Winding Up July

Hello to all 4 of my followers and anyone else that stumbles across this post.  I felt that since it's been awhile since I posted I would go ahead and give a brief rundown of what the family's up to.  Since it's summertime the girls and I have a pretty laid back calendar and hubby is just as busy as always.

Starting with the hubs:  Between work being especially busy requiring overtime, condos that allow us to take fun vacations and Jujitsu that helps him de-stress and socialize.  He is one busy cookie.  I do not envy his schedule at all and I am thankful he's willing and eager to break from it so we can all go away together.

Now my turn:  I am recovering from ACL Surgery (Tore a tendon in my knee) and dreading looking forward to school starting.  When school starts we have to wake up at 5am so my 5 year old and 9 year old can be on their bus by 6:15ish.  I recently purchased a Erin Condren Planner (following the link will get you $10 off your first order) and admit I enjoy using it.  It has soooo much space and I have a justified reason to play with stickers.  It's even made meal planning feel like a more achievable goal.  I find I do much better and have much less anxiety with a physical planner that I can look at to see what's going on.

My Oldest Katie: She is going into 4th grade this year.  She has evolved over the summer and is more aware of how she looks.  She has to fru fru a bit just to take the dog on a walk("Really mom who knows who I might run into").  While it's neat to see her actually caring I am relieved that she also has no problems playing in the rain or catching frogs with her friend across the street.  She has a kind heart that immediately reaches out to someone she sees hurting or sad.  Her wit is going to get the better of her until she learns to switch from talking to my friends and talking to my mom.  She's my thinker, viewing her surroundings before she jumps in, not shy as much as cautious.  She is willing to be goofy and loves making others laugh. She's struggling to become a Big Kid and doesn't really even know what that means making it that much harder.  She only knows that's the next step and she's anxious to take it.  This year (bragging mama moment) she's been accepted to the gifted class, she's in the local community choir and wants to start more actively acting.  She wanted to do so professionally and after hubby and I talked to each other we told her that for now that was not an option.  There is a children's theater 45 minutes away that we may take a stab at though.

My Youngest Emily: She starts Kindergarten this year... my mommy heart aches for her.  She hasn't been away from me much in the 5 years she's been on this planet and 8 hours a day/ 5 days a week seems like so much!   While I know we'll both appreciate the break and probably appreciate each other more it's still daunting to me.  I went from work, to SAHM and now to SAHM with actual time on her hands.  Emily is my tester... It will be interesting to see how she reacts to the rules of school though she did excellent in preschool so we'll see.  She likes to go for it with 100% and suffer any consequences later.  Her imagination is awe-inspiring and knows no bounds.  For the 90% of the time she's awake she's laughing or talking.  She's an adorable sneak that will try to get forbidden food not realizing she's always being watched...  She's no longer allowed to just walk into the kitchen, she has to get permission.  It'll be interesting to see how she takes this bigger pond on.

 In a few days we will be going to see my dad and meet his new girlfriend and 2 of her kids.  It will be a quick trip and I'm looking forward to it.  Hubby's going with and all in all it should be a nice trip.

Off I go...I'll post again SOON!
Melissa