Drew's first day of first grade letter

Dear Drew,

First grade! What are you thinking getting so old that you have to go to first grade!? I'm not ready! You are ready, though. Well..... all summer you said you didn't want to go to school anymore - to please not sign you up to go again this year. But then you met your teacher. All bets were off after that and you were dying to get to the first day. And you loved every minute of it. I'm so glad!

These are a few of the things you shared after school today:

1. We made this special juice that is supposed to help you not be nervous. The only time I was nervous all day was when I thought I might not like that juice. But I did! And I have the ingredients, Dad! So we can make some.
2. I am keeping my folder in my bag and my teacher said that every time we bring our folder back in our bag to school we will get a sticker on it. There was one boy last year that go so many stickers that it covered the whole outside and they had to start putting them on the inside. I think I'm going to get that many stickers too. I remember last year that I took my folder every day so I think I can probably do that again this year.
3. I played with Jaron and recess. And a little bit with Carter and Mitch. (Was it good to see them? Did they have a good summer?) Yes. They all looked so different! Everyone looked so different. And Jaron has gotten way taller this year. Last year he could walk under the slide like this (you hunched over), but this year he can't even do that! He's gotten so tall! (Oh, is he taller than you now?) Well, no.
4. To Lily: You like learning at school?! Like reading and science and all that stuff? Like LEARNING?! I just like recess and when we watch movies or something. Mostly just recess.
5. I missed you, Mommy. Can we do the kissing hand tomorrow? We read about the kissing hand at school and did you know that it doesn't even wash off with soap? We didn't do it today so I just kissed my own hand and then put it on my cheek.

Drew, you should know that Julianna missed you desperately. She talked a lot about you and how much she missed you. You are a great brother and it shows because your sister loves you very much.

Like I told Lily in her letter, I'm not going to get mushy on you. I just want you to know that you are awesome. You are going to have a great year and I am so looking forward to your confidence growing this year as you see all that you can learn. I hope this year you notice that learning can be fun and you don't have to be perfect. I hope that you know that it's okay to be yourself because you are awesome just the way your are. It requires no showing off to make people like you. Promise. You are totally cool, dude.

I love you.
Love,
Mommy

Lily's first day of third grade letter

Dear Lily,

First of all, I have to tell you, it was impossible to narrow down my favorite first day or school picture of you so I had to post them all. You are adorable. And old. And grown up. And occasionally funny. Your morning started rough, but ended on a high note. You were ready to get started on your new adventure.

When you came home from school I asked about your day. Here are some things that you told me:

1. Recess was not fun. No one wanted to play. They mostly just stood around and tried to act like third graders.
2. What is a state that has mountains? And a volcano? And grows apples? And has three syllables. I'm supposed to find out the answer for school tomorrow. (I gave you the correct answer but either you wanted an excuse to get on the internet or you just didn't believe me because you confirmed it with Dad when he got home. It's Washington. I promise.)
3. My teacher has been teaching for 21 years and she used to teach at another school before she taught at mine and this one time a man called and said there was a bomb in the school and so there was a lockdown. But that's the only lockdown that's ever happened to her and it was a false alarm and the guy went to jail and the kids just hid in a closet for a couple hours. (You talked just like that....run-on sentences and all.)
4. We're supposed to bring show and tell. It's supposed to fit into this bag (you hold up a very small paper sack). I think my microscope will fit in this, don't you? (No.) Well, I think I'm going to fill it with like 14 little things and then have a guessing game and then people can guess what I have in my bag. I can just cover it in tissue paper so no one can see inside. I'll ask if I can make it a little game. What do I have that is small enough to put in the bag? (Maybe one of your fossils?) No, I've done that already. (Maybe one of your bones?) Oh, yeah! Good idea! Wait....how will I get them out? (I'm still unsure if you were joking when you said that.)
5. I do not like recess.

Usually my back to school letters are mushy, gushy things. But tonight I just want to remember how awesome you were on this day. It was nice to have a place to send you today so that I could truly enjoy the things that you told me today. I really, really enjoyed being with you this afternoon. I have to say, the last week of summer my patience was thin and I wasn't so nice that last couple of days. It was good that you went to school, had a great day, and I love that you shared so much about your day with me. I'm going to bed tonight feeling grateful to have you around. Grateful that you are growing up to be so awesome. And confident that you're going to have an excellent year.

I love you.
Love,
Mom

Summer

I bet you're wondering why I never blog anymore. For awhile I never could come up with a really good reason why. Then I realized that when I got my smart phone with access to tons of articles and blogs about parenting, etc., I did a ton of reading of the sites that most piqued my interest.  I suddenly felt like I didn't have anything original to say. The professional writers and hilarious bloggers tended to say things that I was thinking in a much better way. This lead me to think about blogging, but never actually sitting down to do it. I would often start to plan blog posts in my head and then later, when it was time to actually write the post, I felt like my thoughts had already been shared by a million bloggers before me. Then I would start thinking about so many of my parenting stories that used to be so funny and cute are not always so funny and cute anymore. My kids are older and we deal with some not so cute situations sometimes and it felt weird sharing their private moments with the internet. That said, Drew has had some doozies lately! :) I may have to share a couple of stories. 

We have a had a good summer. The kids are at great ages for going out and having fun without tons of work on my part. We've taken a few day trips to various locations. We've done nature walks and floated down a lazy river. We've been to Colorado for a short vacation. We've visited my grandparents at the farm. We've eaten sno cones and Blizzards. We've had playdates and swim dates and lazy days at home. We've finished some fantastic audiobooks. (The Peter and the Starcatchers series had us all on the edge of our seats.) We've done bubbles and sidewalk chalk. We've played in the rain. We've made goop and cookies and planted a garden. Lily's done flips of the high dive and missions at space camp. Drew played t-ball and learned about robots at the rec center. Julianna can jump off the side of the pool and swim back to the edge with no help. She has been a super hero and an artist this summer. Lily's made our dinner; Drew's read me books, and Julianna has amazed us with her ability to make people laugh. We've shot fireworks and gone for tube rides. We've eaten hot dogs, watermelon, cucumbers from our garden and s'mores. The kids have gone to art camp at Mimi's and gone swimming in Grandma's hot tub. The kids have had sleepovers and lake days and rainy days. We've had tears, and whines, and giggles, and laughs. We've had bad moments during good days. When I ask my kids their favorite part of the day, lots of times they answer with, "The whole day." or "All the day was good." I may not be perfect at my job being their mom. I may (certainly) have lost my marbles on a few occasions, but I wouldn't change a thing. All in all, I'd say this summer was a success. I can't say that I'm going to be better about the updating the blog. I can say that I'm sad to see this summer come to an end. And I hope that I will write a few more memories down. I miss have the documentation of our lives. I'd like to have a few more stories to look back on and remember together. We'll see....