Happy Anniversary

One of the best things about being married to a firefighter is taking the kids to the fancy new fire station and letting them climb all over the trucks whenever they want to. One of the downsides is spending your 8-year anniversary night (or Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthday's, etc.) at home alone while your hubs is at work. Today is our 8-year anniversary - 8 years! I can hardly believe it. As my Dad said in our wedding toast "some years are great, some years are not, you just keep stacking them on top of each other and eventually you build a life together." Some of our years have been great, some not so much. But here we are and there is no one I would rather be stacking the years up with and building a wonderful, blessed  life with. Happy anniversary to you, my dear Peter.

Pirate Re-touch

Mr. T was playing pirate this afternoon - the little wagon is their skiff and he is currently sailing out to check for sharks. Apparently sharks are afraid of 4 year old boys with dimples and cow-licks.

As for the photos, it seems I have been using the re-touch tool lately to mostly clean off the kids faces. Seriously, it's like a virtual washcloth. And what is with my kids always having crust on their faces? Is that a summer thing? I don't seem to remember taking children who looked like street urchins to school last year. Perhaps it has to do with the 20 snacks a day they are demanding during the summer? Or the fact that they seem to be unable to eat sitting down or in one place? Oh, school year, I welcome you and the order you will restore to our lives.

Stucco

So, we've owned this house for about six years and at this point I have a pretty hefty list of "things I wish we had considered before buying a house".  One of the first would be that stucco is a pain in the arse. Especially cream colored stucco. It always looks dirty, it's difficult to repair, and when you decide that you have had enough of single-pane wood windows from the 1920's and the accompanying heating bill and decide to put in vinyl you have to watch your hubs do something like this. Stand on a ladder and cut through rock with a skill saw. Yikes. However, this winter it will be nice to not have a cold breeze blowing by my head as I am going to bed. And to not have a heating bill that looks like a Lexus payment.

Are you ready for some football?

This weekend the whole family - Nana, Grandpa, Sister, Brother-in-law, myself, the hubs, Miss E and her cousin Mr. F took the kids to see the Ducks play. They are our family team, as my Dad and myself are graduates and husband attended there with me. This was Miss E's first football game and I think she was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the crowd, the size of the stadium and the noise. We had her wearing ear protection for the first half and she still thought it was loud. The second half the stadium emptied to about half full (complete blow-out, ending score was 72-0) so we had our whole row of seats to ourselves, and it wasn't so loud. Throw in some curly fries, absolutely perfect weather and a trip down to the turf after the game was over and a good time was had by all.

On a side note - Mr. T and his cousin Miss U were too young to go so they stayed with a babysitter the cousins had used before but Mr. T had not met. He spent three days fussing about the babysitter and how he didn't want to stay with her, despite all my reassurances. The morning of the game, this all cumulated into a hysterical fit and there was nothing I could say to reassure him. I was starting to think I might end up missing the game. Then guess what happens? Babysitter arrives, he says hi and starts playing with a dump truck like nothing is going on. I give him a kiss and say good-by and he doesn't even look up. He spent the whole afternoon happily playing with her. Go figure.

End of Summer

I love this end-of-summer light. The kids have been playing outside in the afternoons and enjoying every bit of our last days of sun. They have been having all kinds of adventures - bug collecting, making a pirate ship out of the picnic table, trekking. The make-believe lands and adventures these two can create when they are given some free time (and not fighting with each other, ahem...) is amazing.

This Girl

                         

This is the girl who made me a mother. Who started the next generation of our family. In so many wonderful ways, she has made me a better person. 

She is starting kindergarten this year and it has been hard for me. It's not so much about her going to school, I won't be crying the first day because I know she is ready and she will love it. It will be new experiences, new things to learn and she will LOVE IT. And it's not so much about her being away from me, although that is a little bit of it. 

It is about the passage of time. Babyhood is over. Toddlerhood is over. Preschool is over. Never to come again. The years during which I will be her everything are also coming to a close. The years in which she will go to bed untroubled every night are unfortunately probably going to end soon too. And it is so bittersweet. She is moving forward in an exciting and wonderful way and I wouldn't change a thing but I am mourning her babyhood. When she was little I eagerly awaited her sleeping through the night, then when she would sleep past 5 in the morning, then when she could dress herself and each thing was so exciting and we celebrated it but now I'm afraid that I forgot to soak in the NOW. To breath it all in despite the lack of sleeps and tantrums. And I wouldn't go back at all but a part of me is grieving.

There is also a little bit of fear. Now, I know we are not supposed to carry fear in our hearts, but I can't imagine a mama out there that doesn't have a little pocket of fear in her heart for her babies. This is the first time she will interact with many adults that I don't know. She will ride the school bus. That little pocket in my heart is filled with "what if's" right now.  What if the teacher doesn't get her? What if she feels lost? What if she has a hard time making friends? Or worse, what if she is picked on? What if she is so quiet they think she doesn't know anything despite the fact that she is reading and doing multiplication? This is the stuff that I have to set aside and have faith in her and the school and us and know that it will be OK. 

So the first day of school, there I will be with a brave look on my face and a deep breath in my lungs saying good bye to my first baby as she goes off to her next adventure.  

The Kitty Cat

Tangerine spotted Miss E sitting still and took advantage of the moment (and her lap!) He is not one to miss a cuddling opportunity!

Yesterday's picture I ended up boosting the color because everything was so washed out and gray. Today I did the opposite - this couch is actually really red, her dress is really orange, as is the cat and when you mix in a flash I can't control, this whole picture was blaring FIRE. However, a little color fading worked wonders to tone it all down without losing the light.