Croc-orama

Owen was pining away for Grandma all day today, because he knew she was coming and he knew she was bringing crocs. This may seem like a silly thing to long for, but Owen is a very "fashion conscious" 4-year-old. He knows what he wants to wear, and gets upset when he can't find it. (This concerns me a little. What's it going to be like when he's a teenager?!!) Owen has been asking for crocs for a month, and they happen to be rather hard to find at the end of the summer. Grandma saved the day, going to a dozen or more stores to find crocs that would fit the boys. Thank goodness for Grandmas. Owen can now proudly show his crocs to everyone he meets.

Dancing in the Living Room

This morning Owen and I put on some Reliant K, Hillsong and TFK, turned it up very loud and danced in the living room. He led the way having me copy his moves. After about 15 minutes of running around in circles, spinning on one foot, hopping and diving into a bean bag, I was tired and dizzy. If there is one thing I have learned about Owen since Carter started school is that he has and unending supply of little boy energy. In the past, I have not had to entertain my boys a whole lot, because they had each other. The past week and a half has been a new experience. I'm trying to enjoy my time alone with Owen as much as possible, because it will be short-lived, but I'm having a hard time keeping up with the little Towhead.

Lets Go Fly A Kite

Here are my boys with a few of the neighbor kids out playing last night. After supper they are outside until one of the parents decides it's time to come in, usually at 7:30 or 7:45. It's so hard to make them stop playing when it is light out and they are having so much fun. Last night Owen said, "It's like a party, but it's not really a party."

Hangin' with my big bro

This Scooby-Doo episode is riveting.

A double dose of trouble

Pictured here are Aiden and Owen relaxing after giving themselves a spa treatment. This is where Marti and I found them after we decided they had been playing quietly for a little too long. With big brothers Carter and Caleb at school, these two can now be the proud instigators of mischief. Notice that Aiden is reading a Bible and Owen is learning how to run a sound system. And he's reading upside down!! I always knew he was going to be a bright boy. They looked so cute we had to laugh. We laughed even harder when we discovered they had put Vicks Vaporub on their faces (Aiden said it was yucky on his lips), mango lip balm on their lips and my favorite lotion on their skin, after stirring it up with my toothbrush of course. Don't I smell clean? Owen asked me. I don't know if I should even mention the feminine products I found in various places in my bathroom.

Big Boy

Lewis got a new toy. He loves the freedom of sitting up and looking around. And he just looks so darn cute in it!

A Page is Turned...

The paragraphs below are my musings from Carter's first day of Kindergarten. We are still definitely in the adjustment phase and will be for a while, and I am still sad that my little boy is growing up, and that I only have to get one orange plastic plate and one spiderman cup out at lunch time (sigh), but we are going to make it. Carter thinks the school day is too long and doesn't want to go every day, but he will get used to it. And Owen misses him like crazy, but he'll adjust to the new routine eventually too.

"Six years ago this morning I was holding my brand new baby boy thinking of all the things we would do together and all the time we would spend together, oblivious to the speed at which father time had the cruise control set. Other moms told me repeatedly, “Enjoy this while it lasts. They don’t stay little for long.” Cliché, Cliché’ I listened, but I didn’t believe them, not really. Now I do. Now I understand.

This morning I can hardly stop the tears that started flowing last night at bedtime when my scared son said with his wet eyes that he didn’t want to go to school. He wanted to stay home with me. I just wanted to pick him up and hold him and tell him he could stay, that he didn’t have to start school, that we could go to any park he wanted to and eat lunch at Chuck E. Cheese, and he and Owen could dump out all the toys in the basement and not clean them up, and they could watch 5 movies and eat candy all day and go get super muddy in the creek, and then we could go get a pet kitty even though I’m allergic…It’s just so hard to make your child do something they are scared to do, even when you know it is the right thing.

As I sit here with my heart breaking and a lump in my throat, I hope Carter is pleasantly surprised by having fun his first day of school. I hope he makes a new friend. I hope someone says something to make him laugh. I hope his teacher makes him feel at home. I hope he builds an awesome lego ship or colors a cool picture. I hope he gets something yummy for lunch. I hope he gets to play with Joe at recess. I hope he misses his brother, but not so much that is makes him upset. And most of all, I hope he is not as lonely for me as I am for him because that would make for a very long sad day."