Back To School

It's that time of the year again, summer is almost over and my kids need to get back to business. So does mom. No more sleeping in, no watching morning cartoons in bed, no lounging around in pj's until noon, no playing all day and staying up all night. The morning alarms are set at 7 a.m. SHARP! Time to wake up, brush teeth, get dressed, do hair and shove something into all their little mouths before throwing them out the door and racing to school. Jameson started second grade and just like every year before he LOVES it... until it's time for homework that is. His new teachers are Mrs. Adams and Mrs. Craven. One speaks English and one speaks Chinese. It always amazes me every year to hear the things he learns in school and it amazes me even more how well he understands all of it and how his little mind can retain all this information. He is getting so big and it is getting harder and harder for me to watch my baby boy grow up. This year they let the parents come into the classroom for the first half hour to see where your child will be sitting and what he will be doing during the day. I loved sitting there visiting with him and it calmed down my nerves about him going into second grade. Since, I seem to be the only nervous one every year. Then when it was time to go I laid a fast kiss on his forehead and you would have thought it was the end of the world! He got so embarrassed and said "I think it's time for you to go now mom!" How sad.





Chanel started KINDERGARTEN!! Wooohooo!! She was so excited and was counting down the days!! She tried counting down the hours but it got to be too much, for me. She had her outfit picked out a week in advance. She got her backpack ready. She knew what she was going to say to her new teacher, Mrs. Foster, she even drew her a picture. She recited what she would say to the kids in her class so it would be easier for her to make friends. She played out different scenarios and how she would handle different situations, like bullying or if she had too many kids to play with. She was so excited!!! She started a week later than Jameson because of kindergarten testing which was a good thing because I was able to go to her classroom for an hour too. We got to walk around her classroom and learn where everything went, we got to measure her so we can see how much she would grow this year. We even got a few assignments that we got to do together. She got put at a table with 2 other girls and right away they were best friends. There were no tears from her, only from me. She wasn't nervous, only me. She didn't even turn around when I was saying my 50th goodbye as I walked out. She was more than ready for this day.... Unlike me, I wasn't ready to let this baby go either! At least she still gives me kisses in front of her friends.














Now, Rori Ana, she is a different story. She started pweschool this year. And for weeks before she kept saying "I don't wanna go to school momma, I wike staying home wit you!" as the day got closer I could tell she got more and more nervous. She kept saying she wasn't ready or she didn't feel good. She would tell me she wanted to go later. Then on the big day she got up, got dressed and we headed out the door. They don't let parents go in on the first day of school because they like the whole "band-aid theory" the faster they rip the kids out of your arms the less painful. Not for me it wasn't!!! And I don't think it was for her either. Luckily she got to go with her best friend and our next door neighbor, Kenyon. He was ready, he wasn't shy or scared so she followed him right in. But I could tell she was terrified. She has been going for a few weeks now and she loves every day she goes. She comes home singing new songs and has new dances. She knows what some of the letters in the alphabet make and she is constantly singing "Baby bear loves beans and beets, beans and beets, beans and beets foooorrr hiiiiiiiiisss breeeeaakfasssst!!!' and "I had a little turtle, his name was Tiny Tim..." and my very favorite "I'm smashing up a baby bumblebee, wont my mommy be so proud of me".








Ava Lyn and I find ourselves wondering around this big, quiet house with a lost look on our faces. No one to yell at, no one to play with, no one taking our things away. Just us. But we have made good use of our time. I picked up a new hobby, metal stamping, and let me just say... I SUCK! But, I should have lots of practice time with all the kids in school now. We go on walks, we go to the store and plan out our dinners, we have uninterrupted play time. It has been bittersweet, on one hand I love the "extra time" I have, on the other I want all my babies here in my nest. I love their constant chatter and chirping. I love my babies so much and it hurts to see them growing up and needing mom less and less. I never thought I would be one of these kinds of mothers, the kind that have a death grip on their kids and treats them like babies, but I guess I am. Next year Ava will leave me too and it is only going to get worse and they are only going to get bigger and I am only going to grow more and more lonely. Lucky for me there will be a new baby in the house soon.. yep that's right. A little baby boy too!!! His name is going to be Cash and he is due September 22nd. My new nephew will be with us 3 days a week soon!! And I will maul that baby all day!!! Hopefully everyone else will keep having babies for me to kiss on or I might start hoarding puppies or something crazy like that.