Happy Weekend

This weekend I'm looking forward to...
1.  Fall in Wisconsin.  Cool breezes.  Changing leaves.  Bonfires.  Cedarburg.
2.  Visiting with family.  
3.  Taking time to sit and enjoy.  Bonfire is definitely in order.  Repeating this ensures it happening.  
4.  Squeezing my youngest.  Haven't seen her since Tuesday night.
5.  Absolutely loving that my whole family will be in the same place.

Wordless Wednesday

The infamous basket of laundry.
Never seems to get put away.
Its been moved around the same room for about 3 weeks now.
To put it away means saying Goodbye to a season.
All of these clothes are labeled 3T.
Little Miss skipped a whole size in clothes.
Not okay with that.
Good thing they are Fall clothes.  Fall makes me happy.
Never got to pull out the 2T.
Not sure where any of it is right now.
But you can bet I would have searched furiously if I thought she'd fit into any of it.
So long summer dresses and 24 months.
Hello 3T.
You will be worn by a crazy, energetic little lady.
She will wear you down, turn you different colors, and tear you up.
Enjoy!

 A Little Babble about a Cup.

Whenever I get a Caribou drink, I find it really hard to throw away the cup.  Have you seen these cups?  The whole theme is “Life is short.  Stay awake for it.”  Yes, I do see the correlation to caffeine.  Most mornings I do need the jolt that caffeine offers to stay awake and get through.  But, all the sweet things written on this cup, make it hard to throw away.  This one says “Tear Jerkers, Chocolate Breakfast,  Hula Hooping, Grilling, bonfires, smores, looking into a loved ones eyes, etc”  All these moments (and so many more) are definitely ones I want to be awake for.  I think, no I know, its hard for me to do.  To stop all the busyness, and  actually sit still long enough to enjoy my children playing…actually playing, not fighting.  To listen to their sweet laughter.  To answer the question that is asked every night at dinner (started by Emma and now followed by Norah) “What was your favorite part of the day?”  Usually the answer is “Right now.  This.”  Some times its because I didn’t “rest” or “stay awake” for other moments of the day.  It seems silly to write a post about a cup, but its so much more to me, in this journey I am on.  The way God wants to get my attention.  He gives me such sweet moments throughout the day.  A fresh fall breeze.  Sun shining through the trees casting shadows as I walk on a path.  My chubby daughters cheeks that I just can’t get enough of these days because I know they will fade away as she gets older.  I was given this book for Christmas last year.  I never finished it, but really need to.  It’s about being thankful to God for all the sweet moments/gifts He gives us daily.  The author gives a challenge of writing them down.  There are times I’ve taken up this challenge, and it has brought blessing.  A sweet spirit of God being with me throughout the mundane, or what I would consider the mundane of my day.  It helps me pick up my camera and capture these moments with my family and friends.  To look at life through a lens.  And some times, I need to put my camera down if it becomes more a distraction.  And in the end, its more than just a cup that jolts my thinking back into place, its about cherishing this crazy journey called life that I get to be on.

SIMPLE Honesty.

Life right now.

Things are hard.  We've been frustrated lately.  We're getting through.  Trying not to succumb to hopeless thinking.  We're fighting to stay "awake" to the little moments of joy.  Pushing through our desire to sit it all out right now.

Monday was a HUGE God day (isn't every day, even if we can't see Him), Ben had a horrible headache.  A friend and I prayed, and then I got a text from Ben saying his headache was gone.  Amen.  Another friend shared their need for a check to come in the mail, otherwise bills weren't going to get paid.  She got home; a check was in the mail.  Another Amen.  Other friends had their third little one, despite what looked like complications.  She's healthy and beautiful and doing great!  We need these sweet God moments in the midst of life right now.  We're thankful for them.

I think I grind my teeth at night.  They hurt!  I've had dreams of not being able to bite down correctly.  Makes me think I am actually trying to close my mouth all night long.  Yikes!  I've been waking up with my jaw clenched.

Trying to figure out potty training.  Norah's gone several times on the potty.  Not ready for cold turkey panties yet.  I'm not ready for the clean up.

Emma loves school.  She does ask me about homeschooling though.  I just remind her it wouldn't be watching cartoons all day.
She's been interested in what she's going to be when she grows up.  Today, she told me she no longer wants to be a Vet, but would like to be a farmer.  After I told her that farmers get dirty (she thought farmers dressed fancy like cowgirls), she told me she's going to stick with being a Vet or working with animals actually.  The whole giving shots to animals makes her sad.

___________________________________________________________________

Emma turned 6 since the last time I wrote anything.  She's Sweet.  Lovely.  Beautiful.  

The First Day of Kindergarten

It has come and gone.  Today was her second day.  Getting past the first day was hard.  Well, it was really only hard getting through the drop off part. 

All morning getting ready, I had it together.  I even thought for a second that I might not cry at all.  That only lasted a minute.  I don’t like crying in public, so I had to pep talk myself into being okay if it should happen.  Wow did it ever! 

As we pulled into school, I saw my husband greeting us enthusiastically.  Arms flailing with excitement type of greeting.  I’m so glad Emma was able to see him before her day began.  However in retrospect, for me, I really needed him to avoid eye contact and ignore us.  Even run into the woods and hide.  All these things are unacceptable in his job description.  I don’t know why it hit me so hard, but it did.  We parked.  Walked up the parking ramp and the tears came flowing down.  With every step it seemed to get worse.  Then there would be a moment of composure; this did not last long.  I was a HOT MESS.  I had no saving grace, but to keep walking past dozens of people with tears in my eyes and holding back an ugly cry face.  I saw friends, they asked how I was doing.   Of course in that state you can only nod your head.  No words are coming out with that would make any sense.  Have you ever been in a hallway that seemed never ending?  That was the hallway we had to walk down to get her to the classroom door.  It was crowded and overwhelming.  I wish we would have been late.  But being late on the first day is not cool.  We walked up to her locker.  I tried instructing Emma through broken words about where I was putting stuff.  She looked at me like I was half out of my mind.  She grabbed her lunch box and walked right into the class.  No kiss or hug.  What a big girl.  If only mommy could act her age.  She had a great day  After Norah and I left the building, I was having a much better day as well. 

______________________________________________________________________

of all things, that day a bee got in the house.  Seriously, the nerve in my state of vulnerability.

Prepping for the BIG Day

24 pencils sharpened

Mommy was a slacker and didn't turn these in at Meet the Teacher Day.

Shoes Bought

1 pair for Gym class

1 pair for every day...school life

Package received from Tanti and Uncle Jobbie. 
They can't always celebrate milestones in person.
They put forth the effort and make our children feel special.

Necklace purchased

As soon as I read the dress code for school and it said simple jewelry, I knew I needed to get her a necklace.  I had a different idea of the one we would buy, but I did say she could pick it out.  Which she did remind me of when we were at the store.  I was thinking of some thing with a butterfly.  She's spreading her wings into a new domain.  Nope.  She wanted this one.  I asked her how this reminded her of our family, in which she replied "Well, it has two ears; one for you, and one for daddy".  Just can't argue with that logic.

Uniform outfit ready to go