First day of school - 2014

Check it out - NO UNIFORMS!!!

Audrey started 1st grade!

Julia started 3rd grade! She has a homeroom teacher, but this year she'll be switching rooms for 3 of her 5 classes. It seems a little young to do that at age 8, but we'll see...

They had a decent day. Audrey said that she kind of made a friend named Olivia, but they couldn't play on the playground b/c Olivia's "old best friend" kept telling her not to. :(  Julia said she met a friend too but couldn't remember her name.

 

After a good night's sleep, they got ready for Day 2. We took pictures again to show off some new shirts they received from Mammy.

...and Audrey took over with a modeling session...

I hope they play with a new friend or 2 today, and maybe they'll even both remember their friend's names!!!

Just being honest

Anxiety is a real thing for me. Seemingly endless fears, tears, and consequently insomnia have consumed me lately, but I swear I'm trying to control it. Yesterday was a fight to keep tears controlled ALL night long and I wasn't too successful. As for today, I thought I was doing pretty well, but then I developed hives tonight. At least I think they're stress related hives (another thing to worry about...)

It might be all in my head, but that doesn't make it any less of a problem.  I sure wish I'd written more down about my anxiousness when we moved last time because I know I struggled.  I just wish I knew how long the really bad part lasted. I know that my extreme worries cropped up sporadically even after that first summer, but I remember vividly that May and June 2010 were crippling to me emotionally. When did I calm down and get left with only a dull roar of worry? I'm ready for a calm mind again. I'm trying. Really.

I'm not looking forward to a quiet house Monday when the girls start school. Although, I do look forward to the end of the uncertainty about how they'll adjust to this part of our moving adventure. I'm pretty confident they'll make friends quickly and do well with their work. They've loved school previously.

Here are a few idea I have to keep from losing my mind in the silence that I'll be greeted with Monday.
 * I plan to start exercising again. I haven't done much of anything since we moved and this should help with my stress.
 * I plan to (usually) have dinner prepped and ready to go for the night before the girls get home. I want to double a recipe a week and freeze it for a busier day.
 * I plan to get our house in better order. (I'm really bad at this... Our craft closet looks like, well, it looks like  a craft closet threw up)
 * I plan to head up to church to help Matt and to play a little piano.
 * I plan to not grocery shop with kiddos in tow for a long time.
 * I plan on starting a craft project I've been thinking about for months.

If you're still reading this, thanks. I appreciate you taking the time to hear me out, and I'd be extra appreciative if you prayed for me. I need it.

This & That Thursday

Random stuff...

*I was so excited to receive a "just catching up" phone call from a friend from Robertsdale Tuesday night. Rita and I would get together regularly to run (or half jog/half walk...whatever). The exercise accountability was great and all, but having an hour to talk with a sweet friend is what I miss most about her.  I'm not gonna lie, I shed a few tears when we hung up (and several times later that night)... Loneliness is hard y'all! And this is coming from an introvert!

* Speaking of introvert... Have I ever mentioned that instead of "shy" or "quiet" I jokingly refer to myself as "selectively social?" If I go out of my way to talk to you, consider yourself special. My kids have this tendency too. The 3 of us can get obnoxiously loud, but not until we become comfortable and that can sometimes take a while.

* I worry... A lot... About everything... I worry so much that I keep myself up until the wee hours of the morning just so that I can crash from exhaustion rather than be alone with my thoughts while I fall asleep like a regular person.

Now that we've determined I'm borderline crazy... let's move on to the fabulous kids I've got!

* Audrey won a prize for the robot she built for the library's summer kids program. Go, Audrey!


* Julia found a tick in her hair today. "Mom!!!! There's a bump on my head and it's hanging off a little!!" It was already dead. I removed the other half, cleaned her scalp with rubbing alcohol, and immediately googled the symptoms of Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, because (despite Matt's eye rolls) that is the natural reaction!

* We marked off another item on our summer "to do" list today - homemade ice cream in a bag. It was easy and pretty tasty! :)

*The girls have been helping me a little more often in the kitchen. Audrey cut up strawberries today (to serve on top of the ice cream we made!) and here is Julia dicing potatoes for dinner.

* That's about it - thanks for reading! Blogging makes me feel connected to others. I need that right now.

Home, Sweet, Home

No matter how many times we move, when asked where "Home" is I always think of Tennessee. The girls and I go on a road trip to visit the grandparents every summer and an incredible perk of moving is that this year I was close enough to visit my brother too! In fact, I got to be with my brother, Andy, and his wife, Kelsey, for this special moment:

He or she, what will baby Ford be?

Baby Ford is a boy!

* After swinging through Knoxville to visit Andy and Kelsey, we spent a week in Jackson.

We spent a lot of time outside with Poppa.

We celebrated Pop's birthday with our cousins.

Meme was there too. :)

And we celebrated the 4th of July with Mammy.

We certainly had a super fun week, but we were also glad to get home to see Matt! Maybe he can come with us next time. 

My first trip to South Carolina

Last week I talked about how much I detest Mondays. The beginning of the work week brings too much loneliness for me... usually. This week, I'm admitting that for the 2nd week in a row Monday hasn't been depressing.  Yay! Today, Matt got an extra day off so we decided we'd take a road trip to Greenville, SC.  Our main objective for the day was to visit the Children's Museum. The girls really enjoyed themselves.

 Audrey says her favorite part was this climbing structure.

Julia claims her favorite was the race car.

But the attraction they actually spent the most time at was the Construction Zone. Who would have thought?

 

Afterwards we walked to a local coffee/ice cream shop for a treat. 

 Then, we walked around Greenville's nature park. It was beautiful, but the long walk made Audrey's "feet hurt sooooooo bad" and mean old Mommy refused to carry her. As soon as we were in sight, she ran for the van and promptly fell asleep.

The Bowman family excursion concluded with dinner at Outback. We didn't have one close by in Alabama and have been sitting on a couple of gift cards for years. So, if you happened to give us an Outback gift card for Christmas back in 2009, we thank you for tonight's dinner.   :)

I hate Mondays

There's an extra pang of loneliness that hits me on Monday mornings as my husband gets ready and leaves for work. I felt it several years ago when the girls were still babies/preschoolers and now that we've moved my hatred of lonely Mondays is back. Don't get me wrong, one of the blessings in life I'm most grateful for is the opportunity I've had to stay home with my children, but I still really dislike the beginning of Matt's work week. This probably sounds extra whiny given that Matt's office days are only Monday-Thursday, but the beginning of those 4 days bothers me.  So be it.  

Here's how I saved my sanity last week...

We shoved uncooked spaghetti into bites of hot dog, boiled them, and served it for lunch. Julia happily prepped it but wouldn't eat it, Audrey thought it was ok with shredded cheese, and I thought it was bleh... It's appropriate for lonely Monday food to be 'bleh', don't you think?

We also decided to salt paint: Draw designs with white glue, sprinkle with salt, remove excess salt, and then paint with a food dye/water mix.

This project was easy peasy! It was also neat to watch the salt absorb the drops of color.

 How else to entertain on a lonely Monday?!? Well, the girls enjoy card games (and Go Fish, War, and Uno get old) so they learned a few more, Speed and 21 to be exact.  No worries, I didn't spend too much time this week teaching these girls to be card sharks. 

And the last no fail way to entertain for a few minutes... we break out a tea set and have a tea party outside.  

And then apparently bring a hamper full of toys outside too.

Last Monday turned out not to be too bad and this Monday I'm not feeling lonely at all! I'm visiting family in TN! YAY!!!!!

Hike to Little Falls

 We were invited to go with a few other families to take an easy hike up to a little waterfall Wednesday. We were thrilled to have something to do. 

Julia went hiking... hiking!! She squealed every time a branch brushed against her and also when she had to walk through a tiny bit of mud, but good for her for being ready and willing to try something out of her usual comfort zone.  

As we packed our gear for our hike, Audrey insisted she wouldn't want to play so she didn't need to wear a bathing suit.

Momma knows her child, though.  Dry clothes were in our bag.  :)

Despite my warnings, Audrey hiked back down in her flip flops. She didn't get hurt, but she did (very loudly) exclaim repeatedly that the mud she stepped in was actually "Bear POOP on her foot!"

Fun times with new friends!