Hockey Boy

I'm working on a longer post, but I wanted to include some video of J skating during his summer hockey session. We've had about four weeks off, but we're starting up again tonight. J couldn't be happier, but Riley is not looking forward to being in the cold. Her words, not mine.

At the end of the second video, you can hear his coach kindly reminding Jeremy to get out of the goal, as there are no goalies during scrimmages. :)

Jeremy practicing his drills. This is his least-favorite part of hockey!

Scrimmaging. He's in the gray sweater.

Skating around.

Last Days

Tomorrow marks my little man's first day of all-day kindy. I've lamented many a-time on how hard it's going to be for me. I've tried to not think about the reality of it--I've purposefully filled our last few days chalked full of stuff to keep the kids busy and to let me enjoy every last bit of them. And it's worked. For the most part.

Riley's first day of school was today, and she was up at 6:30 to start the day. Luckily she went back to sleep for a little bit, but we heard them excitedly talk about the day this morning. She couldn't wait to get back into the swing of things, and I can't blame her. She enjoys school, loves to learn, is an avid reader and excels in math. I have no doubt she'll exceed again this year.

Last night, while tucking Jeremy in, we had this conversation:

Me: So tomorrow's your last day at home with me.
J: I'm moving?
Me: No, I meant that it's your last day before school. Do you want to move out?
J: Not yet. Maybe in 3 months.
Me: So around Riley's birthday?
J: No. How about 100 months?
Me: OK, so when you're 12?
J: Yes. Wait, I'll just stay here forever.
Me: What about when you have kids?
J: You live at home until you're a parent. Then you have to move.

*sigh* My boy. So insightful. :)

I have no doubt he will succeed in school. He has 3 kids in his class that he knows of, which I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. They're all 3 boys, too. His teacher seems great, and I'm looking forward to hearing all about his first day.

It's just going to be awfully quiet around here. You know, in between my sobs. :)

School

Here we are with just a few days away from school starting, and I'm finally posting pics of the kids' last days of school back in June! :)

As mentioned, oh, a few months ago, Riley didn't have a very good last day of school. The poor girl didn't feel well, but the bad parents that we were, we sent her along. J and I planned to have lunch with her on her last day, and while we were waiting at the school for her class to arrive, she comes walking toward the nurse's office. The nurse took her temp, and sure enough, she had a fever. We ended up having to take her home, which made her so upset. She wanted to celebrate with her class. Her teacher was nice enough to send Riley's autograph book from school home with her a few days later, but the look on Riley's face as we had to clean our her desk was so sad. Luckily it was only a 24-hour bug, but of all the days for her to get sick, it had to be the last one!

You can tell she's not 100%.

At least I was able to get the tradition-based picture.

My little man, on the other hand, had a very cool-temp day for his last day. He had a picnic with his preschool friends, and I admit that I got a little emotional. It's so much different with preschool. When the kids are that young, you grow an attachment to the parents and teachers because you see them every day, or every time you take your kid to school. Once your child hits elementary school, you send them on their way via the bus (at least in our case), and you don't interact with other parents (except for those at the bus stop) and rarely with the teachers (unless you volunteer a lot). And I cannot say enough about our dear Miss Betty.


If you're lucky, you have a Miss Betty at least once for your children to experience. Never have I encountered a teacher who not only loves enthusiastically what she does, but makes you laugh and makes the kids feel so special. Both my children were lucky enough to have her as their preschool teacher, and she was one of the reasons why I'm sad to be done with preschool.


The graduation ceremony was rough. My little boy was all done with this phase of his life. Miss Betty and I chatted for a bit, and we both agreed that we didn't want to mention that this was the end. She praised my kids and my parenting, which still means so much. (I'm tearing up as I write this.) But what was harder was my 1-on-1 meeting with her that I had the following week. I walked into the classroom stating that I didn't want to be there. I didn't want this meeting to happen because of what it meant. I spent much of the meeting teary-eyed, which, honestly isn't hard for me to do when it comes to Jeremy! That little guy has learned so much and gained some wonderful friendships for years to come, I hope.

Hunter, Logan, Diego, Ryan and Jeremy.
Hunter and Jeremy are in the same kindy class!

Brady was added to the mix.

Standing with the other preschool class.

Waiting for his name to be called.

Shaking Miss Peg's hand.

Getting a hug from Miss Peg while Miss Betty looks on.

And a hug from Miss Betty.

Me and my guy.

Watching him walk away.

We did get a chance to visit Miss Betty over the summer, but when hockey season starts this fall, it won't be the same. Miss Betty is a big Blackhawks fan, and Jeremy would keep her up-to-date on the Blackhawks results. But she will never be forgotten. I'm just sorry we don't have any more children to send her way. :(

Quick Wit

On the way to the pool today, Riley saw a sign that read: For Rent. She asked me what that meant.

After much discussion about what it means to rent a house vs. what it means to buy a house, the kids pretty much understood that you rent a place when you aren't sure where you want to live for a long time or if you don't have money to buy a house.

Jeremy said, "I know how you can get more money to buy a house. Steal some!"

Nice.

10 Years of Marriage

Today Phil and I celebrate 10 years of wedding bliss. It's simply amazing to me that it's been that long. Some days it feels longer while others make it feel like we're the carefree kids who just met. And I know people have a tendency to say that they love their spouse more now than they did back then, but it's true. Back then I had no idea how chaotic days can be with kids. Back then I had no clue that our relationship sometimes had to take a back seat to life and kids. Back then I had no idea that once the kids went to bed, I would have to work and wouldn't get to spend time with my husband. But somehow we always found our way back to each other.

Ten years ago today we showed our friends and family how much we wanted our relationship to work. That we're committed to each other. That we're in this for life. And there have been times when our relationship has been rocky. I teased Phil that we're busy making plans for our 10-year anniversary trip (to St. Maarten in November!), that we're not there yet. So this morning, he told me, "We made it! Let's go on vacation!"

Without getting overly emotional because I did that plenty in his card, he is my rock, my strength, my best friend. I cannot imagine life without him, and I'm so glad we're in this together. He has helped me raise our two beautiful children, and together, we can get through anything.

Happy anniversary to my husband. I love you so very much!

Us. 10 years ago.

Us. As a family. Today.

RIley's Play

Each year the first graders put on a play for the parents. It was really cute, and Phil was able to come and watch Riley perform with the rest of her class. After the performance, the kids had a picnic lunch with their parents and then were able to play some games. I couldn't stick around for most of lunch because I had to pick Jeremy up from preschool, but I'm so proud of how she did.

Here are a few videos and pictures from the day.

Being shy.

Sitting next to Sean, who is a huge Packers fan. Phil loves that.