As my title so subtly stated we have been in the A-T-L for almost 2 years. This time 2 years ago our house hear had been closed on, our house in Illinois had been packed and are belongings were headed South. Some days it seems we have been here forever and other days I feel like they just came and picked up the mountain of moving boxes....sigh....the speed of time.
So my first post will be to try and give a Reader's Digest version of our life for the past 2 years (I said try....).
I shall start with Kaylee.
This 11 year old, going on 18, started Junior High this year. I know....how can someone as young looking as me have a Junior High student..haha...well I do. I remember last year living in denial of this new chapter, but against all my efforts this new chapter started. Sigh.
Now going into this year I knew she had the Jr. High attitude down, rolling her eyes at me and my "suggestions" of how to/not to do things. Being embarrassed by my ultra cool dancing and singing in the car, at home...and sometimes in the stores of course. Providing almost daily wisdom to me (that she has apparently learned in her long 11 years) that I don't get it because things are different now then when I was 11 (times are different....the struggles are still real); and of course reminding me that I'm old and enjoying being taller than me (by like 2 1/2 inches). Oh the sweet, sweet love of a child. In spite of her ready Jr. High attitude this Mama was still a little nervous/anxious of how this transition was going to be. Changing classes every hour, PE that required her to have a uniform, a locker with a combination, advanced classes, learning an instrument, and finding the balance/time for all the studying/homework/projects and practicing her clarinet. How was my perfectionist, introverted, anxiety filled, routine oriented daughter going to handle this? What storm would be hitting my house everyday when she walked in the door from school?
Although I had concerns with this transition I had no doubt she could do it. Even with her anxiety and introverted ways school has always been her thing. She keeps it together at school, walks the line and does what she needs to do. I don't have to ask about homework or projects because more times than not she has them completed before I even knew these assignment existed. Which is awesome and scary at the same time. My concern was did she feel confident enough to do it?
I don't know if she felt she could do it, or she just knew she needed to but so far she has rocked it out. She has organized herself. She comes home and gets her homework done and rarely needs my help (which is probably good because I'm not sure how much help I could be). She goes into school early, voluntary, for study sessions, to participate in a group at school that is about spreading positivity and building kids up. She attends WAKE (the Jr. High/Sr. High youth group program at our church) on Wednesday evenings and on Sunday mornings she volunteers her time with the Pre-school children during church. As of now she wants to grow up and be an Occupational Therapist to work with children with special needs. Which is totally awesome and I think she would be amazing at doing.
Ainsley:
This little lady is 9 and loves letting me know she'll be double digits come her next birthday. Waaahhhh.....no!!! We went to the doctor not to long ago to confirm that she was lactose intolerant. Although Bradley is lactose intolerant, I thought if either girl was going to be it would have happened by now and her pediatrician was explaining that often times it doesn't occur until the child is around a decade old....so I guess the doctor also confirmed Ainsley's diagnosis that she is almost 10.
While she is still at elementary school this is the first year since she started Kindergarten that she and Kaylee are not at the same school. I knew that they weren't hanging out on the playground, or really saw much of each other at the school here given it's size, but she always knew that Kaylee was in the building, and they were on the bus together. While she would say she didn't care I think at the start of school she was a little more impacted then she let on to us, or herself. However, it soon seem to fade away and now it's like it's always been that way. Which is a little sad, but overall probably a good thing. It's kind of weird to think that from now on they really won't be at together at the same school very often,
Ainsley has fallen in love with cheer here. She just completed her second season. So we spend late August until just before Thanksgiving at cheer and then we move to gymnastics in the off season. She still has her gift of gab, mainly due to the running stream of thoughts into her brain that come right out of her mouth. You never have to guess what she is thinking. Her unique style still exists with her funky outfits, which is one of my most favorite things about this girl, and I hope she never loses. She is who she is. I find it refreshing in this world that seems so consumed with what someone else has, or is wearing, etc. While she can certainly be a little too sassy at times she is generally a sweet and thoughtful girl who has a positive attitude more times then not.
As for Bradley and I we let the kids keep us busy. We enjoy it here in the South. I love not having below 0 temps and feet of snow. While we miss our family and friends we get back to Illinois twice a year, generally in the summer and at Christmas, and are lucky enough to have our family come down and visit us a few times each year. We are fortunate to have found a nice neighborhood, with great neighbors that have become good friends, wonderful schools that offer great programs/opportunities for our kids and a wonderful church with some great people and programs/groups for us to take advantage of and become a part of.
So my update may have been more of a Reader's Digest novel...but I guess that's the way it goes when you take a 2 year break from blogging. I'll try not to make it another 2 years.
