School pictures

Both kids had pictures today. As they got off the bus they boy ran to me and declared, "Mommy, I was so handsome they took 3 pictures of me. They only took 2 of everyone else!" As a Mommy I can say, he was darn handsome. As a former teacher I can say, he probably wouldn't sit still! I won't tell him that last hypothesis though. :)

First Day of School

Well today was the first day of school for my kids. The boy started Kindergarten and the girl started second grade. That will leave me home...alone...sounds good huh? Maybe in a few weeks but not yet!

When heading off to bed last night the girl declared, "Mommy I'll never be able to sleep I'm so excited!" The boy was another story, he informed me that he was "just a little scared." I sat with each of them and told them that it would be a super fun day and yes, sleep would come.

I set their alarms to wake them at 7am (not needed). They were both up and running between each others rooms by 6:45am. For good measure they felt the need to run into my room and wake me from what little sleep I got trying to ignore my nerves as well.

They took no time at all to get dressed, make their beds and head downstairs for breakfast. There was a little snag in the girls outfit, her pants were too big, but we got that worked out. It was an excitement filled morning.

We headed to the bus stop in the rain at 8:45am. We actually drove so that daddy and I could follow the bus and get pictures of the kiddos getting off the bus at school. As we stood at the bus stop I could see the nerves slowly creep into the boys face. I didn't say anything, not wanting him to think about it too much. The bus came and I walked the boy and the girl over to it. I then ran from one side of the bus to the other in search of my two kids peering out the windows. Upon finding them the boy crumbled from smiling waves to bending over crying. My heart broke. Thank God the girl was there for him and took good care of him. I almost lost it in the car following the bus but I held it together so I could go and take pictures of them getting off the bus.

Upon exiting the bus I was able to get pictures of a happy little boy and girl. The tears were replaced with a smile that went ear to ear. The girl told me he was just fine. She had taken care of him.

Here I sit on my couch, the bus will be here in one hour. I can't wait to hear the stories of the day. Daddy stayed home with me today so I wouldn't go crazy. He's sitting here watching the clock as well. And we wait....

Hurricane

Place: Mommy's bedroom early sat. morning!

Me: "Boy why do you have your backpack on?"

Boy:" I'm getting ready for the hurricane, my backpack will keep me down if the hurricane tries to take me away!"

Contents of backpack: 2 blankies (he calls them bears), one stuffed animal, one blanket and some tissues.

I think we may have to talk about weight soon :)

The Garden

Mommy, I wish we could grow hot dogs in our garden.

Hot dogs don't grow in the garden hun.

Where do they come from Mommy?

Ummmm...

(from the boy)

True love

The girl to me:

"Mommy, just cuz other mommies don't yell or say no doesn't mean we should love them more than you."


ummmm....thanks????

Fun in the Sun

We just got back from a wonderful family vacation. We met with 3 other families down at the Outer Banks, NC. Four families, 5 kids and a pretty nice house. We were a short walk from the beach and had a nice pool at the house. The kids swam like fish! The morning usually started off over a cup of coffee and the kids begging to head to the beach. As Daddy and I drug our feet and fought to wake up, the kids would eat breakfast and swimsuit up. As we all know summer is wonderful and enjoyable, except the part of applying sunblock. A half hour later, sunblock applied, snacks and juice/water packed and it's off to the beach. There's four of us in our family, everyone had their arms full! We would either stake out a nice part of the beach and the other families would join us or we would meet up with someone who had made it out the door ahead of us.

As Daddy took the time to put up our umbrella the kids would race to the water's edge. I must admit that having older kids at the beach is much nicer than it was a few years ago. We had them wear a life vest when they got near or in the water. They would float over the swells and pop back up if a wave got them. Is it bad to say that the look on their faces when a wave hit them and rolled them was priceless. Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds, I got smashed once too. Plus, most of the time they popped back up, grinned and choked out "I'm okay." When they were tired of the water they would swim in and play in the sand. Since they were doing so good on their own Daddy and I didn't have to come in with them. They would ride the waves in, keep their life vests on and play. I loved them when they were babies but older and more independent definitely has it's advantages!

After a few hours everyone would get hungry and we'd head back to the house. As soon as lunch was over the kids wanted to jump right into the pool. We only made the mistake of no rest one day. That night was full of melt downs, that didn't happen again! The other days the kids would rest, snack then right back into the water they would go. They got to show Daddy their wonderful swimming skills. Man he was impressed how far they have come since last year. We had to practically pry their little bodies out of the water (if that's possible) to get them out for dinner. The first night we actually let them eat by the pool.

All the kids did very well together. They ranged in ages from 9 months to 7 years old. The girl and the boy shared the bunk room with another little girl, age 3. They all did great but a little too social. They stayed up till all hours and were awake at the crack of dawn. Thank goodness the room came equipped with a DVD player and the kids didn't feel the need to wake us up when they got up. The girl had a 2yr. old admirer that showed up about half way through the week. He followed her around the house exclaiming that she was his. He grabbed her hand and took her all the places he wanted to go. He also ran in and out of the water just as she did, placing his feet just like hers. It was the girl's first summer romance (she just liked having someone do exactly what she wanted him to.)

The 3 year old was a little girl and she and the boy got along wonderfully. The boy actually stood up to his sister and went along with the 3 year old girl instead, a shocker for me!

I can't wait to do it again next year and see how much everyone has changed. I'll cross my fingers and say my prayers that the kids and parents do as well every year as they did this year.

Treasure Hunt

This past weekend our family went down to my parents house. Daddy planned a great treasure hunt for the kids. They had no idea what was about to happen. In order to place all the clues, Grandma and Nonna took the kids to a neighbors house where there just happened to be a pirate ship. After about an hour they came back. The first clue was left in the water under the pier. It was in an empty wine bottle that had "washed up on shore." The girl saw it first and flipped out. She was sure it was left there by a pirate. I tried to convince her it was just a washed up bottle but she was more than excited! She pulled the bottle out, got Daddy to open the cork and pulled out a letter from the pirates and the first clue. The boy was excited about the idea but he was much more excited about the wine bottle that he could submerge in the pool on the porch.

The girl took the clue to the grown-ups on the porch and began reading it aloud. They were a bit tricky but she jumped from one clue to the next. Often she set off in the wrong direction to be set straight by having everyone help out. The boy became much more interested when she began to find gold deblumes with the clues.

Both kids were so excited they ran from spot to spot until they came to the final map. The map, also created by Daddy, had an 'X' to mark the spot of the treasure. After about 10 mins. they found the X in the ground. They were very nervous but continued to dig until they found the treasure box. They about jumped out of their skin when they opened and found gold and jewels.

After declaring that they were rich for the rest of their lives and sharing some jewels with their grandparents the kids began to hide the treasure box from anyone. They began to voice their concerns about the pirates returning and coming after them for digging up the box. The girl even went for a nap and swore she heard footsteps outside her window (second floor).

I think they've realized that the gold isn't real but....they still aren't sure how all the clues got to where they were and how the treasure got there. They still kinda want to believe it was pirates so, pirates it was!