Peyton: The Middle Schooler

Oh, Middle School, I was so scared of you. I've been scared of you since Peyton first walked through the door to kindergarten. Puberty, eighth graders, changing classes, and extra homework loomed over my head for 6 years before Peyton even stepped foot on the middle school campus. I may be shooting myself in the foot, but so far, I've been so, so pleasantly surprised.

Peyton has walked out the front door every morning so far with nary a complaint. He has walked home every day and not once called me to come pick him up halfway. HE CLEANED HIS ROOM this past weekend and it looked as good as when I did it. He's gotten his homework done without a fight. I should have sent him to middle school YEARS ago!

The first day of school was rougher on me than him. I had gotten up early to take Shey to school, so I could walk him to his class, and as I was pulling into the driveway, Peyton was already outside, dressed, with his friends ready to take off. I sputtered, "Did dad take your picture?" Yes. "Do you have your lunch?" Yes. "Did you eat breakfast?" No, but I'm ok. "No, wait here, I'll get you some money."

Anything to slow down his leaving for just a minute, so I had time to process.

I stood there in the driveway, watching him walk out of the cul-de-sac and an unexpected wave hit me. The tears welled up and I fought the urge to get into the car and follow him. I've been dropping him with others since he was 12 weeks old, but watching him walk away, seemingly all grown up, broke my heart a little. It was a huge reminder that my time with Peyton living in my house is on the downward slope. I've been so wrapped up in caring for a newborn, baby, then toddler, that he's matured without hardly a notice. I've got to get better at that.

I know middle school won't be all fun and games and life will be difficult at times, but I know we can get through it together.

Elizabeth: A Myriad of Months

I'm so glad that I faithfully documented Elizabeth's first year, but a little disapointed in myself that I let it drop from there. I'd tell myself that I'd remember all the little sweet and sour things that she does, but it's hard and I know there is already so much I've forgotten. I am going to get better at documenting our lives, even if it's just for me and my ever failing memory.



My sweet girl, where do I begin? Staying home with a toddler has been an adventure, to say the least. Especially a very independent, strong willed and loud toddler. Shortly after her second birthday, Elizabeth's vocabulary exploded and she gets very frustrated if you don't understand what she is trying to say. We often quote the scene from Little Nemo when Marlin is talking to Squirt and says, "You're really cute, but I don't understand you." While words are becoming more and more discernible, E still has her own little language. A precious little language that I'll miss as she grows older.



Right now, she is "painting" her nails with a highlighter. And such is life.

She loves her brothers fiercely and they are referred to as "My Peyton" and "My Shey". She's a big fan of Henry Hugglemonster, Team Umizoomi, and Dora. I admit, we probably watch a little too much TV, but hey, she can count to 12 in English, 5 or so in Spanish and she knows her shapes and ABC's. Go Disney!



Her smile is contagious and everywhere we go, she steals the show. The other day, we spent two hours at the orthodontist and the office loved her. They even "kidnapped" her for a bit so I could actually pay attention to the plan for Shey's teeth and sign my life away. If someone does make the mistake of not paying her any mind, she will stare at them like, "Hello! Look how cute I am!"

And now, I'm getting the highlighter manicure



Oh, E, you are my Joy!

Holy Hiatus, Batman!

Where does the time go? I happened to pull up Blogger last night and realized it had been since January that I posted last. How odd, when for so, so long, blogging was a part of my everyday life. Apparently, I had a lot more free time working than I do staying at home. Or maybe staring at a computer all day just lent itself to spewing forth my thoughts for the World Wide Web to see.

I've missed you, little blog of mine. I promise to pay you more attention in the future.

I'm not sure how much catch up I should try and cram into this post. Maybe I'll just make a point to sit down once a day or so and fill in the details that way. Starting tomorrow. Ha. Today, I actually have quite a bit going on starting with doing a little P90 x then dropping off my first thirty-one order and finally meeting with my direct upline for thirty-one.

Wasn't that nifty how I got that in? Yes, I'm now a consultant for thirty-one gifts. (Poor Tamara, that's all I talk about anymore and now she has to read it on my blog too). Here's a quick link, if you're interested, then I promise to let it go for at least a few posts. Erika's page

Woot! Woot! For blogging again!