Happy Birthday Brooklyn

Dearest Brooklyn,

Six years ago today, you made my dream come true.  You made me a mom.  It was one of the happiest days of my life.  I couldn't get enough of you.  I loved your sweet dimples and your blond hair, what little of it you had.

The smile on my face says it all.  I was so happy to have you here with me safe and sound.  You were the answers to my prayers.  You changed our family forever and I couldn't believe you were finally here.

I have loved seeing you blossom into a beautiful little girl.  You are so beautiful, funny, smart, creative, loving and tender hearted.  I love how you remember things.  Your recall is seriously off the charts.  One day that's gonna come in handy.  I love how you love your sister.  How you protect her.  I love your heart towards Jesus.

You're not my little baby anymore.  You are all grown up.  You do things for yourself now and you don't need mommy as much as you once did.  That may make me sad from time to time, but I love watching you thrive and learn.  That blesses me more than you know.

My sweet girl, always remember that I love you unconditionally.  That Jesus loves you more than you could ever comprehend.  He will always be there for you and so will I.  Happy Birthday my precious daughter.  I love you.

The Wheels on the Bus

For 2 years now, Brooklyn has been wanting to ride the school bus.  The bus stop is literally in front of our house and all last year she would run to the window and watch the kids get on the bus.  All summer long she kept asking me, "Mommy, when do I get to ride the bus?"  I was hesitant to let her.  Growing up in Southern California, there was no bus to school.  You either walked, road your bike or your mom took you.  That was it.  Brian on the other hand grew up riding the bus to school in Indiana, so for him it was no big deal to let her ride the bus.  Mama, on the other hand, had a rough time letting her go.

I didn't cry at all last week, when I took her to school and into her classroom.  Today, however, was a different story.  I watched her get on the bus and the tears came.  I got into the house and just cried.  I realized for the first time that she was a big girl now and this was the first step towards independence.  Today was also her first full day and I missed my girl.  Sydney missed her sister.  It was rough, but when she got home from school she was so excited to tell me about her day, that it made things alot better.  That and the fact that she found a girl in her class that loved Zhu Zhu pets as much as she did.

Slumber Party

I can't say that I am fully recovered from this weekend, but I am getting there.  You see, I had 8 4, 5 and 6 year olds at my house on Friday night for a slumber party.  Some of you are probably thinking, has this chick lost her mind.  The answer is quite possibly, yes.  I really don't know what I was thinking when I told Brooklyn she could invite some friends over to spend the night for her 6th birthday. 

The girls ate pizza, made a craft (I'll post at a later date a fun thing to do with your child), Brooklyn opened presents, ate cake, played Wii Dance and then ate popcorn and watched a movie.  By 11:00 I was pooped, but they were still going.  I let them watch another movie.  Earlier in the day, I had told my girls that if they took a nap they could stay up as late as they wanted.  Again, what was I thinking?  Well they took that message to heart.  They were all still up at 1 am.  Yes you heard me right.  1 am.  Finally the birthday girl crawled in her bed and was out.  Then Sydney followed.  One of the girls was missing her mommy, so I had to make a phone call to her mom at 1:30 in the morning.  My poor friend Brandi had to come pick her daughter up.  Sorry girl.  Then it was time for Brooklyn's friend Gracie to miss her mommy and daddy.  Luckily she lives one house over so I walked her home.  By then the only 2 left were my nieces and they were stuck.  :)  They ended up falling asleep quickly.

Needless to say, I took a 3 hour nap with my girls yesterday.  I couldn't see straight I was so tired.  It had been a long week with family in town and Brooklyn's first 2 days of kindergarten.  Thankfully it was a fun week and many memories were made.  Isn't that what it's all about?

I'm going to post more this week of Brooklyn's party with pictures.  I think I took about 100 and I am too tired to go through and edit them, so I will leave you with an awesome video of the girls doing Wii Dance.  The best part of the night was when Brooklyn said to me, "This is the best day ever".

Kindergarten Favorites

I found this idea on Pinterest, so I cannot take credit it for it, but how cute is this?  I knew as soon as I saw it I had to do it for Brooklyn's first day of Kindergarten.  Before school, I took her to our backyard and snapped the picture.  Then I downloaded it on to Picnik, my favorite website to create my photos, and then typed in the info.  Easy as that.  I am going to do this for every grade.  How neat will that be to see how her favorites change over the years.  Can't wait to do this with Sydney next year.

Brooklyn had a great first day and I didn't cry one bit.  I couldn't believe it.  I think it's because she's been in preschool since she was 2 years old, although it was only 2 days a week then, so I was used to her being in school, if that makes sense.  I am looking forward to a great school year.

I couldn't end this post without wishing my hubby a very special birthday.  I love you Brian and I am thankful to be your wife.  I hope your day is fantastic.

Triple the fun

We were blessed to have Brian's sister and her husband come down with their kids from Indiana.    They have twins who are 8 and triplets who are 1.  The kids all play along really well together and we have so much fun.  I wish we didn't live so far away from them.  How cute are the triplets?  Sydney follows them everywhere they go.  She would take one by the hand and walk them around.  She will be a great big sister some day, I just know it.

It's a big day for us tomorrow.  Brooklyn has her first day of kindergarten.  She is so excited.  She actually asked me if she could take a bath tonight.  That never happens.  I'm kinda liking this school thing.  Hopefully I will be able to hold it together and not make a fool out of myself when I drop her off.

How did you handle your child's first day of school?  Was it easier or harder than you thought?

Jesus Calling Devotional

Remembering My Son

Dearest Jonathan,

My son.  Oh how I miss you from the depths of my soul.  My heart aches for you.  I can't believe it's been 1 year since I held you and looked into your little eyes.  You reminded me so much of your daddy and your big sister Brooklyn, with your little dimpled chin.  You got the Lord chin you know.  You were so beautiful.  It was just too soon sweet boy.

Your daddy and I and your sisters had prayed and prayed for you.  You were the answers to our prayers.  I don't know why you had to leave us and I wish I could have protected you.  We had so many plans for you.  I wish so much you could've met your big sisters.  You would have love playing with them.  They are truly amazing and they've kept your daddy and me going this past year.

What is Heaven like my son?  I imagine you and Zoe holding hands walking through streets of gold or sitting on Jesus lap.  I look forward to the day that we are reunited as one big family.  How sweet that will be.  Until then my boy, know that I love you dearly and miss you.  You will always be a part of my heart and our family.  Kiss your sissy for me tonight.

Love you to the moon and back,
Mommy

Back to School Shopping

Back to School time was one of my favorites as a kid.  I loved it.  I have fond memories of my mom taking  me and my 3 sisters to the store.  I loved picking out all the school supplies, including a few of these bad boys, Pee Chee folders.  In case you are not as old as I am, or you'd like to walk down memory lane, here is what they looked like.

Now do you remember them?  The best part, hands down, was picking out my new lunch box for the year.

It was all about Charlie's Angels and of course these babies.

Yep, had to have a jelly bag, with a bandana in the inside, and the jelly shoes to go with it.

And who could forget the rainbow shirt.  Not this girl.  In fact my sisters and I all had one.  Oh if I could only find the picture.  I actually may hunt for it because it's hilarious.

Memories, light the corners of my mind, misty water colored memories, of the way we were.

O.K., so where was I?  Oh, yeah, this was supposed to be about Brooklyn going back to school shopping.

We had a tax free weekend (on anything school related, supplies, clothes, etc.) here in Tennessee.  Some of you may have those weekends as well in your state. For us, it's an almost 10% savings, 9.25% to be exact.  Yes, we have a high sales tax, but we don't pay state income tax, so I guess it works out well.

On Friday, I took Brooklyn on a mommy, daughter date.  My dad took Sydney out for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, her favorite, so I could spend some alone time with my big girl.  We went out for breakfast at our favorite downtown restaurant.  She loves their French Toast as you can see.

We went over the supplies list at breakfast.  She wanted to know everything that was on it.

Poor thing, she was sleepy.  You can see it in her eyes. There was no rest for the weary, however.  We were on a mission.  That mission would lead us here:

Where we would buy all of this:

We actually did well.  It came to around $28 for all of the stuff she needed for school.  My mom already had the nap mat, thanks Nana, so I didn't have to purchase one.  I'd say she's all ready to start school next week.

Speaking of school, we went to tour the brand new building today.  They literally just finished laying the sod last week.  Talk about in the nick of time.  School starts for 1st-5th graders this Thursday.  It's a gorgeous campus.  I was supposed to take pictures and when I got to the school, the battery was dead. I was so bummed.  Oh well, I'm sure there will be many picture taking moments on the first day.

She's been wanting to meet her principle since I told her that papa knew her.  My parents met us up at the school and my dad introduced her to Dr. L.  One good thing about the grandparents being in the same school district for 10 years, they know a lot of the faculty members.  My dad talked to Dr. L today about subbing at Brooklyn's school.  I like the idea of her papa being up at her school.

It was a busy weekend for us and I am beat.  We have one week left of summer vacation and I don't have one thing planned.  I better think of something quick or this mama might go crazy.  How are you spending the last few days of summer?

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday's Tip-Free Printable

Today's Tuesday's Tip I found while perusing Pinterest.  Yes, it's my new addiciton.  Anyway, I saw this printable on there and knew I had to have it.  You can download it for free at Life's A Journal.  Love her blog by the way.  She has more printables on there too.

I have mine in a sheet protector hanging on my fridge, so I can reuse it everyday.  I just use a dry erase pen and I am good to go.  My favorite part is the water tracker.  Love this.  I have made my water goal everyday, which in turn helps me run better and faster.

Do you use a daily tracker to to write your goals for the day?

Jesus Calling Devotional

Where did the summer go?  In just a matter of 2 weeks, my big girl will be starting kidnergarten and turning 6 all at the same time.  I am so excited for her, but sad at the same time.  All you moms who have already walked through this stage of life understand, I'm sure. 

This was a great devotional today and a great way to start the week and a new month.  I'm challenging myself today to do this when fear and anxiety move in.  Have a great week everyone.