the road called parenthood

sometimes you can be chugging along down the road of parenthood when BAM! suddenly you collide head first into reality. it's funny to think that something that has been there all along could be so surprising. maybe that's what we call "denial?!"

we recently received taylor's inter-district transfer request to attend ACMS. i'd type the whole thing out, but remember, i'm in denial. :) i'll give you a hint... the MS stands for middle school. *gasp!*

of course i've dreaded known that taylor would be going to ms next year, but i haven't thought that much about it. honesty though, it freaks me out just a bit. okay, a lot. i asked taylor's teacher to retain him, but he said no. bummer.

then today i was filling in important dates on the calendar when i see that coming up at the end of february is the family life preview night for 5th grade parents. OH.MY.WORD. my son is not old enough for that discussion!! please say it's not so. here we go again. *fingers in my ears* denial, denial, denial.

on the road of parenthood, i feel myself chugging along, slowly approaching a bridge. i have no idea what's on the other side. clearly i'm terrified. but i find comfort in knowing that many a mom and dad have crossed this bridge before ... and survived.

is this what i felt like 10 years ago, tucking my newborn baby into his car seat for the very first time, carefully loading him into our car and then pulling out of the hospital parking lot... onto the road of parenthood for the first time ever?

i don't think so. babies are cute. middle schoolers, not so much! ha!

so all you veteran mamas and papas out there... do you have any pearls of wisdom to share? what got you through this "exciting" (ha ha) time? what should i do? what should i definitely not do? my stomach is doing flip flops here, people!!

as a side note, can i just say that i'm incredibly relieved that i teach first grade and not fifth!! hello, the grossest things we deal with are nose picking (and eating... ewww!) and potty talk. thank goodness!!!


here's tay building a volcano for a school project

stop the presses... it's 2012?!

i realize it's been 2012 for 16 days. i'm a  little behind in posting. by now you should come to expect that from me!

happy new year everyone!




click here for 2011 video.

2012 has been beautiful. weather wise, anyway. seriously. 65 degree days. do i wear sandals or sneakers with my jeans today? even the plants are confused!

it's been business as usual around here. plan, prep, clean up, work, school, repeat.

i've been working on my 35 things list. just a little bit.trying to be a little more organized. if only pinterest weren't so distracting.

zach is finishing up his learn to skate class. on saturday he jumped. like both feet got off the ice. considering i've broken my arm a few times skating, i'm impressed. and overjoyed for him.

ben had an azaing week at preschool. his teachers have commented on how much his behavior has improved since the beginning of the year. a mama loves to hear good things about her chickadees.

taylor entered our school's math bowl and will be competing with a team in a math competition. he was so anxious to find out if he made the team that he begged to go to school when he was suffering (quite miserably) with the flu. goofy kid! so proud of him though and can't wait to see my little professor shine.

natalie spends most of her time singing and dancing and learning new words and taking care of her stuffies and baby dolls. it amazes me how strong that instinct to nurture is. as a mom of three boys, this is completely new and different.

joe has been busy working on a little project for me. i'm thinking it will make a good little post in the future, so for now mums the word.

i hope 2012 has been treating you well. are you sticking to your resolutions so far? i didn't make any this year.

35 things... an update

remember when i posted this? it was almost 6 months ago. which means i have just over 6 months to get as much done on my list as i can! how is it going you ask? let's see...

35 things i want to do when i'm 35... 

1. sew a pillowcase dress done!

2. learn to play the guitar

3. make a skirt

4. make homemade cinnamon rolls

5. go camping

6. go to the snow

7. have date night once a month have done this 2 out of 5 months

8. run a 5k

9. paint my bathroom

10. make 5 freezer meals--one for each wednesday during a given month

11. re-do hallway pictures

12. organize kids' storage bins

13. send birthday cards to family and friends

14. read harry potter, book 1, to my children

15. make another (better) rainbow cake did it!

16. get a family picture taken go lions!

17. go out to dinner in a dress

18. eat clean for one month working on it...

19. write to sony at least every other month

20. go to seattle

21. lose 10 pounds i've gained 5, so does that mean i need to lose 15 now?

22. take kids to the ocean

23. organize family photo albums

24. ben's baby book--1st year

25. natalie's baby book--1st year

26. go to nevada

27. visit great grandpa

29. support darien at disney world

30. visit family in michigan

31. teach kids how to do their own laundry-ha!

32. design and make a headboard for our bed

33. go on field trips with my kids

34. tile bathroom floor

35. write a children's story

wow, i feel so unaccomplished. i better get busy! maybe i should have made a "5 things i wish i'd done when i was 5" list instead?! ;)