Summer is almost over!

It's so hard for me to believe, but this summer is almost over. It's been a busy one, but has gone by extremely fast. I'll probably find myself saying that every year now that Sydney will be in school and the summer will really feel like summer (as opposed to the days streaming together as they do when your children are toddlers and don't really have a set schedule). 

We've had a lot of "firsts" for the kids the past few months.  Sydney graduated preschool at the beginning of June, complete with cap and gown even!  My parents were able to come down so she had all grandparents in attendance.  Between me and our moms, she had her own row of mamarazzi. :)  She actually missed her last week of school because my folks wanted to take her home to Pensacola with them after graduation.  This was her first trip to their house by herself. She was hesitant at first when I asked if she wanted to go, but when I told her she'd get a whole week without Austin, she was very excited.  They had way too much fun - my sister and her new husband included!  They made several beach trips, went to the naval museum, went to Chuck-E-Cheese for the first time, made an erupting volcano (Sydney's request), had a tea party, and played with my old lego sets.   Mom brought her back down and spent an extra few days here in Lakeland before heading home to start her summer break. 

Also at the beginning of the summer, I decided to test out potty training with Austin.  I was worried how it was going to go because I've heard horror stories about boys being stubborn and resistant.  We brought the little potty out of the attic and put it in the bathroom.  He tried it for the first time with success and that was pretty much it!  He still had a few accidents here and there, and started getting lazy (or maybe I was getting lazy), so we did a course adjustment with marshmallow rewards for a while, but he pretty much picked it up right away. #2 is still a little bit of a challenge, but I couldn't be happier with how easy the transition was to big boy underwear!

In May a friend had sent me a link to a mom's blog about doing the ABC's of Summer with her children. For each letter of the alphabet you think of something to do during the summer. I loved the idea and decided to try it out with my own kids.  Also around that time I had heard the fabulous Gwen Diaz share with our MOPS group about being very purposeful with your kids in the summertime...setting physical and spiritual goals for them depending on their needs and personalities.  I loved this too.  So I bought a binder and made my lists and filled in all the days for the calendars of June, July and August.  Sydney designed an adorable cover and loved drawing pictures for each letter of things we did or saw.  I would love to say we stayed on task, completed every page and every item on our list, and had the most amazingly meaningful and educational summer ever.  But then I'd be lying. :) We were doing well until I came down with strep throat after Sydney got back from Pensacola.  That derailed us for about a week.  And then a couple weeks after that we went on vacation.  *Big sigh* We've done bits and pieces of our list and we completed some but not all of our goals.  Oh well, maybe next year!

In July was our family's big vacation.  We stayed in Gatlinburg for a week with my family.  On our way up we stayed a night with Tom's cousin and his family in Atlanta, followed the next day by a lunch with his Aunt, Uncle and Grandmama before driving on to Tennessee.  Gatlinburg was a blast - we hiked and swam and shopped and played putt putt.   The kids shared a room for the first time and did really well with it!   We saw lots of dear and a mother bear with her cubs on one of our hikes.  At the end of the week, my dad and Tom went home while my mom, myself, and the kids went on to Virginia to visit my Aunt and grandparents for another week. We had several play dates with my uncle's daughter and grandkids, and spent some time with my grandparents as well.  Sydney and Austin loved riding on their walkers up and down the hallways. It was pretty funny. We even played Tinker Bell bingo with my grandmother.   We don't see them often enough so I really enjoyed our time with them.

Since we've been home, we've had several play dates with friends and are trying to enjoy the last few days of being lazy and staying in our jammies all day if we want to.  Today I took Sydney to kindergarten orientation.  I can't believe it's time for her already!  I stressed most of the spring about where to send her...I applied for a charter school but she's #135 on the list to get in.  We also tried to request a transfer to another neighborhood public school that has a great reputation, but the school board decided to crack down on transfer requests this year, so that was going to be more trouble that it was worth.  So she'll be going to the school we're zoned for.  It's brand new and state of the art, really a beautiful school.  I prayed a lot about it and realized even the best private schools are not perfect, and I need to just trust God to protect her and maybe even use her as a light to some classmates that may not have the best home lives or may not know God.  She is so social (unlike me as a child) and smart and has a very strong moral compass, so I think she will excel no matter where she goes. 

Austin will also be starting preschool for the first time the day after Sydney starts kindergarten.  We found a great little coop school that's only 2 mornings a week...just enough!  And I get to be in the classroom once a month which I love - I love knowing what their day looks like and helping out and being more involved.  It'll be a whole new reality for our family starting next week!

Two more firsts I wanted to mention.  Sydney just finished up her first VBS last week.  She had sooo much fun and was very sad to hear their won't be another one until next year.  Also one night last week was Austin's first night sleeping in the bunk beds.  He took a nap there that day as well.  He never tried to get out.  Since then he has asked to sleep in his crib every time.  We may just need to put away the crib so he doesn't have an option.  But we're not rushing it. I must say though that I can't wait to decorate his room for the big boy that he is and put away all the baby/nursery decor. 

Times - they are a'changin.  Good changes though....good changes.