Stunning

Stunning. Mikayla amazes me. She stuns me all the time. I wish I could say we were so much a like that I naturally understood her all the time. Unfortunately we aren't and I don't understand her. Which is why she often leaves me stunned. Stunned that she is so much better at all things school related than I ever was. Stunned that she is so beyond talented artistically that I have had her draw pictures for me so I could paint them. I am in complete awe that she can shake off the negative so easily sometimes, I even get angry that a punishment doesn't bother her more. She has no time to dwell though she just looks for the silver lining. That is what can be so wonderful about parenting watching in wonder, stunned sometimes, at the amazing experience that growing up is.

The One in the Middle

Gavin is 100% the middle child. He know how to push everyone's buttons. He knows how to be the center of attention and how to be forgotten. He is the best at getting away with things or having something go unnoticed. He is also my sweet lovable one who has an enduring personality that makes a lot of m friends say he is their "favorite." His easiness and laid back spirit encircles his little life with all the joys it one comes to expect. Unlike most middle children he is never forgotten...unless he wants to be.

100 days

What I found most freeing about scrapbooking is that I do not have to do it in order. It doesn't matter that Mikalya is entering the 3rd grade this year and that I now just finished her 100 day of kindergarten page. It doesn't matter that Gavin's most likely will not get done until he is in 3rd grade just that I finally felt like doing it and I can now place it in a book and call it good!

New Friends

After that dreadful thought of winter I decided to find something that wouldn't make me miss summer but also would bring on the gloom and doom of the grey, snowy months either. In my opinion the only thing that makes winter bearable is that fall comes right before it. Fall is by far my favorite season. If I could find a place in the world wear it was fall (with the colorful leaves and giant orange pumpkins) all year round I would force my darling husband to move me immediately. Fall brings hay rides; apple picking and cinder mills all which makes me want to do a happy dance with the crunchy leaves beneath my feet. The semi cool breezes, the school buses slowly plowing down the streets and the sight of kids in brand new back packs has the same effect on me as the brightly colored Popsicles. Last fall brought on a bit of a challenge for my family since the kids were beginning a new school. As any parent would do I stayed awake at night wondering if my daughter would adjust well. For the last four years she had been with the same group of kids and as much as we needed the change it broke my heart thinking she would be lonely until she found her grove. I didn’t have to lay awake long, which of course was good for everyone, she blended in with the girls seamlessly all the drama included. I was lucky enough to go on the first field trip and meet her new friends at one of my favorite fall places…the cider mill! So much for all my worrying.

Oh Summer, How I Love You!

As I stare at the calendar trying to squeeze in all the things I wanted to get done this summer I quickly realized that the kids have less than three weeks left. I only have two before my classes start. Looking back over the last two months I am trying to decide why summer fills my heart with butterflies. Is it the carefree unstructured days that make my kids go bonkers; is it the hot summer sun that kisses my skin all pink? How about the baseball games or the smell of BBQ’s as I jog through the neighborhood? The Bike rides to the park or the music from the ice cream truck all linger in my thoughts even as the dreadful chill whips through the air. Yet, none of those can quite compare to the 100 pack of cheap popsicles that decorate nearly every store come the first heat wave of the year. The cheap colorful flavored water is a timeless treasure of summer. Through the years the excitement and joy they create in children seems to be unchanged generation to generation. It’s these timeless joys that bring on those butterflies just as mid November brings on the woeful dread of winter. Sigh. I think I will push off those thoughts and grab another Popsicle for the kids so I can relax and devour the last restful days of my butterfly happiness.

Well, Hello Sunshine!

The morning arrives. The sunshine is usually not yet lazying in through the cracks in my curtains when the squeaking of my door makes me quick to hide my smile. Peeking those blue eyes in, usually with blanket over the head, is my morning sunshine...my sunshine before the sunshine. With fast little patters, one big leap and a scurry across the bed he looks at me and says, "I'm cold." Which in little boy language means "I want to get under the covers with you so I can wiggle around until you are forced to wake up." Those little cold feet slide in and plant themselves some place on my body and just as is expected the wiggle dance begins. He moves from side to side, feet in feet out, pillow no pillow until finally he puts his big fat smile to my face and says, "I'm thirsty." Which in little boy language means "get up." On most mornings my sunshine comes in through my door with a head full of red hair and an adorable smile and a big smacking kiss just for me. Well, all I have to say is HELLO SUNSHINE!

Ever Feel Hopeless?

Have you ever felt completely hopeless about a page? Like no matter what you do it just isn't working the way you want. This is one of those pages for me. The idea just couldn't make it to paper, the balance just seemed off, the colors needed something. Of course I could have just hidden it away in my hundreds of pages but I wanted to prove that I am above being a crazy scrapper and sometimes it's better just to stop, add your story and move on. So trains you can beat it....I am moving on.