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Thursday, August 11, 2016

A new school year with some BIG firsts

My sweet loves 💙💙💙 started another school year today. We had two big firsts today....my baby started kindergarten today, his very first 1st day of school at BPES. My oldest love - Brady Mac - started 5th grade today, his last 1st day of school at BPES as next year he will be on his way to middle school.  WOW!!! In the blink of an eye....I entered into a new book in this mothering journey.  ðŸ“•.  

There have been so many emotions.  

They were all happy walking into school this morning and - PRAISE the GOOD LORD - they were happy when they climbed into the van this afternoon.  

Evan was such a sweet big brother this morning...climbing down from his bunk bed, half asleep, he said "Don't worry, Maddox" - as he put his arm around Maddox - "I will help you. I will make sure you get to your classroom this morning". And he did just that!

I love how they love each other.  

After school today, I got a sweet email from Mrs. Shipp letting me know how well he did and telling me that he is "a sweet sweet boy".  She included 5 pics of his first day which means so much to this momma's heart.

Monday, August 8, 2016

LOTS of growING

I feel like my boys are growing soooo much and soooo fast lately....not sure how to handle it all.  Some of it has been exciting and fun, some of it is hurting my heart - of course it is inevitable and there is not a thing I can do about it.  I think the pain of their growing comes with the fear of regret. 

- what if I look back and it was not enough?
- what if I fail them in some way and when I see it later and I long to go back for a re-do?
- what do I say to them when they walk away from me as an adult - to college, work, their own place, the military - that will accurately encapsulate my love, my hopes, and my dreams for them?
- what if I regret choices I made, time I did not savor, patience I lost?

URGGGHHH!!! This mommy thing is sooo much harder than anyone could have conveyed to me.  I know how unhealthy it is to live in the past, to dwell on "what ifs" and wallow in regret.  I hope it is just enough to remind me to cherish the times, the moments, however hard they are at times.

Soooo in the past few months my oldest turned double digits - 10!!! Oh my, that is quite a milestone birthday.  We celebrated with a trip to the beach with Uncle Rich and family - to Mark's place at Isle of Palms.  He hit the 4'9" mark, so he is at the "it is okay to move out of a booster seat" height...no more booster for this big boy.



My "baby" finally broke 40lbs.....what a thin little guy he is.  While he is small, he is mighty!! He was on swim team for the first time this summer at Shades Cliff Pool.  He struggled a bit in the beginning and only participated in practice for most of the season then he swam in the very last swim meet and won the HEAT....he was sooooo excited and sooo proud of himself...it was AWESOME!!!

We are preparing for three BIG firsts in our house - (1) all three kiddos in the same school at the same time - this is a first and a LAST...I get one year for all my babies to be at the same school (2) Brady's first day of his LAST year at BPES...oh my, this will be a hard one for me and, even harder still (3) my baby is starting kindergarten....first day of big school for Maddox....WOW!

Hard for this Mommy in soooo many ways but proud for me as well.....blessed to call them mine!

So much cuteness, such little time

I have had a lot of "oh, that is too cute" and "that is too precious not to document" moments over the past few months.  Unfortunately, if I do not grab my phone or laptop in that moment, time and my memory get away from me.  I am going to try and capture some of the recent cuteness that I can remember:

* a month or so ago, Maddox was heading to the bathroom.  He told me he had to poop.  A couple of minutes later, he calls from the potty: "I did not need to poop, I just gassed."

* During Dr. Seuss week  at Bluff Park Elementary, Brady and Evan had a day where they were to dress up like what they want to be when they grow up.  Evan decided to dress up like a baseball player.  On the way home from school, I looked in the rear view mirror at Evan in the back of the van with his baseball hat on and thought he looked so handsome.  I said "Evan you look so cute dressed up like a baseball player."  He just shot me a cute smile.  Then I said: "You look like a boy that I would have wanted to talk to when I was in school" (I always have had a thing for baseball players).  He just looked at me and smiled with his big, magnetic dimples.   I said: "do you know what that means, Evan?" (referencing the statement I had just said prior).  He said: "Yeah, I do."  I said: "What does it mean?"  He said: "That you want to marry me."  LOVE the thought process of these little people : )

* My little love bug - Evan - is so thoughtful...I came home from being out somewhere and they were home with Chris.  When I got home, Evan had a "vase" of flowers for me:

I know there are many more sweet moments, conversations, etc. that have happened over the past few months that I am just not remembering but - for now - I am documenting these or I will keep being too busy to get them down in print.  
 
Love my boys!