker start school tomorrow is completely shocking to me!
As is required, we did the back to school pictures with Willie today. He had a great time except for the 15 minutes at 8:45 this morning that he stubbornly refused to go to school.
I also wonder if they will ever look at these pictures and the ugly insulbrick on our exterior and ask, "When did our house have that green stuff on it?" Strike that. I HOPE they look at these pictures and the ugly insulbrick on our exterior and ask, "When did our house have that green stuff on it?" because I hope by then we will have finally finished the exterior!
Willie and his classmates coming out of his classroom to meet us.
Willie and his friend, Ellie, after their first day of school together.
We've known Ellie just over a year, and a while back, I made a comment (because all of our kids are the same ages) that we should just go ahead and betroth the first three because we like each other and the opposites match up. Willie and Ellie have taken the joke to a whole new level acting like an old married couple all ready. They seriously act like those old couples you see out at the mall, bickering at each other, but holding hands and supporting each other. It's so funny. And kind of strange. Because the "love" seemed be reaching a kind of inappropriate level in terms of seriousness with them, we have had discussion about being good buddies, not boyfriend/girlfriend, etc., but they refuse to cooperate. Both Willie and Ellie (from hence on to be referred to as "Wellie" have relatives planning weddings and so marriage and weddings are in the forefront of both of their lives and randomly, they will announce to us (the mothers) "When I marry Ellie, I will . . ." and they will proceed to tell us the plans of their wedding, where they will live, etc. So now they get to experience preschool together and if they ever do make it down the aisle as they are predicting, we sure will have LOTS of cute pictures of them together for their wedding slide show.
Now I'm off to prepare for our supper and get the kids ready for their first day tomorrow. Walker has to be up at 7 am to catch the bus at 8 and Maggie has to wait until 12:30 to leave for Kindergarten. It's going to be an interesting day.
Goodbye, Summer. It's time for a new season to begin. I can't say I'm looking forward to it yet, but I know there are lots of good things to come. So I'm officially declaring this to be the FALL O' FUN here at Goodness Grows Farm. Let the FUN continue!
Time: Part 4,861
If you follow my ramblings with any regularity, it is likely that due to the very quantity of posts I write on this subject, you have some idea of my perception of time, how fast it is going, and how it means my children are growing up.
Tonight I had one of those shocking realizations of how fast time is passing. It all started very innocently. This morning, when getting the kids in the car to go to swimming lessons, I decided to forego the standard infant carrier carseat we have been using the past nine plus months and I strapped Whitaker into Willie's convertible carseat.
He LOVED it!
I took those photos with my iphone and sent my Mom a picture. She responded with an appropriate text response: "how cute. . . perfect timing 2 b a big boy . . . his last day as the baby of our family"
(I guess I should insert here that my sister is scheduled to have her labor induced tomorrow morning bright and early, so with luck, by lunchtime I will have a brand spanking new niece or nephew!)
As I read those words, a sudden panic came over me. Whit no longer a baby?
I have been avoiding the fact that he is indeed growing up. I avoid thinking about his age and the milestones he is achieving. Seriously, I've become that mom that has to actually count out his age (picture me with that squinty, looking up to the sky face as I look at my fingers and count, "May, June, July . . ." to the current month) on my fingers in order to tell people how old he is. This isn't because I am not able to count, it is because I do not want to acknowledge how old he is. I also have found it unconcerning at all that he refuses to crawl forward or pull himself up from a sitting position at the couch or coffee table. Never mind that Walker was walking at 11 months - the other kids too - I have no comparisons. As far as I'm concerned, the last major milestone I am allowing him to have is sitting up on his own. Oh, and eating on his own. There is a refreshing freedom to be found now at suppertime because I can just cut up tiny pieces of whatever we are eating and feed it to him. I can actually try to sit and eat a few bites before one of the kids needs a refill of their drink or forgot they wanted ketchup.
But all other developmental milestones are off limits!
I know this weekend, when we go to visit my sister and her beautiful new baby, Whit is going to seem like a MONSTER and my heart is going to be a little crushed with the physical evidence that Whit is no longer a baby.
This all begs the question, "How do all of you moms out there do it? How do you deal with your kids growing up?" Because it KILLS me.
I'm sure my emotions are acerbated by the fact that I have been in planning mode for Maggie's 5th birthday next week.
FIVE
That is a big number. Big things happen at 5. Five is a long way from this:
Walker has agreed to stop growing at age eight. He chose eight because at eight he will be old enough to enter 4H shows. But he doesn't understand that just minutes ago, he looked like this:
And tomorrow we're headed to the orthodontist to have his expander adjusted.
Tonight I had one of those shocking realizations of how fast time is passing. It all started very innocently. This morning, when getting the kids in the car to go to swimming lessons, I decided to forego the standard infant carrier carseat we have been using the past nine plus months and I strapped Whitaker into Willie's convertible carseat.
He LOVED it!
I took those photos with my iphone and sent my Mom a picture. She responded with an appropriate text response: "how cute. . . perfect timing 2 b a big boy . . . his last day as the baby of our family"
(I guess I should insert here that my sister is scheduled to have her labor induced tomorrow morning bright and early, so with luck, by lunchtime I will have a brand spanking new niece or nephew!)
As I read those words, a sudden panic came over me. Whit no longer a baby?
I have been avoiding the fact that he is indeed growing up. I avoid thinking about his age and the milestones he is achieving. Seriously, I've become that mom that has to actually count out his age (picture me with that squinty, looking up to the sky face as I look at my fingers and count, "May, June, July . . ." to the current month) on my fingers in order to tell people how old he is. This isn't because I am not able to count, it is because I do not want to acknowledge how old he is. I also have found it unconcerning at all that he refuses to crawl forward or pull himself up from a sitting position at the couch or coffee table. Never mind that Walker was walking at 11 months - the other kids too - I have no comparisons. As far as I'm concerned, the last major milestone I am allowing him to have is sitting up on his own. Oh, and eating on his own. There is a refreshing freedom to be found now at suppertime because I can just cut up tiny pieces of whatever we are eating and feed it to him. I can actually try to sit and eat a few bites before one of the kids needs a refill of their drink or forgot they wanted ketchup.
But all other developmental milestones are off limits!
I know this weekend, when we go to visit my sister and her beautiful new baby, Whit is going to seem like a MONSTER and my heart is going to be a little crushed with the physical evidence that Whit is no longer a baby.
This all begs the question, "How do all of you moms out there do it? How do you deal with your kids growing up?" Because it KILLS me.
I'm sure my emotions are acerbated by the fact that I have been in planning mode for Maggie's 5th birthday next week.
FIVE
That is a big number. Big things happen at 5. Five is a long way from this:
Walker has agreed to stop growing at age eight. He chose eight because at eight he will be old enough to enter 4H shows. But he doesn't understand that just minutes ago, he looked like this:
And tomorrow we're headed to the orthodontist to have his expander adjusted.
And Willie - well, I will be honest in saying that I am looking forward to outgrowing this three year old stage. As loveable as he is, I did not expect this guy:
To turn into this guy:
And I completely forgot that nine months of growing a baby inside your belly is nothing compared to nine months watching him grow outside.
One year ago, I had this:
Nine months ago, I had this:
And every day, I wake up to this beautiful boy who is TRULY the happiest baby in the world:
I am so very blessed, and so very grateful for the privilege of getting to raise these four creatures. They have taught me so much about God's love. What an honor it is to be their mother. My fervent prayer is that I will cherish every moment and hold it fast to my heart. I try not to take for granted that every moment I have is precious. And there is not one thing about it I would want to miss!
Idlewild Trip 2
This past week, Erik surprised us and took us on a trip to Idlewild. We got there just as the park opened, and we headed straight for the kiddie rides. First stop - a trolley type car that all three could ride. We were off to a good start.
Next, Walker asked to ride the bumper cars. Do you see all of the other kids riding too? His precise reason for wanting to ride them at this point, despite protests from me and Erik? He didn't want to BUMP INTO ANYONE!
I'm not sure of the philosophy of that one, but if that's what made him happy we let him do it!
Poor Willie was not old enough to ride many rides by himself or even with Walker as a companion. The Bumper cars was one of those rides. Doesn't he look so pathetic and adorable as he stands on his tip-toes to watch "brubby." Don't you just want to scoop him up and make the ride attendants let him ride too? This boy keeps me on my toes.
Walker & Will get to ride on the airplanes,
the vintage cars and
the flying dragons.
Here is what Maggie did while the boys went on all of these rides. She heard us say something about swimming and she is waiting to go swimming. Fun will not commence until we are swimming. She will not eat, she will not drink, but more importantly, she will not have any kid of fun, thank you very much, unless we go swimming. We practically dragged her onto the Mr. Roger's trolley into the land of make-believe, and the train. She only went with us because Momma & Daddy were riding those rides too and she didn't want to be left behind.
Walker and Will drove the grand prix.
Willie gets a kiss on the train ride around the park.
To end the adventure, Maggie & Walker did ride the carousel.
Poor Willie was not old enough to ride many rides by himself or even with Walker as a companion. The Bumper cars was one of those rides. Doesn't he look so pathetic and adorable as he stands on his tip-toes to watch "brubby." Don't you just want to scoop him up and make the ride attendants let him ride too? This boy keeps me on my toes.Walker & Will get to ride on the airplanes,the vintage cars andthe flying dragons.Here is what Maggie did while the boys went on all of these rides. She heard us say something about swimming and she is waiting to go swimming. Fun will not commence until we are swimming. She will not eat, she will not drink, but more importantly, she will not have any kid of fun, thank you very much, unless we go swimming. We practically dragged her onto the Mr. Roger's trolley into the land of make-believe, and the train. She only went with us because Momma & Daddy were riding those rides too and she didn't want to be left behind.Walker and Will drove the grand prix.Willie gets a kiss on the train ride around the park.To end the adventure, Maggie & Walker did ride the carousel. 
Maggie finally conceded and did one final ride - but only because we went to the "soak zone" and played in the pool. Did I mention that the pool was freezing cold - the kind of cold that takes your breath away and you wade through the water gasping and yelling at the same time, "ugh, ah, ugh, ah, ugh, ah!" because the water is so cold it is slowly freezing your blood and you lose all ability to function until A) you submerge your entire body and start swi
mming or B) get out of the water, wrap yourself in a huge beach towel, and sit shivering until the ice crystals break and blood circulation returns to normal.
How my itty-bitty children that have like less than 10% body fat managed to play in that frigid water all afternoon is beyond me. I do know we had to force them from the water park because their lips and fingers were turning blue and they were starting to look like extra's from the "Night of the Living Dead" movie. A final ride, some cotton candy and the day was complete. We were so busy we never even made it to Storybook Forrest. Maybe next year.