I can't believe I've been gone from here for a month and a half. Wow! I expected things to slow down when school started but silly me was wrong! Things have been crazy busy lately.
Well we are 4.5 weeks into school already. The start of this school year has been a rough one for me. There are lots of "firsts" with my kids that makes me stand up and take notice of the fleeting years. I'm having a hard time accepting the fact that my oldest baby started his first day of high school. My middle baby started her first day of middle school and my youngest baby started his first day of elementary school.
My almost five year old little guy was so excited about finally going to "big school" like his sister and brother. But after three days of it, he was ready to stay home with mom. Robbie is a momma's boy and momma did have a hard time with her baby leaving. He is only in school half a day in the afternoons so we still have our mornings together, just him and I... and we love it!
Oh my word! Let me tell you how perfect God's timing is! Robbie picked out a book for us to read on the night before school started. I've always had a love of children's books and have been collecting them since before my first child was even born. We have so many books in our library, that I had forgotten about "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn. It is a perfect first day story! This is a story about a little raccoon getting ready to start school. He talks about his fears to his mother. His mother comes up with a wonderful solution to help her little raccoon remember that she loves him and is thinking about him, even when she isn't with him. She kisses him in the middle of his palm and whenever he feels lonely and needs some loving from home, he is to press his hand to his cheek and he will be reminded of her love. I had tears in my eyes after reading this story. When I dropped Robbie off at school the next day he was such a big boy. As I was leaving, I blew him a kiss. He caught it in the air and put it to his cheek. We smiled so big! Then I rushed on out of there before anyone could see not just the tears that were streaming down my face, but the full blown crying spell I was having. He's so adorable and has brought so much joy to our family. 
My 11 year old baby girl, as I sometimes call her is maturing well into her years. It makes me happy but at times I would love to see her enjoying life a little more. I know it doesn't help to live with two boys though. Amariah is our smart, beautiful, well-adjusted, compassionate, mature, loving, diligent (I could go on and on and on) athlete. We have received numerous compliments on how well-rounded she is... being good at every single thing she does. She pushes herself to the max and doesn't give up. She is truly a breath of fresh air and I am so thankful for her willingness to help out at all times without even being asked. We enjoy our mom/daughter shopping trips so much!
I went in the school with her and embarrassed her three-fold but not really meaning too. For some reason, parents don't go in the middle school and take pictures of their kids at their locker and in the hall. Hehe! As she was pushing me down the hall to get rid of me, I told her I loved her anyway, was very proud of her, and wished her a wonderful first day of school.
My big guy has grown tremendously over the summer. 14 year old Ryan has come so far and matured so much just since May, the end of last school year. Here he is on his first day of high school.
He likes to look tough but he can be a sweetheart... when he wants to be. He's always cracking jokes and making us laugh. He is a huge help to his dad and I. I took him to his doctor for his football physical and he is now 5' 5 1/4" and weighs in at 154 pounds. I said "He can't be that tall, that's how tall I am." He stood right in front of me and looked me straight in the eyes! When did my baby boy grow up like that?!? I took him school clothes shopping and we had to transition from youth sizes to men's sizes! I was having a hard enough time with the thought of him entering high school, now I am having to shop in the men's department for his clothes! Ugh!
This day was full of tears... Sad tears, joyful tears, melancholy tears, proud tears. I just couldn't seem to stop the tears. I've always been an emotional person but this day was a hard one for me. Thankfully Rich understood all too well how hard this was for me. Why, I even caught him wiping away the tears when the last child was dropped off at school.
As if you couldn't tell... my life is full of busy-ness, but it's also filled with lots of love. I am so proud of each one of my kids and have so much love for them. I am extremely grateful and thank God daily for bringing our family together and growing us up in love!
