Meet the Teacher

On Friday afternoon Sophie went to meet her teacher and see her kindergarten classroom. For the past few months people have been asking me if I'm ready for her to start kindergarten. I thought the answer was, "yes". Even this morning as we got ready to go up to the school I thought I was ready for this. We've had A LOT of together time this summer. It's time for school and routine. She is so ready. I was so ready. Then we walked into the school swarming with students and parents and we walked into the classroom with colorful little tables and scared little faces and I had to take a few deep breaths to calm the panic rising in me. All of a sudden I wasn't ready. I wanted to grab her and run. I wanted to tell the teacher that she just turned 5 and I just decided to hold her back a year. We'll try it again next year. I even thought I could try my hand at homeschooling. After all, I paid good money to get that Master's in education. Why in the world would I hand her over to someone else to teach? I really didn't want to be there. Then I looked at Sophie. She had excitement shining all over her face. She looked confident and ready to take on kindergarten. I realized yes, it is time. This is right and this is good and this is where she needs to be. I don't normally look back to when my kids were younger, but today I really want to go back. I want to go back to when we would sit on the floor for hours and play or she and Taylor would build a block tower taller than her head. I want to go back to when I was in control of her schedule, her learning, her friends. I'm just not as ready for this as I thought. And yet I realize I don't have a choice about her growing up and I just have to trust the One who knit her together so perfectly and has watched every second of her life. Once we got in the car Sophie asked me if the teachers picked which kids they got in their classes. I explained to her that the principals were the ones who divided the children up. Then I told her that I had been praying for her teacher all summer and that God would put her where He wanted her. I told her that God had chosen Mrs. Hernandez for her teacher and had put her with all of the other boys and girls in her class. Then I almost lost it as I realized the truth of what I was telling her and I found some peace. So I may hold her a little closer this weekend and play a few more games with her, but on Monday morning I will walk her to her classroom and let go of her little hand as she enters this new chapter. I'll walk away knowing that the One who loves her most remains with her all day long and this is His plan for her.

Back to School Breakfasts

A year or so ago I saw an idea in a magazine to get together with your friends the week before school starts for breakfast so the kids (and mommies) can practice getting up. We decided to do that this year and had a lot of fun. We met at 7:45 every morning at different places. It was a great way to get the kids ready and also have some fun. I didn't do a great job taking pictures. I guess it was too early in the morning to remember, but here are some that I took.

Day 1: My house

Day 2: Melissa's house (I forgot my camera that day so I've linked you to Melissa's blog)

Day 3: Park and then pool

Day 4: Breakfast cooked by the pool at Crystal's mom's house

Day 5: McDonald's

We Felt That Our Family Wasn't Complete....

without a dog. Welcome to the family Gracie!

One Final Day in the Sun

On Friday we drove to San Antonio for one last summer day at Sea World. We stayed at the water park all day and then fed the dolphins before we headed back home. Goodbye summer!

I Couldn't Sleep Last Night so I Lay in Bed and Thought About....

Twilight! Isn't that strange? I stayed up making some muffins for a back to school breakfast our church is doing for a local elementary school. As I was waiting for them to come out I was flipping through the channels and stopped on E news for a sneak peak at New Moon. That was the last thing in my head when I lay down and for the next few hours I analyzed the story and decided I am no longer a huge Twilight fan. I know this will shock some of you since I personally handed many of you the book. Yes, I was the one who chose it for book club and I was the one who secretly passed it to some of you hidden in a gift bag at church because I didn't want everyone to know the preacher's wife read books about vampires. Don't get me wrong, I still like the books and I'm sure I'll go see New Moon. However, in my late night ponderings I began to wonder WHY do I like the books...and why do YOU????

It all started the other night when I rented the movie for Taylor to watch with me. I thought since I got it in Blu Ray he would like it more. I was wrong! Granted, it isn't a great movie. It isn't even a good movie, but I thought he might want to understand the mania that is Twilight. As he sat mocking the movie I started thinking about the fun days ahead when Sophie can watch chick flicks with me. That got me thinking about her watching this specific movie with me. The more I thought about it the less I liked it. I even commented to Taylor, "I hope Sophie never reads this stuff. Bella is so weak!"

So last night when I couldn't sleep that is where my thoughts went. I have had these thoughts about the book before. I think they give teenagers a false idea of what love is. But I've never thought about my own daughter reading them and what she might learn from them. Spoiler Alert: If you haven't read the books and don't want the movies ruined for you, don't read on. Like I said before, Bella is so weak. She is definitely not a character I want my daughter obsessed with. I'm wondering if the New Moon movie will be as painful to read as the book. I wanted to yell, "Snap out of it! Get out of bed and get back to your life!" But she couldn't because she had no life outside of Edward. Is this healthy? And Edward isn't any better. He basically stalks Bella throughout the entire first book, then he abandons her. Throughout the first 3 books you think Bella is going to have to sacrifice greatly for love. This is an admirable theme even if I hope Sophie never has to give us and the chance for a normal life up for the guy she loves. However, I liked that that difficult concept was in there. Love isn't always easy, nor does it always end in a happy ending...except then it did. Bella didn't have to give up ANYTHING in the end. She got her man, she got her baby, and she got to keep her parents too. I hated that ending, it was too easy (plus I wanted a big fight scene).

Anyway, I've had all these thoughts before as I read the book, but last night I wondered why we are all so taken with a weak heroine and bad story telling? Maybe it's the idea that the perfect man (or vampire) can fall for the average girl. Maybe it's the idea of being someone else's life (although again, is this healthy????). What do you think? And don't pretend you haven't read it because I know most of you have AND and I know most of you liked it. I fell asleep before I figured it all out, but I'm sure you all have great thoughts.

Potty Training Week

This is the week I've been dreading since I experienced it 3 years ago with Sophie. I knew I would have to do it eventually. I honestly didn't think he was ready, but I wanted to give it a try before school started. Sophie was in Weatherford this week and since John Curtis and I had a week to ourselves I took the plunge...and it wasn't so bad. Everyone told me he would be so much harder to potty train than Sophie was since he's a boy, but this wasn't the case at all. He actually seemed to catch on faster. When we got home from the lake Sunday night we went out and got some M&Ms and he picked out some big boy underwear. He was so excited about the M&Ms, he actually went in the potty a few times that night. Monday morning when he woke up the diaper came off and the underwear went on. The first day was pretty bad with accidents all day long. By day two we were down to three accidents and yesterday we didn't have any wet accidents (only the other kind that are a lot worse to clean up). Today we had three, but two of them happened outside. I am not saying that we are fully potty trained yet, but Sophie comes home tomorrow and we have things to do so our time at home focusing on just going to the potty is over (thank goodness). We'll see how he does this weekend as we venture out to unfamiliar pottys!

First morning in underwear
Look at that cute little bottom!

Hanging out with Elmo, his potty training buddy.

John Curtis and Elmo both had their own pottys.

Trying to go while watching cartoons

Sharing some popcorn with Elmo as a reward when they both went in the potty.

Giving Elmo some juice

Playing play doh outside in our undies

Weekend at the Lake

Taylor had Sunday off so we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and head down to my grandmother's lakehouse on Lake Granbury. The kids LOVED playing in the water, digging in the sand, finding rocks, and fishing. We had a lot of rain, but even that was enjoyable and relaxing.