Missing them already...

On Tuesday of this week, Madie had her last "first day of school", Brooke had her last "first day of school' as a middle-schooler, Ellie had her first "first day of school" at a brand new school for her, and Annie started kindergarten.

I know that A.J. started college in June, Easton will start high school next Monday, and Tymber will go to preschool starting in September, but I am NOT ready.

I am NOT ready to let them go to school!

I will miss letting them sleep as long as their bodies and minds would let them.

I will miss letting them stay up late fishing together, hanging with friends, and eating until midnight. (ok, I might not miss making them an extra meal everyday about 10:15pm.)

I will miss watching them come up with creative ways to spend their summer days.

Like making things from You Tube videos, trying out new hairstyles, taking runs, making bike jumps of the front walkway, digging in the sand, and swimming.  Lots and lots of swimming.

I know, deep down, that once school starts, that life is filled with early morning wake up calls, breakfast in the dark, long days filled with challenging classes, homework galore, after school activities that push dinner to 8pm if we want to eat together, or crock-pot dishes that we eat as we trickle back in the house, and stricter bedtimes to help with those early mornings.

I know that school means more structure, and possibly a much cleaner and organized home, but I will miss them.

I will miss hearing them discuss life. 

I will miss listening to them as they resolve being bored with a quick trip to 7-11 or the grocery store for a treat.

I will miss it all.

I have my crazy to-do lists ready.

I have my exercise schedule booked in my planner.

I have grand plans of decorating the house for Fall on September 1st, a homemade donut recipe ready for October (national donut month, and one of my favorite months of the year,) and completing shopping and Christmas cards before Thanksgiving, but I would trade them all to spend another week at the lake with my family.

I would give anything to have everyone little again.  

All curled up in my bed, begging for breakfast, books, and the park.

I am excited about this time in all of our kids' lives.

I just wish it would SLOW down!

After saying goodbye to the four girls on Tuesday, I walked inside to see the sign pictured above taped to my "Projects" lists.

I just began to cry.

I feel so inadequate most days.

I feel like a terrible mother other days.

I have days when I want to be better at so many more things.

But, for that moment, reading those words, I knew I was loved and that every moment I have spent loving and teaching my children, is worth it.

There is nothing I would rather do.

There is no one I would rather be.

My kids have energy, talents and challenges that are overwhelming to both them and me sometimes, but together we CAN DO THIS!

So to A.J., Madison, Easton, Brooke, Ellie, Annie and Tymber...

Thank you for choosing me to be your mother.

Thank you for blessing my life just by knowing each of you.

Thank you for challenging me in ways I thought I could never handle.

Thank you for being brave and showing me new things.

But thank you, most of all, for trusting and loving me.

I love you!

I know that your teachers and coaches get you most of the day now, but I will love being with you each night! 

School Survival Kits 2013

SCHOOL SURVIVAL KITS

Ellie and I saw this idea here, and knew we had to recreate our own.

It was so fun, that we just may do it every year!

First we headed to Walmart and got the following:

Emergen-C

Nail file

Tide To Go

BreathSavers

Proper Zero packets

Luna bars

Colgate Wisps (to go toothbrush/toothpaste)

Jergens lotion

Halls Vitamin C drops

Small notebooks (they are .88 for four)

Carmex lip balm

Excedrin (Migraine or Extra Strength)

Purell hand sanitizer

Crystal Light raspberry green tea packets

Tums

Avery labels (to write their name and message inside)

(We also picked up Lint rollers and small kleenex, but couldn't make them fit in the final product)

You also need supply boxes (we already had some from clearance years ago)

We opened everything up and sorted it on the counter

 Then we troubleshooted until we got it all to fit.

Then we followed the same set up for all of them.

 These are two pictures of the finished product.

Lot of flash late at night...sorry!

 Then Ellie wrote all the notes to the teachers, and each of their names on the front.

 Here is the setup that we found that worked best by layers.

Layer #1 above

Layer #2 above

 Layer #3 above

Finished product all labeled up and closed. 

This one was for Ellie's Aunt Julie who is a teacher too!

Her's said, "I love you!"

 We ended up making SIX. One for Ellie's teacher, her three office ladies, her principal, and her aunt! (We have another for her Aunt Melissa, who is a Dean, when we see her soon)

These are great!  Have fun with it!!

You can choose whatever you want!

Be creative!

Happy 2013-2014 School Year to everyone!!

Making heaven with the cousins...Strawberry Freezer Jam

 

You know it is getting closer to back-to-school when signs of this upcoming event start to pop up everywhere!

Julie and I were going to take the kids to the local Six Flags (Elitchs), but the weather was gloomy, so we quickly changed plans, donned aprons, and made freezer jam with all the girls!

Side note: My camera battery has been giving me trouble, so we had to start this little project via the I-Phone!

First the girls washed and trimmed the tops off the strawberries!

Julie got started on the first batch and tracked down her favorite recipe!

I'm going to quickly throw that in here, so we have it always!

Next, we loaded the strawberries up in the Ninja, and pulsed them just enough to have tiny bits of fruit, not pureed fruit.

Perfect blend!

Then we measured exactly 4 cups of strawberries, 3 cups of sugar, and one handy PINK box of SURE JELL.

Put those in a pot on the stove, stirred occasionally until a rolling boil, and then continuously stirred for ONE minute exactly with a constant boil.

Then we poured them directly into these nifty Ziploc containers!

Then...REPEAT...over and over until you get a counter full of jam, and very happy girls!

Kenna and Ellie made a batch from start to finish!

LOVE seeing them together!

After the hoopla of all the big girls helping out and doing batch after batch, Tymber decided to help out with the last batch of the day.

***Disclaimer! I would NEVER normally allow pictures of me like this.  Frizzy hair, double chin and all, but I NEVER want to forget what this day felt like cooking that batch of jam with Tymber!

She was TOTALLY into it!

She may only have just turned two weeks ago, but you would never know it.

She measured the sugar, poured it in, and stirred away.

I love that messy face...and I LOVE being a mom!

Leveling off the measuring cup...so CUTE!

An VOILA...the fruit of our labors...literally!

And just like the Little Red Hen, Easton showed up as the homemade bread was baking and photo bombed our Instagram moment!

Such a great day!

Ist Day of School 2011

The first day of school always brings such mixed feelings for me.

By the end of summer, I long for the balance having a schedule brings to our family and home.

I am excited for the kids to make new friends and reconnect with old ones.

I look forward to the "dream list" of projects I am going to try and attempt in those precious hours with just little ones.

To say that I love Fall, football, holidays and snow, is a gross understatement, because I dream of crisp Fall days, watching the boys play football and taking breezy walks with the girls.

However...

I miss my kids when they enter back into the school scene.

I long to hear them swimming, splashing and screaming in the backyard.

I miss having lunch with them, watching them bound with each other, and staying up late.

I miss everything.

Even the things that I wish away like bickering, boredom and bad days.

It means that another year is just going to fly by, and before I know it they are all a year older.

This year I am going to try harder than ever to really hold on to each moment!

Here we go...