Go Team!

Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

I just don't know where the time has gone. My babies aren't babies anymore. Tomorrow, it's middle school. Next week, it'll be high school. Man. It makes me relish these days with Annie even more. (Thank goodness something makes me remember how precious she is! After days like this, I'd like to FedEx her to Dr. Dobson and let him figure her out)!

Today has been emotional. I knew it would. This is one of those milestone kind of weekends that I never thought I'd have to do alone. However, tomorrow morning, I will put on my best happy face and put the two big kids on the bus toward their new middle school careers. As for Annie, I will cheerfully drop her at the sitter's house tomorrow morning and RUN! Fatima has more patience than anyone I know and she sees Annie only as a blond little angel. I don't think she believes me when I tell her about Annie biting me or screaming at the big kids. Oh well. I don't care what she believes as long as she has the front door unlocked and ready tomorrow morning at 6:30!

My blog definetly hasn't been my major priority this week. It hurts to type, I've been exhausted, and my emotions are all swirling around and hard to pinpoint right now. I've had plenty of meltdowns and resorted to writing things in my journal in the middle of the night but those are the kind of things that are borne of frustration and desperation that I would really regret ever being published. (Um, yeah. The kind of thoughts that would definitely get me locked up in a nicely padded room)! It kind of goes against the blatant honesty that I'd wanted to portray here but just as we have to learn to think before we speak, sometimes, I have to learn to calm down before I type.

I thought I'd go ahead and log my entry for today while Annie napped but the whole time I've typed, I can hear the springs on her bed squeaking which means she's been jumping on her bed for the last 20 minutes! Seriously! The girl is going to wear me out before she ever even makes it to school! Speaking of Annie and school, I had to run to Office Max to get a few last minute supplies for the big kids that WalMart didn't have (of course). As we walked the aisles looking for tabbed dividers and protractors, Annie decided that she had some needs to fill, as well. She told us that she needed a notebook to write her clues in (Blue's Clues) and a pencil (Blue's Clues). Then, she saw the school boxes and said she needed one of those to keep everything safe in so Ally (the cat) wouldn't get it. There are some days I wish I could mute her! We always thought Grant had an extremely complex vocabulary when he was a toddler but his vocabulary doesn't begin to compare with Annie's! She now strings sentences together and throws in very vivid adjectives when she's passionate about something. Basically, I'm trying to justify why I didn't argue with her and I just bought the pencils, notebook, and school box. I was surprised to find out that if you spent $15 at Office Max, you got a free book bag. The big kids quickly relinquished the freebie to Annie and she packed her bag just like everyone else. So, tomorrow, all three kids will head out with their book bags packed!

I will stand beside proudly as I send them off onto the next chapter of their lives knowing that I've given it everything I have to make sure they're prepared in every way. I know that middle school is where the "rubber meets the road" and the kids will have to put everything into practice that we've taught them. If you hear someone screaming, "Go team," at the buses as they pull away in the morning, it will be me.  You'll know that I'm praying that everything the "team" has done over the last years will be remembered and put into practice.

Summer Reflections

FBCW Park - Loving the sand

FBCW Park

First carousel ride

Day 2 of vacation and already bored

Swimming at the pool

Hostile bed takeovers - this happened multiple times

Learning to jump the baby gate and finally having to take it down

PVC house

Welcome to the world baby Anderson - Dad and Grant are grateful to add another male to the tribe!

Getting stuck in the car wash

More hostile bed takeovers

Screaming so hard she burst blood vessels and made me think she had chicken pox

Grant earned the title "Grill Master"

Swinging at J.J. Biello Park

J.J. Biello

J. J. Biello

First movie in a theater - Bee Movie

Little River groupies at the county office (we ended up in the pod of LR folks next to the Port O Potties - hmmm)

First week long sleep away camp at Sidney Dew

At DAK Kids

Camp Hollywood (this was her first man crush - yikes)

End of ceremony family night at Sidney Dew (mom slept in a tent - yep)

Allatoona Lake at Victoria Landing

Mama Hen thought Annie was straying too far

Park in Kennesaw

Sonic slush after a hot afternoon

First bowling trip (sexy shoes included)

Bowling

Rope Mill Park walking along the river

Little River playground - dueling slides

Dish washing 101 - the teacher was NOT very patient

Hobgood Park

Walking the track and discussing landscaping at Hobgood

First REAL skinned knee

4th of July parade in downtown Woodstock

Happy Birthday, Ansley

Family photo disaster #672

Getting ready for fireworks while reading a Lego magazine

Learning to spit sunflower seed hulls (she just spit the whole thing)

Working the crowd

Noah's Ark Animal Rescue - look what I rescued!

Chick-fil-A Cow Appreciation Day

Lake Allatoona at Galt's Ferry

Maybe my favorite picture of the summer! Wardrobe malfunction!

Tellus Museum

Gem panning

Digging for fossils

Figuring out the science of prisms

Back at J.J. Biello

If only!

Run, Forest! Run!

Back at the Kennesaw Park (I've got to remember the name)!

Grant hurling Dasha off the Spinning Top of Death

3 Little Monkeys

First carnival for Annie and Dasha

Round, and round, and round, and round... ugh

Ladybug, ladybug, fly away...

Family Fun night at Hillside UMC

Dasha modeling her balloon outfit

Allatoona Lake at the Wildlife Action Center - Grant's first Ski Bob attempt

This game seemed to be something like an evil twin to Red Rover

Grace made her appearance with a broken wrist

Apple Movie Maker Camp

Annie job hunting

PVC house remodel

Big stuff after learning to operate the water dispenser on the fridge all by herself

Grant with the mayor and city manager

Grant with Councilman Jason Nelms

And those are only the venues that I'll publicize that we were at! :) We all survived the summer but it's very bittersweet to have the kids heading to middle school. The last year has ushered in too many changes. I'd just like to keep them with me for one more year!

Today has been very trying. My doctor appointment was cancelled for yesterday (good thing it wasn't a cardiologist and I was in danger) so I have to reschedule for next week. So, I'm still wearing the splint which just isn't giving me much support. I had to move from Tylenol to Motrin today to get better pain control. I also had to finish getting some of the kids' school supplies and it seemed that everything just crashed in on me at once. Grant has finally started asking some hard questions about circumstances and it just rips all of my scabs off to see the hurts that he's been carrying around. Answering his questions has been just as tough. I'm glad that he's finally beginning to share his feelings about everything but, man! As a mom, it's nearly impossible to listen to him speak from his heart and not get emotional. If he wasn't so darn insightful and wise, it wouldn't be nearly as hard. I think he's wise enough to understand the circumstances and the events that have happened but he's too innocent to understand why it's all happened and I don't have any answers to give him. Last night, he ended up falling asleep in my bed after we talked but he woke me up several times calling out Eric's name like he was dreaming. Of course, it stirred my soul and made for a pretty bad night for me, too. I would do just about anything to take away his pain.

Anyway, my point wasn't to whine tonight. We've had a great summer and I wanted to reflect on that. I'm looking forward to seeing a new group of eager little faces on Monday morning and beginning another great year. I admit that I will carry a lump in my throat all day, though, knowing that the big kids are in a new place and can't come running to me if something goes wrong. I know it's time for them to make the transition but I just don't like it.

Good night, all!