Savannah's Birthday at Bull Creek Dog Park

Savannah's Party at Bull Creek

Leak update

After finding water in the wall below the master bath Mark immediately called the contractor (after turning off the water to the house, of course). Within 10 minutes, a superindendant was on site, and within 15 minutes of his arrival, a plumber was here. They were able to locate the leak fairly quickly and cap it to prevent any additional damage. Here's the bad news:





The good news is that our contractor has liability insurance and will cover all the cost of the repairs which he estimates to be around $10,000...most of which will cover replacing the wood floors. It looks like a very small spot, but since mom installed them 2ish years ago, they have discontinued this style of parquet...sooo, they're now going to have to replace the entire hall, dining room, living room and Ashley's room, which is a VERY large amount of wood flooring. We're pretty bummed about having to rip up the floors that mom worked so hard on, but we're also trying to look on the bright side. Our old water line was weak, and according to the plumber, could have broke on its own anytime now. I can't imagine having to foot this bill right now! We are so, so fortunate!

First Day of School

The kiddos had an excellent first day of school and both came home happy, hungry and exhausted!

The morning started off great, Alex wound up in Sissy's bed at some point during the night, so instead of Ash waking up at 6:30 and Alex at 7:00, they were both up at 6:30. As soon as Alex was coherent enough to realize that it was morning, his body went in to silly convulsing spaz mode while yelping, "TODAY'S KINDERGARTEN!!" Ash was a little less spastic, but excited none the less. Alex ended up picking out a new first day outfit than the previously planned one. Definitely not something I'd pick for first day material, but I was a good momma and reluctantly bit my tongue. I continued to bite my tongue when he decided he would fix his hair as well...which ended up being some sort of faux mohawk with pointy bangs. By the time we got to school it had made up it's own mind and turned in to more of a sculpted bed head "do".

We finally made our way to school, parked, and then Daddy, Sissy and I all took mr. over-excited Alex down the hall to his classroom. We were all so excited, but no one moreso than Alex. This guy has been waiting for this moment for so long, counting down the days, asking questions, talking about his own NURSE at the school, and the playground and the busses, and lunch, and all the wonderful stuff that he's seen Sissy have all these years. It was finally his turn. And on that walk to his classroom, Alex and my emotions seemed take opposite courses, his began to peak, and mine began to flatline. Suddenly, all the teachermomkid voices around me sloooowed down and somehow morphed in to hollow warped unidentifiable noises. Alex's classroom is close to the end of a loooong hallway, and all I could think of was "this is it, we're almost there". I snapped out of it and I was ok, Alex was ok, we were all ok...that is, until my sweet, tiny little guy took his ginormous backpack off and struggled to lift his this ridiculously overstuffed thing(that happens to be TWICE his 5 year old size) up to the hook designated, "Alex". Then...it all hit me at once. In a few short minutes, we'll turn around, and walk out of the school withOUT our Alex. Ahhh! So, basically, the eyes got a little too full and I had to do some lamaze breathing outside his class before I could go in so my sweetie didn't have to see me sad. While I was in the hall forcing oxygen in to my lungs, I was later told that his teacher gave him a great big welcoming hug and was so excited to see him. I missed a photo op for TEARS!!!! I'm just so thankful that he has a touchy feely teacher, because that was one of my biggest issues...who's going to hug him if he's sad, or what if he gets hurt. Well, my mind is now at ease, because I know his teacher will give stand in momma hugs when I'm not around. After my sob fest in the hall, I was able to gain a smidge of composure and walk in, give him a hug and leave. It was a blur. BUT it's OVER!!!


Taking Ash to school was the complete opposite. I'm pretty sure it was MUCH easier on us than her. I really think it's a huge shock walking in to a school where every kid is quite obviously older than you, and they don't think twice about staring you down as you walk in. Talk about uncomfortable! After we found her locker (yes, she allowed us to come with her) and she was able to focus on something other than her surroundings, she was able to chill a little. I continued to ask her if she wanted us to leave, because I was so worried that our presence was doing more harm than good, but she assured me that she wanted me to stay and even walk her to her first class. On the way to her class we spotted a friend and at that point, she gave us permission to leave. And that was that. We were successful at getting our two big kids off to school for their first day. Finally, I feel like I can relax a little. The build up to this day has been huge, so the relief is feeling just as huge.




Update:

We're now on day 3 of school and each day has been easier, although I do have to say, today marked the first day that both kiddos were less than thrilled to have to wake up. In fact, as we walked Alex through the front door of his school he whispered to me, "man, I sure wish I was still in bed."

Here we go.

Sleep well sweeties

Twas the night before school days, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The backpacks were hung by the exit with care,
In hopes that school morning soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of school friends danced in their heads.
And me with my tissues, and daddy with his remote,
Had just settled down, for a short summers sleep...

Ok, so I don't have the time to actually finish this, afterall, the alarm will be sounding at 6:15 am and I do need my rest. However, I did want to post something on this quiet night. This is Alex's last night to lay in bed wondering what Kindergarten is all about. And Ashley's last night to wonder the same about middle school. It's so bittersweet. Both of my babies are growing up so fast, much faster than I had ever anticipated. But there's no stopping time, that's for certain. Ashley has her outfit picked out, and all the accessories to boot. Alex picked out his non matching outfit, which I promplty corrected. Their lunches are packed, I've explained to Alex how to open his thermos and how to open his milk carton, and how he can just raise his hand and ask if he needs help. He has my phone number memorized just in case. ***Sigh**** And now all he needs is one last momma bear hug and he'll be good to go for the ENTIRE day. I'm hoping tomorrow is ok for him. I know he'll be fine, but there's a small part of me that worries that he'll be lonesome and a little frightened in this brand new place. This is the same little guy who still asks to be held and cuddled and sleeps with his "cozy" every night. But, he IS a big boy now, right? And everything WILL be ok. It will, it really, really will. And if it doesn't feel ok, maybe his "cozy" and I will keep each other company while he's gone.

Ok, I'm going to bed now, where I can get lost in my book so I don't have to choke back anymore momma bear tears.

Oh please, please don't let me cry, please let me be strong.