The First Day of School...

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhhhhhhh..................

It came.
It passed.
I didn't quite break down.
I'm rather proud of myself.
Yup.

The dreaded day is over. The 1st day of school. Part of me is so proud of the them, (Britt and Bay), part of me is glad to get them out of the house for several hours a day, part of me is glad to have a schedule and rules and decent bed times again.

And, yet...

theres this BIG part of me that longs for them to be as they were.

Brittani is going to high school. High School. What's up with that? Remembering my freshman year in high school is literally sending me into a panic. If she even thinks about doing some of the things I did...and I know she is...thinking them at the very least! It's hard to let them go. She's still the curly-topped, tom-boy, non-seatbelt-wearin', cute as all heck, lookin-just-like-her-daddy, just-turned-5 year old that I met all those years ago.

siggghhhhh......

Don't get me started on the other one.

This baby of mine...this part of myself...what is missing in this house between the hours of 12:30 - 3:30 pm? Where is that constant buzz in my ear? Where is the distant laughter in the back yard? The squeal of excitement mixed with more than a little anxiety when she whooshes down the slide?

It's down the street. In the 150 year old school house that overflows with the sounds of dozens of others just like her. Dozens of other mothers that don't know what to do with themselves now that their constant companion for the past 5 years is growing up. I'll tell you what they do. I've seen them. I AM them. They show up at the school 20 minutes early just to catch a glimpse of their loveys playing on the mulch-covered playground with their classmates. Will that boy over there pull her pigtails? Will that girl over there make fun of her for that tiny hole in her sweater? Will that one over there become her best friend in the world and share things with her that only best friends can? Will that boy become her first crush...will this one break her heart...or will that one turn out to be the one she marries someday? Can't I stay with her all day and create a happy little world for her to live in? No...but I can create for her a happy little home to come to at the end of the day.
And I do.
At least I try to.

Well, at least I still have Travis... for now anyway!

:o)

Back from the beach...

Well, we got back from our vacation about 4 days ago...it was sooooo nice! We went to the Francis Scott Key Family Resort in Ocean City, MD. It was pretty nice! The thing I liked about it was that it was very geared to families with small children, which, of course, we have! There was 3 pools, 2 outdoor and 1 inside. The inside pool had a pirate-themed water park thing goin' on. There was a warter slide, a kiddie pool, a ton of different "splash water on you" things...it was fun!

The beach was fun. Brittani and Eric pretty much spent the entire two days we were actyually on the beach ....on the beach. They slept and slept and slept! They each eventually came to the water for a little slash, but that was uit! Lazy Bums! Baylee and Travis, on the other hand, couldn't stay away from the water! They loved splashing around and digging in the sand...but especially splashing around! I didn't think Travis would go for it...but boy did he ever!

I know his favorite part of our whole vacation wasn't the beach, though. Or the water park. Or our "Family Resort". It was the go-karts. Oh yes...the go-karts. We all went mini golfing and racing one of the nights we were there. When we saw the cars...we knew we had to give it a try! Britt took Baylee, I went by myself, and Travis went with his Daddy...the racer of all racers! Needless to say, Eric and Travis came in first place! Britt and Baylee came in 2nd...and slow-poke me...I brought up the rear! But oh my...It Was So Much FUN!!!!!

Well, another update I have for you all...Travis is now sleeping in a Big BoyBed. During vacation, when we realized that he was too big for the Pack-n-Play, we just let him sleep in the bed with us, and he was fine. So, I got the bright idea that when we got home, he would go to the toddler bed. He loves it! Finally...something is easy with this kid! Now if only we can get the potty-training and sharing under control...