Once Again....

So I realize that once again I am behind. If you only had time to hear about the crazy things of this past week, then you might understand why. Yes, we officially have the 1st week of Kindergarten under our belt. Really I wish I could take the belt off and go back to the old "normal" but that just cannot happen. This week was great for Hannah. Everyday she would say that her day was "better than yesterday". She seemed to truly have a lot of fun. I think she is made for the social part of school. I, on the other hand, was not made for her to go to school. This past Monday was hard for me. I made it out of the classroom without crying, but I let it loose after that. She didn't even cry or hang on our legs at all. I eventually gathered myself and we made it home. Strange feeling with just the two boys. It really really hit when the boys took a nap that day. Usually I run on the treadmill during their naps. Because I still required Hannah to have some "quiet time" in her room during their nap, I could also have some quiet time. It never failed that she would come in to visit me during their nap before her "quiet time" was officially over. On Monday when I was running it dawned on me that I won't have that issue anymore. And, while it was frustrating some days that she would keep coming out of her room, I actually missed that this past week. It is the little things like that I miss the most. I also miss the late evenings that we could spend playing outside. Now, bedtime is at 8:30pm and that actually may need to be bumped back again. All three kids are up by 7AM. I have not had to be awake every day at that time since I worked full time before Hannah was born!! I know that we will adjust and this will become the new "normal" but I think I am grieving our old life. I am sad that Hannah misses out on the things we do during the day and that she spends the majority of her day without us. It also makes me sad to not know exactly what she is doing the majority of the day or who she is talking to during those times. One thing I am glad about is the fact that tomorrow is a HOLIDAY! I think it could not come at a better time. I just wish there were holidays every Monday! Here are a few pics from the 1st day of school. (They are not the pictures that I dreamed of, but considering we ALL woke up at 7:10 AM and had to be at school at 7:45AM, they will have to do. Jason even managed to flip a few pancakes during that time. It was not the best start to a 1st day!!)

Hannah's 1st day of Kindergarten

This picture made me smile so big. Look right in the middle and you will see Hannah finally noticed I was there to pick her up. That smile was worth a million dollars that day.

We are good friends with 3 other families who all have children around the ages of ours. Three of the four families had kids who started kindergarten this past Monday. At least we know others who understand our pain!!

Family Pics

Here is a recent family picture that we had taken. They turned out fairly good considering we were dealing with 3 young kids! Believe it or not, we have not had a true family picture since Logan was just a few months old. I always think that is funny since I am such a big picture taker.

TEN!!!!

Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary. We have been talking about what 10 years would look like for us for a long time now. Honestly, we had always talked about taking a 10 year anniversary cruise. Because of Jason's newer job, vacation could not come that soon, so we will set our cruise back to next year. Jason did a great job planning this year. He has had a rough week with the plans though. Apparently he had planned for weeks now that one of our good friends would watch the kids overnight and most of Saturday. Well, this week, their grandfather passed away and even though they were so sweet and said that they still wanted to watch our kids, Jason felt it would be better to make other plans. He was a little stressed needless to say. It just happened that he was talking to his little sister on the phone when he was trying to figure things out and she volunteered to take our kids. She has 3 young kids (ages 6 and under) of her own, so this might be interesting. He is so funny about surprising me. I love surprises, but I am too involved in everything to let things be a surprise. I knew that something was up, however I pegged the wrong people to be helping out. I was trying hard to keep the house clean because I kept thinking that someone was spending Friday night at our house. I am a little relieved that no one is coming over and in fact my kids will be gone from the house so they can't make any additional messes. Have I mentioned that we are having company spend the night Sunday night, then leaving Monday morning and another family comes in Monday to spend the night and leave Tuesday. Oh, and Wednesday I think we have bible study at our house again. Wow, I need it to stay clean.
Okay, so the reason I titled this post TEN is for the ten years we have been married and the TEN reason why I think my husband is the best husband around ....

10. He is funny and likes to be the life of the party
9. He is handy around the house and can fix ANYTHING that is broke
8. He is a great dad. He plays and wrestles with the kids, but also also loves and hugs on them.
7. He gives baths to all 3 kids at the time. (I don't like bath time a lot so he has taken on that "job')
6. He helps around the house with dishes sometimes!
5. He appreciates what I do around the house. Maybe he just likes to have clean underwear!
4. He has always had a drive to provide for our family and make sure that we are taken care of
3. He tries to make me feel special and sends me special emails every now and then
2. He is so cute
1. He loves the Lord with all his heart and does his best to lead our family in that direction.

Jason, I love you and can't wait to see what the next 10 years holds. Thanks for everything you do for me and the kids. We could not ask for a better daddy and husband.

I also titled this post TEN because we now have 10 days before Hannah starts Kindergarten. So, in the spirit of count downs, I now have a list of the TEN reasons why I am not ready for school to start...
10. Hannah does not have any new tennis shoes and apparently kindergartners are supposed to wear them EVERYDAY. What kind of fashion is that????
9. The boys will be lost without their 2nd little mommy to boss them around.
8. Hannah has never been away from me 7 hours a day/5 days a week straight
7. We have not had too much of a schedule this summer. The kids go to bed late and wake up later than normal. It has been great!
6. Rain, sleet, or snow, it does not matter. I am going to have to drag my two boys out of the car everyday to walk Hannah into school and then in the afternoon to pick her up.
5. We have to change the boys nap time. Right now they lay down in between 2-3pm. It works great for us. Now that school is about to start, they need to be up by 2 or a little after so we can go pick up Hannah
4. The school year marks the start of everything....bible study, parents day out, soccer practice, soccer games etc
3. I no longer have a preschool little girl
2. Hannah will have to meet new friends and find her place in the classroom. I worry about her making friends and feeling included. I don't know why I worry because she is a social bug!!
1. TIME CHANGE....yep, it is not official daylight savings time but around our house it will happen. Hannah will have to be in bed early because we will all have to get up early. We hardly ever set an alarm clock. She has to be at school at 7:45AM...that's all I have to say!

Looking Forward and Looking Back

36 days until Hannah starts soccer again

32 days since I posted last

21 days since Luke got his new big boy bike

21 days since the kids were weighed at the Dr...ALL three were 32lbs and some odd ounces!

20 days until the boys and I return to Bible Study

17 days until Kindergarten starts

14 days until open house at school where we find out who Hannah's teacher is!

14 days since Jason and I went overnight without the kids

12 days since we have been back from visiting family

11 days since we got our new pet...a baby box turtle

10 days until we have overnight visitors...the McAdens

9 days until we have overnight visitors...the Maytons

8 months until my birthday

7 days until our 10th wedding anniversary

7 months until Hannah's 6th birthday

7 months until Jason's birthday

6 months until Luke's 3rd birthday

6 days since my bedroom has been painted

6 days since I dropped something on my not very old cooktop

6 days since we signed Hannah up to play soccer in the Fall

6 days since we signed Jason up to coach Hannah's team

6 months until all TVs go digital or something like that

5 days since I really really cleaned our house

5 days until bible study is at our house

5 months until Logan's 4th birthday

5 months until our dogs 2nd birthday

4 months and 2 weeks (approximately) until Christmas

4 months until 2009

4 days since I have actually cooked a meal for dinner

4 days since we have bought crickets for our turtle

3 years since our last professional family picture was taken

3 months (approximately) since we had a master bathroom that was not "under construction"

3 days since Hannah and Logan's last gymnastics class

2 days since I received my camera back from Canon (fully repaired)

2 days until it is our turn to serve in the Children's Ministry at church

2 days since I last did laundry

2 days since my last trip to the grocery store

1 day since Jason and I went out ALONE for dinner

1 day until our next family picture

1 day since the Lord blessed us with a little rain shower

1 day until I have to start really really cleaning our house for company next week

1 week until I get my new but same cooktop

1 month until the boys start Parents Day out

Ability to catch you up on our lives in one post without looking at my appointment book......PRICELESS

Amy M., this post is just for you! You should be caught up now!