20 minutes

of tears (from me, not the kids). My boy is now officially a kindergartner. My biggest boy is now a 2nd grader.





That shirt screamed Jake's name from the shelf at The Children's Place on Sunday. I absolutely HAD to buy it - it's his personality - fun and funky. As we were picking out clothes for the 1st day of school, it was between this shirt and a Spongebob one. I was so happy to see him pick this one. It just makes me smile. He makes me smile. It's been too quiet around here today - my newest sidekick has been wandering around, looking for his brothers. I've been able to get some things done, without breaking up fights.

Will was so sweet and helpful to Jake this morning - it's always nice to see that side of their relationship. I will say that I see it much more than I thought I would. I always imagined boys just wanting to beat each other up, tattle on each other and just bug each other. While that does happen (often), the sweeter, kinder side of them shines through a lot. It makes me feel like we're
doing something right.

Breathe in....breathe out....

That's what I'm trying to do. The first day of school is Tuesday. I've met both boys' teachers and I believe they're going to LOVE school this year. That makes me happy.

I'm not sure I can describe the feelings I have about sending Jake to school. I'm just not ready. He is SO ready. I can't keep him here forever (but, I'd like to).

I'm desperately trying to push these feelings away. I want to show him that I'm excited for him to go, excited for him to learn new things and make new friends. I'm certain my eyes will fill with tears on Tuesday morning, while we wait for the bus. I've never been so happy to have transition lenses in my life - I WILL NOT show him my sadness. Instead, I'll hug him tightly, smile and wish him a fabulous day. Once that bus drives away, I can't promise the tears won't fall. In fact, I'm certain they will.

My crew is heading to Columbus, Ohio tomorrow. The boys and I are going to the Columbus Zoo on Saturday morning while my husband and my in-laws go to the Navy/Ohio State football game. I didn't want to sit around here by myself for the weekend, so we invited ourselves :) I'm geeked, the boys are even more geeked and I need a day or two in some new surroundings.

Pictures will follow in a few days.

Happy Labor Day!

Life

It and some of its struggles have gotten in the way. I apologize. I need to take a few days to rest my mind.

I'm still around - you can find me on Twitter, if you need me. I'm Mommy23boys.

In the blink of an eye

We started here:



and 7 beautiful, fabulous years later, here we are:



To my sweet Will,

I hope 7 is a magical, fun filled year for you. Enjoy every day.

Love,

Mom

On a picket fence

I was blessed to be born with the ability to sleep anywhere, at any time. Literally. I never had to be lying down or even comfortable. I could sleep sitting up, if necessary. My mom used to say I could sleep on a picket fence.

This blessing had been one of my favorites. Sadly, it has left me.

Nothing is bothering me (well, other than having to get my house ready for the 25+ people coming to my son's birthday party next week, my husband's softball injury that *might* require surgery and having to ship this one off to Kindergarten in a few weeks.) I toss and I turn and I do it a little more. I listen to my husband snore (maybe THAT's it - who am I kidding, we've been together for 8 years. I've almost tuned it out completely.) and I listen to the fan make these very odd noises.

People, I need to sleep. I require more sleep than most human beings on the planet. I enjoy staring at the backs of my eyelids. I DO NOT enjoy drinking my weight in coffee, just to function throughout the day.

Maybe.....just maybe I'll relax a smidge after the birthday party is over. But, then, school starts....

Ain't she a beaut? - Wordless Wednesday!

Vacation, way back when....

Is summer really almost over? School starts in 36 days. It's not really felt like summer here - the weather has been quite wonky this year. The idea of cold weather moving in makes me want to cry.

I'm reliving our vacation (in my mind, at least), so I thought I'd share some of the fun with you!



This is one of my favorite days - we spent the whole day on the beach with my sister and her family. The adults sat and chatted while the boys played for hours in the sand and ocean. We left Tank at home with my mom - he's not quite ready yet! My husband is trying to help the boys find sand crabs.



The only thing that would have made this picture better is having my baby boy in it. Maybe next year :) We were waiting to be seated for dinner and I decided to snap this shot of my boys.








I rode these exact rides as a child! The boys love hitting the boardwalk when we're there because they know there are lots of rides and games to play. It's a pint sized heaven on earth :)




"The Lake" is one of my favorite places on earth. My husband's aunt and uncle have a house on Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. We go for the 4th of July and it's wonderful. I love watching my boys REALLY play - baseball and fishing and football and swinging, etc. etc. It's good, clean, healthy fun - no electronics involved. They slept harder than I've ever seen them sleep - the fresh air just does a body good :) Henry was the same way - his fun was a little bit more contained, but he still loved it.



See what I mean about "really playing"! Friends at the lake have this contraption set up with their riding lawn mower. The boys did this for hours during our time there. It does my heart good to know that they'll have these memories as they get older.