We look the same.... right!

I drove this weekend to a baby shower for a good friend from college.  She is having babies number 2 and 3 - twins!  It was so fun to see old faces.  Has it almost been 10 years?  We all look the same, I'm sure!  I'm sure we still all get carded right?.... right!  If you leave a comment feel free to view that as a rhetorical question. 

I shared 4 years and lots of memories with these ladies and it is fun to see how marriage and motherhood has made us (I'm gonna go ahead and lump myself in there) even more beautiful.  Love you guys!

Spirit Week

 It is Spirit Week at Steven Edward's school.  That is one of the positive things about it being a Pre-K to 12 school.  The little kids get to experience things that generally only happen in middle and high school.  I think they even have a pep rally today (another thing I love and found out others hate).  None-the-less, the flyer came in the mail for Spirit week and I was SO excited.  I LOVE spirit week.  I have such fond memories as a kid dressing up for Spirit Week (tacky day, twin day, lollipop day).  I also loved it as a teacher.  It was an all around great week with dress up days and teacher vs student games.  Loved it.  LOVED IT.  BUT I was surprised to find out that some of my friends (who have obviously been students, but are also mothers and former teachers) hate it!  How can you hate it!  It is a bundle of thematic fun!  This week we've had (in order) crazy sock day, crazy hat day, team day, crazy blue and white day, and school t-shirt day.  Here is just a taste of what our house has looked  like at 7 in the morning this week!

 These are definitely my 9th grade soccer socks.  I suppose I'm a pack rat.

His face says 2025.  Today was the first time I figured out his Class!  That is crazy right!  Class of 2025!

This is just a cute little girl in her cousins valuer jump suit.  Gotta have that right!  I'm sure I did in the 80s.  Let us not deprive my own daughter.
And in case you were wondering, we are also having our own version of Spirit Week at home!  This is Sam's design (me doing it of course, but at his bidding).  He veered a bit off the entirely blue theme, but fun none the less.  We've already gotten a little on our couch.  Nice.

The Fun of Fall

Fall in the mountains is always a great season.  There are so many things to do and SO many tourists.  In fact, it is by far the biggest tourist season for our city.  And we are no exception!  We were blessed to have Steven's parents come this weekend for a short stay.  We have loved having representatives of both grandparents back-to-back.  The boys have LOVED having so much attention.  Unfortunately we took no pictures with Steve and Sally actually in them.  But since they are in a perpetual search for a new and updated family photo, we did get one of those!  The last 10 minutes before their departure, we all realized we hadn't taken any pictures... so we had an impromptu photo shoot in the yard.

 

When we were finished with our family photo, Sam said... "can we take one of us all praying."  We all chuckled and said, "of course!" 

A Full Weekend!

Everyone who knows me well, knows that I view that as a good thing!

This weekend, my Mom came up for a visit because my Dad was in CA visiting his brother.  We were going all weekend long.  It was great.  I had plenty of good girl time, and lots of fun adventures with the family!

We started Friday by picking up Steven Edward from school and heading to Steppe Apple Orchard.  We always love this orchard.  And even though they warned that much of the crop was lost due to a late frost, there was plenty for us.  We picked Golden Delicious, Crispins, and Mutzu - I have a pot of apple sauce going on the stove right now!

 

A zoom in on this picture will reveal a urine stream.... and it's not coming from my son (not that this would have been all that surprising, though).

Then we prayed off the rain on Saturday (in exchange for some crazy heat) and headed to the WNC Mountain State Fair.  It was exactly what you would expect the fair to be, and the boys loved it.

I think this picture sums up my boys without using words.

Eliza LOVED the carousel.  She spent the whole time going.... "neigh, neigh."  It was quite cute.  And when waiting to go again, she threw amazing fits while trying to pry open the gate.  Nice. 

Then on Sunday, we went to Greenville for Church and a quick stop at the zoo.  No pictures from either of those though.  I'm a bit tired today.... but we had a great time and I loved having my Mom here to enjoy all the fun with us.  Thanks for coming Mom!

Clothing Swap

Last night I went to a clothing swap for the first time.  A friend of mine has been going for awhile and convinced me it was a good idea.  I was a mix of curiosity and nerves.  As comfortable as I am with new people, I am not comfortable in the clothing girly side of life.

I walked in with my basket of things and put them in the appropriate piles and on the appropriate floor.  At first I felt sheepish laying down my reject clothes.  What if they looked at me and thought, "pshaa, I wouldn't take your clothes... just look at her!"  But to my surprise when I returned to the pile to look, all my shirts were gone!  My rejects were someone else's new finds!  And the same thing happened when I went to the jeans pile, everything I brought was in someone else's arms.

They had the entire house separated into rooms of categories and sizes and 40-50 women were pawing through piles of clothes.  Random women beside you would strip down suddenly to try on clothes.  And I spent most of the night looking at the person beside me wondering if I was admiring her left overs! But I found that most of the women had this same feeling, as there was very little conversation.  There was the one of two people who talked loud enough for everyone to hear, but all the other women were just a quiet as I was (for those of you who know me you may find that shocking!) trying to make it through the evening relatively unnoticed. 

Our town, for not having a small town feeling, is a surprisingly small community.  I walked into woman's house I had never met and ran into women I knew from at least 5 other places: church, story time, school, or the park.  It was an incredibly bizarre experience, yet I came home energized!  It was a mix of the feeling you get from cleaning out your closet and finding a great deal.... because I mean.... I'd done both!  When I finally came back home I found myself walking into my room looking around spying things I'd bring next time, and wishing we'd have another tomorrow.  What a weird mix of excitement and discomfort.  They even had snacks and wine.  Funny.  But I must say, I'm definitely going back in the Spring!  Clothing swap here I come.

The First Day

Today is the first day of school for my big boy!  I can't believe it.  I have been waiting and anticipating this for 5 years.  We have done no form of pre-school, so this is going to be a big change for everyone.  Because he is a thinker, and loves being at home, I have been talking it up for over a year.  This came back to bite us both about a month ago.  I started to dread/worry, and hating transition, just wanted the day to come.  The past two weeks has been wrought with sadness on Mom's part, and suppressed stress on his part.  He has been having "tummy aches" for 2 weeks.  When I tried to tell him that I thought he was just nervous, he crumbled on the floor, and looking up at me said, "I just can't bear it, Momma."  That was almost a week ago.  Well, we made it through the week, and as surely as the sun rises.... today came.  Surprisingly, he woke up at 6am ready to go, beaming with excitement.  Even though last night was a sleepless one for me, today was made easier by his excitement.

 
This picture makes it look like Sam was unimpressed with his brother leaving.  And this was one of my biggest fears for him, as they are such good buddies.  Isn't it funny how that happens?  Our biggest fears and worries generally turn out to be nothing at all, or not even close to what we've created them to be in our minds.  Yet we go on worrying.  But Sam has actually handled being the center of attention surprisingly well!  He is super hyper this morning, is loving being read to, and is ready to head to the Health Adventure with our friends (which was our plan to keep us both busy).  I think he will adjust quite well to being the oldest at home. 

 The boys heading off to school together!  Some moms take their kids in a little late to hug, cry, and say goodbye, but Steven Edward told me he wanted his Daddy to do it.  So it made it easy on mom for sure.  No tears yet.

 Other than Eliza.... who was left behind to take the above picture.

 

Here is a picture of Steven with his teacher.  She is great and has made him feel super-welcome.  He has already drawn her a picture and it is already on her bulletin board.  He is in great hands at a great place where Daddy is just down the hall.  I suppose for a first Kindergarten experience, this is a pretty good one!  I'm praying for you, son.  I love you and the house is much quieter already. I suppose mom will adjust to that as well.

Today is the Day....

There is something extremely special about having a little girl after having two boys.  I love my boys.  I love them so much, but having a girl last is a totally different experience.  I told myself when she was born that I would NOT baby her.  Even though she was a girl, I would treat her the same.  She would NOT be a princess....I told myself....

It didn't take long to realize there are certain survival tactics that happen with a third.  Most stereotypes exist for a reason, and she is indeed our baby.  So as I cook dinner and she is screaming at my feet, I hand her a piece of cheese.  Or as I'm carrying on a conversation and she is screaming I either: a.give her some of my food, b.put her on my lap, or c. pick her up.  I sometimes put her in her crib to gain control.  But she IS LITTLE....right.... I have realized these are behaviors that teach a child to scream to get what they want (and I don't ALWAYS cave.... REALLY).  And I know I need to break them....and I will.... I will....

Either way, today is the day I decided to just let her feed herself.  Not because I wanted to have a child that could self-feed with a spoon, but because I wanted a child who would stop screaming at me. 

Score:  Eliza-1 Mommy-0

 

  
This is the face of a child who knows they have won.

Don't climb in that stroller, it is NOT for climbing and riding in. 

 

Score:  Eliza-2  Mommy-0

But isn't there something to letting your children do things that makes them happy so you can get something done?  Surviving?  Isn't there something about choosing your battles.... right.... RIGHT?!!!

Oh - well.  I will choose to start this battle at 18 months.  And I suppose I've chosen not to battle the stroller and she is the last and it needs not survive another child.  I'm such a push over.  I'll let you know how that goes.