Helloooo 2nd grade!!

Well baby girl started her first day of 2nd grade Monday. She absolutely loved it!! She is one of those children that thrives in competitive situations, and at this age loves school. As a parent, I can only hope she continues to view school as an exciting journey. She chose her own outfit (imagine that!) and then bounded out the door with her bright blue eyes, happy smile, and shiny blond locks..totally and completely ready to take on the 2nd grade! Yea, I'm proud of her. Even the sassy mouth she inherited from me. That's my baby girl!! Believe it or not I didn't cry. I mean..don't get me wrong, I can totally be sappy, but isn't it a ritual for EVERY mother (sometimes a dad or 2) to cry when they drop off a child @ school their first day (of any grade)?? I didn't even cry when she started K. I actually had to re-evaluate my mothering that day. Everyone told me what a horrible mom I was!! I was excited for her because she was so excited and the tears of sadness were replaced by giddy giggles of happiness & excitement I shared with her that day. But today.....................

Today she is "The Second Grader"!!

Boo will begin Pre-K after the labor day holiday. That will be a whole other post!! Be on the look out!!

So with the start of a brand new school year, comes the never ending grueling schedules of soccer practices, games, dance lessons, homework, insanity checks & moments of sheer panic because I forgot to dress Boo in his 'western' attire for hoe down day, OR God forbid... I forgot to replenish Rilye's lunch account and she will have to suffer through the day with a peanut butter sandwich!! Ahh the school year..as parents don't we love it so?? For my birthday this year, babe (that is Big Brandon..notice how no-one goes by their real names in our house) gave me a wonderful book called "Good Enough Mother". This book is going to be my saving grace. Let me quote a excerpt from the wise words of Rene Syler..the good enough mother!

I can sooo relate to this quote, I swear it could be Boo .... "....or how to respond when my son comes running into my bedroom, claiming to be a new kind of superhero, with his jammie bottoms and briefs adorning his head, shrieking, "Mom! Mom! When I fart, underwear comes shooting out- because I'm UNDERWEAR MAN!"

.... But my favorite quote so far is ... "I do know what I'm doing most of the time-and I'm good enough at doing it". You know what? They are still alive & thank the good LORD with all limbs still attached.... and I think very well adjusted children. Easy tempered or hot tempered, they are well mannered, lil' beings that are conforming nicely to societies expectations..

So, I will leave you with... slow down, don't stress. They love us no matter what!

WE ARE GOOD ENOUGH MOTHERS.

The Drama Queen Shops

Sweet Lord, the simple days of clothes shopping for Rilye are a vast memory simply floating past. Torturing me in a sea of girly frills!! See, before now, I have always gone shopping 'for' her. You know...picked out what I wanted for her..and MADE her wear it. I guess along the same lines of "You live under my roof, you will follow my fashion style".

WELL..it has been brought to my attention that I just DO NOT have the same taste as baby girl! Oh course, I want to be cool mom? Who doesn't? and do our daughters clothes not reflect just a small part of our 'cool mom' mind set? In the spirit of celebrating baby girls new found love of fashion, and nourishing her newest passion... We went shopping, and I agreed to let her pick out her own clothes. So we bounced out of the house Thursday night on a quest to find the perfect style that reflected her personality, and met my expectations.

This is were sweet Jesus, have mercy on my soul...comes into play. THE CHILD IS PICKY!! I don't mean, hmmm. this doesn't fit right picky! I mean.."NO, that's tacky mom"...picky! Like I'm some sort of alien from fuddy duddy land way back when. Hello....lil' girl, I'm hip, I'm cool, I CAN pick out a 7 year old clothes.



She doesn't like any shades of brown or green. She doesn't like jeans, or carpi's. She loves skirts, but has to wear shorts under them. BUT...she hates to wear shorts, bc they "touch her T-T"! So you think a skort would be a simple solution...NO she doesn't like those either!! She doesn't like tennie shoe bc you have to wear socks. She doesn't like socks bc of the seam that runs across the toe & that bugs her! The ONLY thing she will agree to wear on her feet are flip flops and her toes are going to freeze in the winter time. A concept I can not seem to drill into her head right now. Tops are probably the only thing we can agree on! Of course, they must be some form of pink, blue, or black. Someone, please tell me how this happened? Don't get me wrong, this is what her daddy & I have preached about for years. "Be your own person, believe in YOU, believe in what YOU want....be unique, BE an INDIVIDUAL". Lord, I never thought I would have to suffer in the process! In the end she ended up with some really cute things. Maybe, 5 complete outfits. A ton of tops with no matching bottoms.. Don't get me wrong, I love baby girl & we really did have a good time shopping together. BUT, there were those times I considered smacking her upside the head with a wire hanger.......

Finally an update!~

It has been so long since I updated my blog! The summer has just flown by!!

Our cruise was wonderful. It was everything everyone said it would be and more.

• We loved eating whatever we wanted whenever we wanted




• We loved the calazones at the pizzaria




• We loved the towel animals that greeted us each night




• We loved our suite




• We loved our balcony




• We loved our master bathroom!!




• We loved the comedian, the daily drinks, the band on the liddo deck




• WE LOVED OUR CRUISE TO MEXICO

AND eveyone was correct. We disembarked the boat saying "next time we come on a crusie lets....". I'm already stalking the internet for specials to the Bahamas.