Another school year begins

My kids were both so excited to start school today. This is Annika's first year going full day so I'm sure it will be a totally new experience for her. I can't believe my little baby is a first grader! It made my heart hurt to see her go off for this first day...they all grow up too quickly. Even harder than that, was to see my little man try so hard to make friends with people. For some reason, most boys Aidan's age just don't like him. Girls do, teachers, older kids, and younger kids, but not boys his age. There is this boy who has been in the same class with him since K who just does not like Aidan at all. :( When he walked up to the bus stop, Aidan tried talking to him and he wouldn't look at him. In fact, he went so far as to turn his back on Aidan and Aidan was just prattling on, like he didn't even notice. It made me want to ask that boy what his problem was but I know it won't do Aidan any good for me to get involved. Aidan tries so hard, he wants to fit in, but he just doesn't. Part of it is that my boy is so sensitive. He cries so easily and for boys going into third grade (and quickly moving to the macho end of the spectrum), that is just not cool. I don't know what to do to help him adjust better, to make friends easier. I have no fears with Annika who is a social butterfly and might give us problems on the other end of the spectrum (I have no problem imagining calls from the teacher complaining that Ani talks too much in class!) but I'm at a loss as to how to handle Aidan's situation.

**sigh**

Another first for the kiddos

Last night I took my babies to their very first concert. Annika was thrilled beyond belief as it was her very favorite artist, Britt Nicole. Aidan, on the other hand, was bored silly. He told me I should have let him bring his PSP in, what a horrible mom I am! Regardless of what her big brother felt, Annika had a blast with her little friend, Maddie. They both got Tshirts and stood on their seats, waving their hands in the air in time with the music. It was such a neat experience to do that with them. I enjoyed the concert myself. Britt Nicole really spoke to the kids in the audience, telling them of God's love and mercy. I'm very glad we went, even if I'm tired and dragging today.

This weekend will be another first for my kids; we are taking them to the Michigan Renaissance Festival. It's one of my favorite places and the kids are pretty excited too. Actually, I think they are most excited about seeing Ded Bob. :)

God bless!

The countdown

The kids will be home in 4 1/2 days! I cannot wait to get them on Sunday morning. I have to serve in the nursery on Sunday morning at church and then we are heading out to get them. It's going to be SO nice having them home. I think we have our small group bible study on Sunday night but they will enjoy that too, because I know they miss all the SG kids. After that, we're renting Spiderwick Chronicles and vegging out for the night. Of course, they will have to adjust to life without being spoiled rotten. They've been taken bowling, out to a few movies, out for pizza, Chuck E. Cheese's, to the park several days, a few baseball games, you name it. Not to mention, they've been shopping with Meemah & Poppa and have obtained several new toys. **eye roll** I can guarantee you that I will hear, within a few days of them being home..."Mama, why don't you take us to MisterDonalds all the time? Or to Chuck E Cheese?" Ahhh I can't wait to get revenge on them with their children (well actually, yes I can wait, they can't have kids for at least another 20 years!!!!).

Empty nest syndrome...

Well, I took my kids down to IL to spend two weeks with my parents this past weekend. They were done with school last Wednesday and were definitely ready to start their summer vacation. This is a tradition..to spend the first two weeks of summer vacation with my parents but I miss them terribly! While I'm sure they miss me, they are far too busy getting spoiled silly to bother missing mom & dad too much.

The house is so quiet. And clean!! It's amazing how clean a house stays when you have no children to mess it up. Last night all I had to do was go to the library, make dinner, do one load of laundry, dishes and watch a movie (Griffin & Phoenix..very sad). Tonight I have NOTHING to do...how absolutely wonderful. At the same time, it just makes it more obvious that my kids aren't there when I'm not busy. I think I might start the biyearly overhaul of the kid's rooms. I try to go through them twice a year to clear out any broken toys (garbage) and clothes, toys or books that they've outgrown (Goodwill). It's always so much easier when the kids aren't here to do that. Otherwise I run into things like "Oh I LOVE that toy" nevermind the fact that they haven't even picked it up for 8 months!

I hope everyone is doing well. God bless!