Kindergarten is coming. Taelin is going to be doing morning kindergarten at the same place that she did preschool. She knows the teachers, knows the school, has friends...there isn't much changing in that regard. But our schedule is changing. Instead of going 3 full days, which has been the schedule for the last 3 years, she will be going 5 half days for kindergarten. All this means that my schedule as work as changed too. I am so incredibly lucky to have such an amazing job and boss that has given me the flexibility that let me make good decisions for our family. I really wanted to be able to volunteer in Taelin's room so I decided that I will have Monday off, then work Tuesday-Thursday morning and then all day Friday. The Friday isn't ideal, but it is what has to be because of staff meetings and professional development.
So, naturally, because I am me, I have been feeling worried about this change. My 4 full days off in a row will be gone. Sleeping in, snuggling in bed reading books, making homemade waffles will no longer happen on Friday, which was our tradition. I just kept feeling like there was all this "wonderful" ending with a huge "unknown" looming in it's place.
But Monday I got a glimpse of the gifts that might be coming. I am not supposed to be working on Mondays, but the beginning of the year is just crazy and it demands flexibility. There was a district thing that I had to be at that got over at noon so Joe (being the most awesome husband in the universe) stayed home in the morning with Taelin. We made a huge list of things that she could do independently while Joe worked and I went off to my meeting. At noon after the meeting was over, I grabbed my bag and said goodbye to my co-workers and headed to my car. I was home 20 minutes later and Joe was out the door a few minutes after that.
Taelin told me all about her morning as we made lunch together. After lunch, we did some chores around the house and then ran to the grocery store. We came home and watered the garden and ran through the sprinkler. Taelin showered up and we snuggled up on the couch with our homemade chocolate cookies made the day before and made a stack of read books so high that it eventually tumbled over. We folded some laundry together (I wonder how long she will love folding laundry?) and then figured out what to make for dinner.
It was an absolute perfectly boring, regular afternoon with her. I loved it all. An suddenly that unknown looming is a little less unknown and a lot less looming. My morning honestly went so fast that I hardly felt like I worked. And when I got home, I wasn't exhausted from being at work and it wasn't a race to make dinner/eat dinner/clean/shower/bedtime.
I don't know why I don't figure it out. Change always ends up being ok. Things end but those ends are new beginnings and I need to remember that when change is coming. That way, I can enjoy, savor and celebrate the endings instead of missing them worrying about what is unknown. Maybe one of these days I will remember that in the right order. Maybe.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Photo a Day July 21-Aug 10
This week marks the start of the 2014-2015 school year for me and we are having a lazy day at home before I gear up. I thought it be best if I got caught up on my photo organizing which means getting caught up on my Photo A Day! We have been cramming summer into these last few weeks of July and first weeks of August since we got such a late start due to illness. Beach trips, a baseball game, swimming almost every night, the drive in and mini-vacation to Great Wolf Lodge with an ear infection thrown in the middle of it because apparently we were too healthy.
Anyway, we have had a lot of fun. School may be starting up but we will have good weather for awhile (fingers crossed) so our summer fun isn't over...we just have to schedule it a little differently!
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| july 21, 2014 Mr. Hopkins finally was on the carousel |
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| july 22, 2014 cuddling on the couch |
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| july 23, 2014 puddles |
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| july 24, 2014 kindergarten backpack purchased |
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| july 25, 2014 baseball game family picture |
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| july 26, 2014 ear infection = disney store shopping |
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| july 27, 2014 black eye thanks to a slide |
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| july 28, 2014 scrapbooking together |
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| july 29, 2014 mama and taelin beach day! |
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| july 30, 2014 playing at the park |
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| july 31, 2014 beach day with Lucy and Tina! they had so much fun! |
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| aug 1, 2014 school supplies purchased! this girl is ready for kindergarten |
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| aug 2, 2014 drive in time again! |
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| aug 3, 2014 pool fun! |
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| aug 4, 2014 beach day with Nana! |
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| aug 5, 2014 that bowl is going to take forever to dry! |
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| aug 6, 2014 new pink boots! yeehaw! |
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| aug 7, 2014 mini-vacation to the play in the water |
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| aug 8, 2014 all showered up and ready to drive back home |
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| aug 9, 2014 Maddie turns 7! the matching outfits were NOT planned but sure were cute... |
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| aug 10, 2014 hard waking up |
Friday, July 25, 2014
The living moment is everything. ~D.H. Lawrence
There is so much I can learn from this little girl. After days of hot weather, perfect for days at the park and running through sprinklers, we woke up Wednesday to a cool rainy day. We declared it a "we aren't going in the car anywhere" day which was just fine by me as we had been going full speed for awhile. We had a slow morning getting ready, made zucchini bread (ate a half of a loaf between the two of us), snuggled and read her new library books. It started to rain a little harder, the kind that you can hear on the roof and Taelin ran over to the window and shouted, "Mama, there are puddles that have to be jumped in! Let's go! This is going to be the best day of my life!"
What could I do? They had to be jumped in. We dug out the rainboots that were buried at the bottom of the outside shoe basket, donned our raincoats and I grabbed an umbrella and out we went. If I hadn't had Taelin as my tour guide, I would have missed a lot of puddles. She saw them everywhere. It didn't really take much to make it a puddle. Enough water gathered up that when stomped in made a splash...that was a puddle.
I took a few pictures but once I got a few, I put my phone away and joined in the jumping. We probably were out for 40 minutes and she was just as excited when she saw the 10th or 20th puddle as she was the first. She has such an ability to see the possibilities for joy in the moment and embrace them fully. It amazes me every time.
Once we had splashed in every puddle in the neighborhood, we headed home. We sat down to pull, and I mean we had to pull, Taelin's boots off and about an inch of water fell out of each boot. Her pants and socks were filthy. She thought that was hysterical. And it was. She declared a bubble bath was just what she needed, shaving cream for drawing was necessary for this particular bath. Once we were warmed up, we ate some more zuchinni bread and enjoyed homemade chicken and rice soup, an afternoon nap (glorious!) and rounded out our day together snuggled up watching a movie.
The living moment is everything. I am so thankful I have a little girl that reminds me of that everyday.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Photo a Day July 14-20
We are feeling better, the sun is shining (or at least is was last week) and we are taking advantage of it all! I just LOVE summer...the down time, being outdoors, the fresh produce, afternoon naps...all of it! Here is just a glimpse of what our week was like last week.
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| july 14, 2014 blueberry picking with Maddie |
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| july 15, 2014 blue lips from swimming lessons |
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| july 16, 2014 we went out to one of my co-workers farm and the highlight was definitely riding their horse. |
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| july 17, 2014 parks aplenty |
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| july 18, 2014 trying to wait patiently for cousin Lucy and her mom to find a parking spot so they could join us at the Portland Children's Museum. she was not amused. |
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| july 19, 2014 salem art fair...notice her custom designed button |
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| july 20, 2014 out to dinner...I love sitting outside (really anywhere) with these two |
Ready or not, here it comes. "It" in this case being kindergarten.
It is way to big for her, but they honestly didn't have any that were smaller. It was the first thing she wanted to show Joe when he got home from work and she decided she wanted to wear it to go get mail with Joe because she needed to practice walking around in it. Anyone that knows her should not be surprised that it is pink with a little bit of purple. And you can't really tell, but I think the thing that tipped the scales in this ones favor is the little purple plush kitten that is clipped onto the zipper of one of the pockets. I was a bit surprised that she decided against the few that had princesses or other characters that she loved. I pointed out the ones with the group of princesses in particular because it was higher and I thought she would pick it when she informed me that she had seen but didn't want it. I asked her why. Her response, "I am not sure but it just doesn't look like a kindergarten backpack."
There it is.
She is so ready for kindergarten. Her brain is curious and thoughtful. She is willing to try things and is excited to learn. She desperately wants to be able to read, is constantly writing notes and randomly starts counting to see how high she can get. On one hand she has some very specific ideas about what will happen when she gets to kindergarten but then just minutes later she is asking questions about what it is going to be like.
The other day after we registered, she asked me what her schedule was going to be. It is going to be a transition for both her and I as she is going to be going 5 days a week in the morning instead of 3 full days in the middle of the week. I was explaining it to her and then she said, "But Mama, that is going to give us less time together."
"Yeah, that's true," was all I could get out in my regular voice before it was going to crack.
There are so many great things that are going to happen this year for her. She will really start to read. We are keeping her where is has been going to preschool so the class size will be small and art will be plentiful. She is already in love with Miss Megan. The list of great things is endless.
But even though all those great things are going to happen, I can't help but feel a little sad about it all. I shouldn't feel this upset. Every single parent in the country has sent their kid to kindergarten and lived to tell the tale. It is so silly (and not at the same time) that I am sitting here sobbing as I try to write.
We still have over a month until she starts. Weeks of summer left and we will enjoy them. I am not going to burn the time we have together now worrying about what is to come, especially since what is to come is such a step in the right direction. There is so much more that is coming that is just going to be amazing. But, right now, for these few moments, I am sad.
Nope, I haven't learned to stop time. And honestly, I wouldn't really want to. I have got a front row seat to something that is going to be incredible to watch. She is such a lucky little girl and will do amazing things, whatever those things end up being. I mean, really, how could she not with such an awesome new backpack.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Photo a Day July 7-13, 2014
We are all finally healthly (knock on the biggest piece of wood you can find) and I declared Monday morning that summer was starting immediately. Taelin started her swim lessons for the summer, the garden got some attention, we had a couple of play dates that included popsicles and we ended the week with a camping trip to Beverly Beach which is my favorite place to go camping. It was a fantastic week!
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| july 7, 2014 taelin was SO excited for swimming lessons...I think she is part fish |
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| july 8, 2014 blossom rot on our zucchini...hoping that the spray I used works |
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| july 9, 2014 maddie (and jocelyn) came over in the afternoon and the girls had so much fun with the slip n slide and sprinkler. and of course a few fruit bars (known as popsicles in this house) rounded out the afternoon |
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| july 10, 2014 bangs cut! do they look uneven to you? that's because they are...it's going to be awhile before the hair on her head grows enough to be even! |
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| july 11, 2014 i seriously love this girl. we were leaving for swim lessons when she asked me to take a picture of her. she asked me if I liked her outfit and then told me it was called "really ready for swimming lessons" |
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| july 12, 2014 we spent a few hours playing at the beach and was lucky that Nana drove down and joined us. this girl loves her beach time. |
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| july 13, 2014 we had this awesome tree across from our campsite that my climbers loved all weekend. taelin likes to be safe so she decided to wear her bike helmet while climbing. |
I have SO many pictures this week that I am going to have to add an insert to my Project Life album. I have continued to work on getting caught up and am so excited to have a couple of days on the calendar to get together with friends to scrapbook. The time with friends and the time set aside to scrap is very much welcome!
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Photo A Day July 1-6, 2014
I have been diligently working on catching up on my photos and my Project Life album and I am slowly getting there! We are finally (knock on wood) healthy in the Crowe household and we have been taking full advantage of our summer. I am hoping that our health holds and that we can continue our summer adventures!
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| july 1, 2014 feeling better |
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| july 2, 2014 summer tea party...because we can |
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| july 3, 2014 a little pre-func. |
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| july 4, 2014 fun day! |
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| july 5, 2014 LaLa and ChaCha came down to celebrate the holiday and we enjoyed the sunny weather |
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| july 6, 2014 Joe and Taelin had fun on the slip n slide! |
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