First Complete Week.....

Yea, so my first week of school is done. Thursday to Thursday, done today. Can I tell you something? You know how I used to think I was busy. Running here and there, kids everywhere, blah blah blah. I have NEVER been busy in my whole life. Never. Now, I am BUSY! I start my day at 6am (which Mike says is a normal starting time for the majority of the population. Who knew?!), clothes to iron, breakfast for all, lunches to be made, you get it. Crazy morning, I am also told that lots of people do this too. Night before, back packs (now 3 of them) to get ready. Pre-pack any food that can be. Decide if I really care if my t-shirt is wrinkled, do 18 year olds notice that kind of crap? I doubt it, so I skip the ironing part, just once, I can't stand it otherwise. Kids take showers and by 8:45 after I put them to bed at 8:30, I am ready to fall into bed myself. I have always been a stay up late kind of gal. Watch some tv, read a book or magazine, you know the drill. Sometime between 11-midnight I doze off. Wake up to take the kids to school, but grab a nap if I needed one, whatever, nothing ever extreme waiting on me most days. I was not then nor have I ever been lazy, just no pressing issues, no "job" outside of here. And I thought I was busy. Boy, what I would give for one of those "busy" days. Ha! Please don't misunderstand me. I am NOT complaining. In fact, the very opposite. All this in the past week as brought some things to my attention. One, the weekend is a WONDERFUL thing and no where near long enough. Who's in charge of that anyway? We need to discuss. My husband, all these years, just wanted to come home at the end of the day and sit in his chair with a glass of sweet tea. He didn't want to go out to dinner, he didn't want to run to Wal-Mart or the mall. He wanted to SIT in a chair and relax and rest. Big "A HA" moment for me.... I get it! I understand the need, the pull, the force that draws you to a seat on the couch. So we have this closeness now, this new found respect has been born for my husband. A man needs a chair and nothing to do. The other thing, all my errands use to span the time frame of 830a-230p. That seemed like a good amount of time. Some days it seemed rushed, but now, my time span? 12:00p-2:30p, that's it. I am learning the fine art of prioritizing and afternoon doctor's appointments. It's a learning curve. All of it. Sitting in class, answering questions out loud. Hoping you'll say the right one. But the feeling of knowing that really, no one cares if you get it right. Secretly you envy the brave person who decided to speak out loud and give it a shot. That feeling when you sit down, surrounded by strangers and know that you are all there with a common goal. You are all choosing this path. To make yourselves better. There is a comfort in that. It's an experience. Homework, teachers, the thought of mid-terms and finals. All of it, it can be overwhelming. I am afraid I am missing something. The kids are going to need me and I won't be able to do it. Mike will want me to help with something and I won't be able to. I will miss an awards assembly or a field trip. I have never missed those things. But isn't it worth it? Yes, I can say with absolute unwavering certainty, that yes it is. I want my boys to know how important this is. And I want them to know it's ok to just sit in a chair sometimes with NO plans.

1 Week Down....

School started last week. We survived! The boys did really well and both said they had great weeks. We LOVE our teachers this year and that makes a huge difference already. I know I said it before, but I am so excited to see what the school year holds for them. I made it through my first 2 days of classes. Alex was a sweetheart and came running to me on Thursday afternoon to ask me how my day was. He did it again on Friday. He says that is his favorite part of the day! This will be my first full week and I am anxious to see how we handle it. HA! I am using Sundays to get everything in order, from extra laundry to left over dishes and a once over of everything else. It feels so much better when you go into the week prepared to face it. We have added fall baseball and soccer to our mix of activities. The boys are practicing now, and games start after Labor Day. I always say I love to stay busy. I guess that's a good thing right now. I do have somethings I want to blog about. More serious matters, of the heart, I guess you could say. So maybe later this evening or tomorrow, I will sit to tell you about that. Thanks for reading.....

Last Weekend until School.....

It's the last weekend of summer. We haven't done anything extra special I don't suppose. We did have a great dinner out last night with some wonderful friends.The boys got to hang out with friends at a new babysitters house. That made for a pretty fun Friday night. We don't have any plans today to speak of. Maybe we will venture out later to Wal-mart or maybe we will enjoy the rainy day and hang out at home. I just know the summer has gone far too quickly. We had open house on Thursday night. We met the boys teachers, checked out new classrooms, and saw old friends we hadn't seen since last school year. We are thrilled with the boys teachers and they are excited to start back. Open house always gets them pumped about the new year. Will has Mr. Bunting. We have wanted him since we started Kindergarten! He's been teaching for quite a while and we know his no nonsense, organized classroom approach will be a great tool for Will. I am excited to see what the 5th grade will hold for him. Alex got Ms. Buss. Her first teaching year was the year Will started 2nd grade. She is one of Alex's friends mom and he is so excited! She was so happy to see him and he enjoyed getting to see his new classroom. She is a relaxed, fun, very down to earth lady. I think her personality and teaching style will match Alex well. He has some friends from baseball and last year in his class, so it promises to be a fun 2nd grade year. Monday will be here before we know it. Lunches to be packed, clothes to be ironed, and friends to see. They have both said I could just drop them off through the car line. I thought my heart would break! Oh well, we are still negotiating the finer points of Monday morning. HA! So here we go, into a new year. Looking forward to the promises it brings.

Summer time is almost over....

It is amazing to me that in a week summer will be over. How can that be? In a matter of days I will send my 5th grader to his last year of elementary school. I have a 10 year old, who is a 5th grader..... How did that happen? In a matter of days I will send my baby boy, my youngest child, to 2nd grade. He's a 2nd grader.... How did THAT happen? In a matter of days I will get in my car and I will drive myself to college. I will be a college freshman. I am nervous, I am excited, I am going to college. How did that happen? It's amazing to me how quickly in some ways this summer has gone and in some ways it seems like it just started. We didn't go on a vacation or do anything extremely exciting, but we had one of the best ones I remember having. We spent time with friends, we joined the pool and went weekly, sometimes multiple times in a week. The boys had friends over and went to others houses to stay. Will turned 10, Mike turned 35 and my mom turned 50. It's been great summer. Now, we head into what we pray will be a great school year. We are facing new things this school year. The boys are bigger, the work gets harder and I decided to join them. 3 of us doing homework, studying, and looking forward to Thanksgiving break. That's the first one, right? It's an exciting time for the Stafford's. It's a new adventure. We approach with caution, but we are going all in. I hope I can keep up with the blog in this process we are embarking on. I would like to be able to see how we make it in the end. I know the boys will make me proud, they always do. I just hope I can make them proud in the process. So here we go. School year 2012-2013, the Stafford's are coming for ya!