Looking Backwards (Not Forwards)

I didn't get all weepy when the kids started school. I was so happy to have them going again.

But today is #3's first day of preschool. And I am finding myself getting all emotional at the thought of him going, getting older and, next year, starting kindergarten!

I have always had a hard time when a child starts kindergarten.

When #1 started I was so nervous for her. I was also dreading the first day, just knowing she was going to cry and mope and make a big to-do about it (after all I did when I started school). But she just walked in the classroom and waved me off ("Bye Mom!")!!! And she hasn't looked back since. She has always adored school.

#2 has always been so little and sensitive that I was even more nervous for him to start to school. I just knew some little twerp would say something mean to him. But he has never had any problems. (In fact last week his teacher called with a great story involving #2, a pile of folders he was having trouble passing out, and another boy in the class standing up for #2 when someone offered to help him saying "Let the little man do it!")

But I know I will be just as scared and nervous when #3 starts kindergarten. Maybe a little more nervous for the other kids in his classroom this time around though. He can be quite a bully when he wants to!

I just want to hold onto him for a little while longer (even though I know that's impossible).

I always say I look forward to the kids moving out and finally having some alone time with Hubby (and I do), but I know that will be even more difficult than not seeing them for a few hours during the week.

Shhh...Don't Tell!

What my kids don't know about me:

~I really dislike raw carrots. And yet, I make the kids eat them all the time. They are just too easy. I will occasionally force myself to eat them, too.

~I don't like having them help in the kitchen. I know that it is great together time and all that jazz. But it is just so much easier (and less messy) for me to do alone. I guess I'll have to get over this one or I will always be cooking for them. I do, however, enjoy them helping me in other ways.

~Sometimes I want to get away just so I can lie around all morning and not have to fix breakfast, or get anyone else ready for the day.

~I will only give them each two cookies, but eat more than that myself! Hehe!

~Sometimes, I come in after them and fix their beds after they have made them. Just a little straightening here and a tuck there is all.

Isn't it fun being the grown up!!!

Hey, Mikey! She Likes It!

Confession: I have bought items I saw advertised on infomercials!! But, so far I have only bought 3 (Proactive, pilates and the Space Bag), although I have been tempted with a lot more (those cool knives and mineral makeup).

Two of the purchases I have made didn't really work. I still have zits (Proactive) and I am not thin (pilates).

But yesterday I got my Space Bags in the mail! I LOVE THEM! We are trying to organize and dejunk our home. We have SO much stuff and SO little room. So even if we do get a storage unit as Hubby wants, we still need to make room. I thought these would be the perfect solution for sleeping bags, blankets, sheets, clothes, etc. And I was RIGHT!

Check out how small our 5 sleeping bags got!

And here is a ton of old bedding, a bunch of sheets, five pillows, and a couple blankets! You can see in the picture, they are lower than the wall socket.

Last, but not least is four of the space bags with the combined contents: crib sheets, crib mattress cover, twin sheet set and 13 blankets.

I was so excited that these worked! I even checked them by opening them which fills them up with air again, and then sucking the air out again with the vacuum. They are easy to use (if I can do it anyone can) and they are reusable (which I need).

I bought them online at at their website, but they are also available at Walmart. I will just have to go buy me some more!

Disclaimer: I am not being paid by the company to advertise here, but if anyone from Space Bag would like to pay me I will take cash and more Space Bags!

Disclaimer #2: Mine don't look nearly as pretty as those on the infomercial or the website. Which is no fault of the Space Bag company. Just my inabilities!

Sweet Relief

Do you ever get that feeling after a really good hike or after doing a great session of yoga where your whole body is in this mode of happiness and relaxation and good feelings? It is like a whole-body sigh of relief after working yourself really hard.

Well, today is the first day of school. And as much as I enjoyed my summer with the kids and all the fun we had together...my body is sighing with relief.

It is seriously a physical sensation of well-being and happiness and relaxation.

I guess the summer with four kids had me worked up and stressed out physically and emotionally without me even knowing it!!!

We took #1 and #2 to their new school, found their classrooms, met their teachers and said goodbye.

When we got home #4 went down for his nap and Hubby (who is on his semester break) took #3 in the backyard to dig for the retaining wall. So I got to do whatever I wanted!!

It was quite relaxing and splendid.

The Last First

Yesterday being #4's 1st birthday, I decided to make him a cake.

I substituted the oil with applesauce (even Hubby couldn't tell the difference and everyone still ate it.)

I got a YUMMY recipe for a white chocolate icing from a friend and went to work.

It was a lot of work using a star icing tip and my hand was somewhat cramped afterward, but I thought the cake came out really cute.

#4 got the "block" with the 1 on it and boy did he make a mess!!! (Pictures will be posted on the family blog later.) But it is our last first birthday for this little family and what a way to end!

The Nose

This time I write of my favorite smells.

My sense of smell has been quite keen throughout my life (that's why as a kid I could tell not only that someone else had been sleeping on my pillow, but I would be able to tell who that someone was).

But it has also served me well in helping to create memories that I can associate with smells. After all, isn't the part of the brain that is connected to smell right next to the part that is connected to memory? Am I just making that up?

Anyhow, here are a few:

~Mom's lemon perfume. I can't remember the name, but it is a soothing smell for obvious reasons.

~A summer rainstorm. Particularly those that remind me of summers on the farm. It is just delicious!

~The smell of Christmas. All things associated with it: pies, Christmas trees, spices, homemade fudge.

~Eucalyptus. There was a huge basket of it under the piano at the home I grew up in. So it always reminds me of home. I have a eucalyptus wreath hanging over our piano now. The smell of the two together is wonderful.

~A newborn baby. Maybe the most wonderful smell in the world. Or maybe I am just nostalgic for those days with a newborn that seemed so crazy and, yet, are nothing compared to life with a toddler (yikes!)

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String...

Anyone who knows me knows I love, love, love books!!

They are close friends that are always there for me when I am feeling down. And they are new aquaintances that I am excited to get to know better.

They can make me feel happy, sad, angry, any emotion really.

And when I come to the end I am torn between being content with the ending and happy for the characters and upset that the book is done and wishing it could go on forever.

I have so many favorites I couldn't even begin to choose an ultimate favorite.

But I did put together a list of books that have served the kids, and me well over the years. Although we didn't always treat the books very well. Some are unrecoverably worn down and others have been mended several times.

-My scriptures (they are so sad looking right now, Hubby keeps telling me I should get a new set, but that's like saying I should get a new Hubby when he gets worn down!)

-"Dr Seuss's Sleep Book" (I still have some memorized...'A moose is asleep, he is dreaming of moose drinks, A goose is asleep he is dreaming of goose drinks...' CLASSIC!)

-"Pride and Prejudice" (Of course I had to add this one! Always a pick-me-up on a lousy day.)

-"Goodnight Moon" (We are actually on our second copy, the first went the way of all the earth after #1, #2 and #3 used and abused it much. It is a favorite of #4, we just recite a little bit of it and he gets ready for a nap.)

-"Caring for Your Baby and Young Child-ages birth-5 years" (We call this our "manual." Usually babies don't come with one, but #1 did! Our pediatritian gave this to us in the hospital the day she was born. What a life saver!! The cover has been torn off and several of the first few pages are missing from over use. There are subsequent volumes for different ages, but we haven't gotten around to buying those yet.)

-All the Chronicles of Narnia (but you must read them in the order they were written, not the order they come in as a set. If you want to know what the order is, just ask. We have read these several times over and listened to them as audiobook CDs in the car. Hubby and I even read them together the summer we were first married. The stories are great and the gospel parallels are very insightful and thought provoking.)

I know there are others, but really I could go on forever!