Milestone Almost Missed

I'm guessing/hoping it's pretty common to get to a point where a mother finds that she's lost a bit of her identity outside of being a mother, wife and employee. I not so sure how well I do any of these "jobs". I keep telling myself I need to stop making excuses and start doing something for me.
Last Friday a co-worker asked me to go out for drinks and I found myself making excuses again. I wasn't really dressed for a night out and I needed to drop off a check at the old daycare and more importantly it was Tyler's 1st day at his new preschool and I really wanted to hear all about his day and take him out for a celebration dinner. I headed home, kicking myself for making more excuses but when I got home and saw my little man's smile I realized going home was "for me". To top of the evening Leah lost her 1st tooth at dinner and I was there for it. There's no other place I would rather' have been.

New beginnings

Tyler started at his new preschool last week. After trusting CCA with the care of my children for the past 4 years and seeing what a fabulous job they did preparing Leah for grade school I was very conflicted if we were doing the right thing. Luckily the Tyler and Leah are thrilled to be in the same building and the teachers and staff are amazing.

Angel's Among US

You know anytime I go to Target or Wal-Mart with the kids I hear "I want" way more times than I care to admit. I do my best to teach the kids realistic expectations and explain that while there are lots of things we'd like there's very little we need. While Leah fully understands and buys into TV ads, Tyler hasn't really connected the dots that what he sees on TV can usually be bought at a store. A few weeks ago there was an ad for the upcoming National Air show and when Tyler saw it I could see his eye light up. The boy loves things with wheels...if they have engines all the better. Throw some wings on it and he's in heaven. So when he told me he wanted to see the planes I marked my calendar for a very special date with my little man. What better way to spend Labor day weekend then with the Blue Angels and one very excited three year old?

 

First day of First Grade

Tuesday was Leah's first day of first grade. All week she seemed excited about starting at her new school but when the morning rolled around we had a hard time convincing her to get out of bed. After a little persuasion and a reminder that she didn't have to wear a uniform she dragged herself out of bed to start the New Year. As a Family we went to the school for the flag rising and a few songs before parting ways for the day. I gave Leah a task to learn one girl's name and one boy's name. It took her four days but she has learned one boy’s name. Owen....He's in before and aftercare with Leah so they spend a lot of time together during the day....I should hope she learned his name eventually. I get the sense that his family is new to the school too. I'm sure there'll be new names and friends to follow. So far so good.

Guy's Weekend

Last weekend Scott left for a guy's weekend. While I was less than happy at the idea for him leaving the week he started classes and the last weekend of Leah's summer vacation I decided to make the most of it and took the kids to the beach. I'm proud of myself anytime I decide to take on an adventure on my own and even more proud when every thing works out. I enjoyed myself and more importantly the kids had a blast. I packed a lunch and we had a little picnic in the back of the van just to get out of the sun for a little while. After 5 hours in the sun no one got burned and no one drowned (well I did run in once to save Tyler from some big waves but he survived)....success in my book....and I got my beach vacation this year after all.

Old Man's Cave

We took the kids on a little roadie this past weekend. We visited Athens and got to catch up with a dear friend I haven't seen in 8 years or so. The next day we packed up and headed to Hocking Hills State Park for a little camping. Looking at the weather report for 30% chance of isolated thundered storms I kept asking Scott if we really wanted to risk it with 2 small children on their 1st camping adventure. He was up for it so off we went. After setting up camp and dripping in sweat we got the kids in their suits and headed to the pool. Just as we approached the pool I heard thunder and told the kids to hustle. I jumped in the pool and turned around to grab Leah when they blew the whistle to clear the pool. I dunked both kids just to get them wet and poor Scott didn't even get a chance to get in. The weather blew over and an hour or so later we headed to the pool again only to have the whistle blow again after about 15 minutes. We decided to get the camp fire started to start dinner and before we knew it rangers where making rounds to warn everyone that there was a tornado warning. Rain and even lighting and thunder are one thing to deal with while camping but tornados while stranded out in the wilderness are my biggest fear. We threw the kid in the van and headed down the hill to seek shelter at the ranger/welcome station. After the cell passed by and we confirmed that the second cell on it's way would be much weaker we headed back up for a very soggy night’s sleep (I never did eat). The next morning we got up and hiked a few short trails before deciding we weren't going to risk another night camping in the rain. While the weather definitely put a damper on my grand camping dream, the kids enjoyed themselves and we got a chance to hike the trails in solitude...which was a rare and wonderful treat.

I don't much have the patience for messing with photos right now so please excuse the order and multiple posts

The kids have never seen Jurassic Park but yet they thought it best to keep an eye out for Dinosuars

A little perspective on how big this gorge is - Hi over there...there...there...there

My Rugged Guys

Taking a little break with Phineas and Ferb gummies

Old Man's Cave II

Talk about a root system!

Roots looked like lace to me

Upper Falls