Bumps in the Road

"Maybe Kindergarten isn't such a good idea." When you're a mom/teacher these are the last words that you want to hear from you're own child. These are words that my little Evan first told me a couple of weeks ago as he was adjusting to life as a Kindergartener and no longer a Preschooler. He's experienced a few bumps on the yellow brick road to Kindergarten graduation. Each time he feels the bump he reminds me that Kindergarten isn't such a good idea. Each time he says those words I want to cry but I just look into his sweet little face and tell him that Kindergarten is a great idea and that he'll be great. But I'm his mommy and I wish he didn't have to experience any bumps in the road of life!

What I Learned Today

Here's what I learned today....it's sometimes hard to let your kids learn to do things on their own. Now I know my friends that have kids older than mine will say, "Yeah, we could've told you that." I think though it's a lesson you must learn on your own. I often hear moms giving advice and while I do take it all in it never really sinks in completely until I actually FEEL it.

Here's how I came to learn this lesson. We were in the car on the way home from school today and Seth says, "Mom, I need a napkin. My tooth is bleeding." I got him a napkin and asked to see the loose tooth that he's been secretly playing with for the past two days. It was so loose I could have easily pulled it out. I asked him to let me pull it out and he said, "No Mom, I can do it by myself." It took all my willpower to allow him to do it on his own and not just do it quickly for him. It took him about 15 minutes to finally get the tooth out. The look on his face and his excited shouts of accomplishment just sealed the lesson into my brain and my heart. He is no longer my little boy that I need to do everything for. He's learning to be more independent and he needs to learn to do things on his own. His self esteem depends on it and he'll learn life lessons from it. My job.....to be his biggest cheerleader! I love that little guy.

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

August has arrived! That means that we have 4 weeks left of summer. I haven't really been preparing for next year too much this summer. I think I've actually sat down and written things down or researched ideas online maybe 3 or 4 days of summer. We've spent a lot of our summer days at the beach or at the park. With Seth playing summer baseball we're at the park for his practices twice a week and at least once a week for a game.

Speaking of baseball....we just signed Seth and Evan up for Fall baseball at Torrance Little League. Evan will be playing T-Ball for the first time!

Another summer event - Auntie Donna is here! Ron's Aunt Donna lives in Canada. She has come for a visit. Everyone is always excited when Auntie Donna comes to visit. She is a very sweet lady.

The summer is winding down and as always I'm looking forward to returning to school but this summer has been different. I am counting down the days till school starts but I am enjoying this summer more.

Big Day for Seth

Today is a big day for Seth. This morning he had his first baseball game of the season. He's playing on the Orioles. He's very blessed in that he gets to play on the same team as his good friend, Peyton. The kids all did a great job and I was a proud mama watching my son go out on the field and play.
Another reason that today is a big day is that tonight is the first time he will spend the night at a friend's house.
These two events make me realize how fast my babies are growing. I know they are still little but they won't be for much longer. Where, oh where are my babies going?

Traditions

Today is my birthday. At 10:00am I sat next to my phone. I knew it would ring by 10:12am. I knew my Mom would be calling. She calls me every year at 10:12am because that is the time I was born. I love that she does this. She just started a new job not too long ago and I was prepared for the fact that she might not be able to call me this year at exactly 10:12am although I knew she would call me at some point today. But, in true mom style she called at 10:12am. Thanks for making me feel special on my birthday, Mom. Not just this year but every year!

Little Animals

We took a trip to Michael's today and while we were there the boys saw these cute animal masks and glasses. These little animals are amazingly cute, don't cha think?

Surprise for Evan

Evan is a big fan of Toy Story. He loves Woody and Buzz and has been asking for about a month now if he can have Woody for his birthday. Since Toy Story 3 came out recently we decided to take the boys to go see it. Auntie Jenny, Uncle KC and cousin Jake came with us. (It was even Auntie's birthday) We didn't tell Evan where we were going. When we got to the movie theater he said, "Are we at the movie theater?" Even while we were sitting down watching the preview Evan still didn't know which movie we were watching. When the movie began he got a big smile on his face and said, "Toy Story!" The boys liked the movie as did all of us adults.