First Day of School 2012

The first day of school finally arrived! The girls were excited. Kaylee to see all of her friends and Ainsley to finally be at the "big kid" school. 

Photo of their backpacks. Thank you, Mee-Maw!!

Our 2nd grader all ready to go!

Sisters

Our big Kindergartner!

Ainsley wanted a photo of the back of her backpack.

Silly picture! Let's go Bulldogs!

Ainsley and one of her buddies from Montessori. They aren't in the same Kindergarten class but still get to have lunch and recess together.

All the kids lined up with their classes. Time to blow kisses and waive bye to Mom's and Dad's.

Time for 2nd grade to head into school.

I watched them go in, walked back to my van and cried a few tears:). They had a great first day! Ainsley loves riding the bus and it's fun to listen to them talk about their days. I think it's going to be a good year!

Grieving

Okay so "Grieving" might not be the most appropriate name for this post. It's not grieving over someone who has died. It's more about children growing up. Ainsley Isabella started Kindergarten this week. Yep, my baby is now a school-ager. She is a full-fledged kid. My first baby, Kaylee McKenna? She headed into 2nd Grade. Both healthy, happy and excited for their new adventures. So why the title of "Grieving"?

Well I remember when Kaylee was a baby and I was rocking and feeding her before bed, she was less than 2 months old, I was looking at her and started to cry (my hormones could have possibly been in overdrive) thinking that although she would always be my Kaylee she, as I was looking at her then, wouldn't always be what I saw. She would grow bigger and change.

Sure enough both of my girls have grown and changed everyday. As I look at them now I am so appreciative and feel so blessed that they are healthy! Perhaps that is why I feel conflicted of using the term "grieving". However I do miss those days, the baby/toddler days. The days where it was eat, change, play, sleep, repeat:)

The days where they brought me book after book to read to them, now they just read on their own.

The days where they would tug at my hand and lead me to the door to go outside, now they just come in and out on their own.

The days when we went for stroller and wagon rides and now they zoom past me on our walks with their bikes or scooters and I have to tell them to stop so I can catch up.

The days when I had to cut everything into tiny bites and now they can cut their own food (mostly) and feed themselves.

Even the days when they needed me to give them a clean diaper and now not only do they use the bathroom themselves they even change the toilet paper roll.

The list goes on. Don't get me wrong I enjoy their independence (for the most part:)). I love that Kaylee likes to clean her room and puts her own clothes away. I love that Ainsley is a free spirit and has the courage to do whatever she sets her mind to. I love each new chapter and watching them grow and figure things out.

But with each new chapter another closes. Each new chapter puts us farther away from the first. Each new chapter will find them more and more independent and more things on my list that have changed. It's life, it's exciting and I'm blessed.

I look at my parents, and Brad's, the grandparents if you will, and I see them experiencing all of the above a second time over with their grandchildren. I wonder how they feel about those closed chapters. I see how they enjoy the new chapters and keeps me excited and eases the pain when closing a chapter.

So maybe "Grieving" isn't listed in Webster's as what I've described above, but it's how I interpret it and how I feel. I love the newness but I so miss some of those old days and stages. They are cherished memories. They are days I reflect on. They are days that have shaped me and filled some empty places in my heart. They were challenging days and some days that I thought would never end. They have been scary days and they have been perfect days.

I grieve for those days, I treasure those days and I look forward to the next day. I know each new chapter brings to close another chapter and it fills me with pride, happiness, excitement and grief. Perhaps this is the  circle of life?

This group of ladies have been friends of mine since Jr. high school. That's a long time!! We have been through boyfriends, girl fights, break-ups and make-ups, school dances and activities, graduations, getting married, having babies and other random triumphs and defeats. We have children the same ages, or close to it, and are fortunate to still live close enough to see each other often. We have a standing GNO dinner each month, although there's usually one or two missing from dinner to dinner.

We decided to have a Girlcation and we headed to Galena for the weekend. Although there were a couple of girls that couldn't make it:( we still managed to have some fun! We hung out, got some sun, did some shopping, sang some karaoke (well a lot of Karaoke because there wasn't a lot of people in the bar that night:)), some even got a tattoo (or two:)). We had such fun! Fun reminiscing and talking about our families, coming up with plans to help us survive when our kids become the age we all were when we became friends and our latest triumphs and defeats.

While we may have made some questionable choices along the way and gotten into some mischief we could always count on each other. What I can hope for my girls is they will be as blessed as me to find their own group of amazing ladies to grow-up with and lean on, learn from and laugh with.

Thanks for a great weekend girls!!!

Summer Fun

I can't believe that summer is coming to a close and school will be starting in a week! We have had lots of fun over the summer and have kept ourselves pretty busy.

We have been fishing in Mee-Maw and Paw-Paw's pond.

It's been a hot summer! We have spent our fair share on hanging out doing indoor activities during these dog days of summer:).

We decorated a float for Kaylee's Brownie Troop and rode on it in the annual Towanda 4th of July parade.

We went to cheer Daddy on at the annual Park to Park Run on the 4th of July.

We also cheered on Karen!

While cheering on our runners we hung out with Megan and Owen and took some fun photos.

Brownie girls getting ready for the parade!

Spent some time with our BFF's.

Helped throw a shower for Uncle Brandon and his soon to be wife Nichole.

Spent some time on the slip-n-slide.

Ate some lunch on Grandpa's lap with a cousin.

Slid down Mee-Maw's slide into her peanut pool.

Swam in the pond with a sister and a dog.

Took a walk with a sister to see what else could be found around the pond.

We have also taken Baking class, Craft class, went to Mexico, played T-Ball, went to Day Camp, saw some movies, went to Indy and Chicago, took swim lessons, did lots of swimming in pools to practice our lessons, went to parks, ate lots of ice cream and popsicles and lots of other fun activities. We still have some sweet summer time left and we will continue to fill that time with more fun moments!

Mexico 2012

Last September we went to Mexico to the Secrets Silversand, adults only, all inclusive resort. We loved it. This year as we started to plan my Mom's 60th birthday trip my Mom decided she wanted to go to an all inclusive. Since Brian and I had both been to the Secrets Silversand and loved it we knew it would be a great choice to take Mom. So in June we headed back down to Mexico to celebrate our Mama in style!

Here is Brad and I before dinner one night.

The first day there it was raining off and on as a tropical storm was passing through. So a lot of people were hanging out indoors. One of the things they did to entertain people was have this lady who walked around and did coffee drinks which she set on fire first. They were tasty though!

A photo of all of us. I think this was our last dinner there. We ate at the outdoor restaurant that sits over the pool.

My Mama, Sarah and I

My Mom and Sarah swimming with the dolphins. Brian and I got that as a gift for Mom for her birthday.

 Sarah and I with our favorite entertainment staff member Jorge! We had so much fun with him in September and were so glad that he was still there in June!

The boys in the pool. This is where they spent most of their days!

Sarah and I at dinner.

The boys and Mom with a mariachi band in the background. 

Sarah and I poolside.

We let the resort know it was Mom's birthday and each day there was a banner outside her door and each evening a bottle of champagne and fun desserts were in her room. So we would have a glass before dinner.

Mom and her adorable children:)

Another photo of her adorable children:)

Sarah and I at Xel-ha.

We had a great trip! Lots of fun, laughter, snorkeling, swimming, tanning, eating, entertainment and just celebrating our wonderful Mama!!! She is such a blessing and does so much for all of us. It was so nice to have this trip and these memories with her. Happy Birthday, Mama!!

American Girl

A couple weekends ago Brad went on his annual guy camping trip so the girls, my Mom, a couple of our American Girl dolls and I headed up to the American Girl doll store. We did some shopping and had lunch in their cafe. Ainsley's doll, McKenna, got her ears pierced! Kaylee and her doll got matching shirts. There were a few more items purchased too (thanks Mee-Maw!). 

The girls in front of the star.

Here is us at lunch. I have to say that although the lunch is a little more pricey then what we would normally do for lunch I have to say you get a lot for your money and it was definitely a great experience to have with my girls and my Mom.

Mee-Maw and the girls at lunch.

We went to the Lego store and also stopped at the Disney store too! All in all it was a great day!