A Third Grader and a Kindergartner

I thought that the summer would last longer but here it's September already! We had a great summer, especially with Aaron home for most of it. We really appreciated having him around to do summer activities with. The biggest feat of the summer was Natalie stopping her thumb sucking! We tried everything and then finally ordered the "No Thumb Suck" solution and has been fine ever since. What a relief. I also notices this week that she didn't sleep with her blankie. These strong ties to her baby-hood slipping away from me breaks my heart. I want these things for her, but it's just going too quickly that it's taking me by surprise. We put up a pool this summer and the girls loved it until they dug the lake out behind our yard and then they wanted to do that every day and all day. I can't believe the difference in their swimming abilies having access to swimming every day. It was one of the hottest summers since I've been in Michigan and we had quite a drought, so we were able to play outside without any bugs bothering us, which was nice. Because of the heat, we didn't go to the parks as much as we usually do, or ride bikes either. They were either in the water or in the house. In August I threw an "old school" game night for the girls in Bella's class. They had a blast and were good sports about running around in the heat. We played games like, Ghost In the Grave Yard, tug of war, TV tag, Octopus, and capture the flag. They were really cute. We went to the beach at least evey other week with friends and had my friend Nikki and her kids came up for a visit. In August we went on our family trip to Arkansas and Texas. We first drove to Joliet to see my family, then drove to St. Louis to visit the zoo, which the girls loved and then drove to Arkansas and stayed with Nikki and her family. David and Bella are good friends and so it's so nice that they still get to play together. They took us on a tour of their town and out to eat at yummy places and we got to chill and watch the olympics. We drove next to Dallas to see my aunt and uncle and got to see their new house. I loved seeing the stained glass transoms I made for above the doors in their house. It's a good feeling to see your art work displayed. We went shopping, out to eat, and went to Medievel Times for dinner and a show. I'll never forget Natalie with her hand over her heart, saying, as she pointed to one of the jousting knights "did you see that - he smiled at me", and then later the very same night handed her a flower and she said "he loves me." What a princess that one is! We then traveled south to the coast of Texas (Galveston) and the girls had their first experience with the ocean. They loved boogie boarding into the shore and Natalie loved playing in the sand too. We ate a lot of fresh seafood, shopped, and went to the movies during the hotest part of our trip. It was hard to leave such a beautiful place. We drove home in two 10-hour days, stopping in Memphis. We visited Graceland and got to tour the estate and see where Elvis was buried. The town was beautiful and they had good seafood too! It was good to be home, but it took a while to get everything washed and unpacked. As soon as we were home, we had to go shopping or school supplies, and get all their school paperwork together. We attended their open houses and they met their teachers and got to see where they were going to sit. It was a fun night, but very hot. Labor day was busy. We went home to Joliet for one day to see my aunt and uncle that came to visit and drove home the same day. That was hard after being in the car for our long trip. The next day we went out on Aaron's friend's boat and had dinner in the water and then went home to get ready for the first day of school. Of course I notices Nat had an art project she had to do that was due the first day of school, so first thing in the morning we were gluing and stamping and glittering before I was even awake:( Getting up early again has been very difficult. My sweet girls were so excited for school and it rainned all the way up until we walked out the door for pictures. Thank our heavenly father that we were able to walk our kids to their classes and take group photos without rain. Kim, Cath and I tucked our kids into their tables and waved good-bye. I held it together until I walked out of the class and burst into tears. Cath held on to me tight and I have to say, there have been few times that I needed a hug that much! The girls loved their classes and teachers and are really enjoying being back. I love dropping the girls off at school this year and getting that extra time with them. I have the week off until I start doing day care and volunteering, so it's been nice to catch up on lots of projects that have been waiting for me. My heart is still hurting without having Natalie here, but I'm hoping that in time it will get easier. The girls started back up with gymnastics the same day as school started, so things will be very busy around here for a while. Bella's sleep-over birthday party is next week, so I need to prepare for another busy week. I'm so thankful for my family and the opportunity to be able to spend so much time with them this summer.