I Wasn't Ready

I wasn't ready.  I'm still not ready.  I started staying home full time after I had her and she's been my sidekick day in and day out ever since.  Our days revolve around her.  We do gymnastics, go to museums and gardens, library story times, farmer's markets, parks and playgrounds, swim lessons, zoos, we have picnics, go on bike rides and leaf walks, we bake cookies, muffins, cakes, more cookies, we eat handfuls of chocolate chips, we play "Ariel", we watch Sophia, we play the matching game, we read about princesses, we stop by Grandma and Grandpa's to say hi and have fruit snacks, we have play dates, we run errands, errands, and more errands and she tries to weasel a cookie or treat out of every single stop, she puts my groceries on the counter and hands the clerk my coupons, she watches Evie while I shower and makes her laugh and smile all day long.  I'm just not ready.  It just came so fast I swear I didn't even see it coming.   I just kept feeling like we had so much more time.  I thought I'd be ready and it would all go so smoothly but honestly, I just don't want her to go at all.  I can't stress how "Not Ready" I am.  I can tell you who is ready, she is.

First day of school!  Carson saw the girls across the street getting ready to walk to the bus and suddenly he didn't want to be out in front of the camera with his sign...oh it's already beginning!

Carson and Alli!  (the girl he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of earlier)

Carson is first on the bus as usual and Laney is acting like she was BORN READY to conquer kindergarten, as usual!

That was a pretty sad day for me I have to admit.  It hit me like a ton of bricks.  I actually really enjoy my summer job as "summer activities consultant" with the kids.  We have so much fun I hate to see the summer come to an end.  I'm already looking forward to next summers adventures!  Everson wasn't so keen on being the only child either.  She kept looking for the kids throughout the day.  When I put her in her car seat she kept pointing the Laney and Carson's seats and saying, "uh uh uh".  I know baby girl, I know.  But me and Evie, well, we survived.  

 And as for Carson and Laney, they both gave a big thumbs up for their first week of school!

It might be hard to see but this picture says, "I'm always with you."  Laney made it for Evie after I told her how much Evie had missed her when she was away at school.  She asked me to hang it up in Evie's room so she could remember that whenever she missed her.  Oh Laney, can you just stay home with me forever?

 Carson is very interested in learning the game of Chess recently.  He even plays with his buddy Carson Gregor sometimes...and he really is getting it!  I don't understand Chess I have never tried, but he just looks so smart and grown up when he's playing doesn't he?!

 Before school started we squeezed in one last beach day and we brought Grandpa along with us.

 These girls are not afraid of getting sand ALL OVER THEM.

 Hard at work.

 Lexi has resorted to puppy behavior in her old age and she isn't past taking food right out of little Evie's hands.  And Everson doesn't like it one bit!  So, one day she climbed up on the table and ate her snack right in the middle.  She showed her!

Last Friday night Carson went to his first sleepover.  5 boys up until midnight playing nerf guns and watching movies all popped up awake at 6am for pancakes.  He had a blast.  The next morning we picked him up bright and early to head to our first family tailgate and first MSU game for all three kids!  We thought he'd really be a crabby bear but he napped in the car and held strong all day.

When we got tickets for the whole family for the first MSU game we didn't have very high expectations.  We figured we'd just go with the flow.  If we had to leave early and ditch the game, oh well.  We planned to tailgate with our neighbors, the Gorings, and off we went at 8:30am with our fingers crossed.  We had no idea all the fun that was in store for us...

Watching the band play the fight song.  

Best.  Tailgate.  Ever!  It was like our kids were born to tailgate.  Food at arms reach, lawn games, the band playing, sparty sightings, hot dogs, soccer, football...they loved it!  

 

And we all made it to the game!  The energy of the crowd had Carson and Laney in awe.  Even Evie was clapping along with all the chants and cheers.  Let me tell you though, it was HOT, HOT, HOT in that sun!  The kids actually never complained and Evie was happy as could be, but I just felt so bad for her in that blazing sun (and for me), so I offered to take the girls for a walk before half time.  Carson was adamant  that he was staying until the very end of the game, and he absolutely did.  

Patrick has a great parking pass story that I won't go into, but we got to park in the lot directly across from the stadium, so getting back to the car to grab the stroller was easy.  I knew where me and the girls were heading, The Dairy Store ofcourse!  

I ordered a S'mores milkshake and it was about the best thing I ever tasted, and Everson wouldn't share even a little bit with me!  What's up with that?!

 After our ice cream excursion we played with our chalk at our tailgate spot.  I sat there just listening to the game and watching my girls play.  Evie just loves Laney so much.  She was so happy just hanging out with her for however long we stayed.  There was nowhere else in the world I wanted to be.

 Checking for a dirty diaper!

 After the game the party didn't stop!  Our tailgate started back up and it grew with more of our neighbors, the Hartman's!  

 We stayed from 9:30am until about 6pm without a single complaint from any kids.  No nap for Evie with not even a whine or whimper, she owned that tailgate! Actually, the only complaining was when we told the kids it was finally time to pack it up and head home.  Sure not the kind of tailgating we used to do back in the day, but Patrick and I both agreed it was one of our most favorite days ever.  We couldn't have asked for anything more. The way my kids were dirty was comical, and a clear sign of the fun we all had.  Go Green!

We had to stop by Grandma and Grandpa's on the way home from the game to visit everybody!  We got to see Auntie, Uncle Adam, Maeve, Jill, Dennis, and Avery!

I'd say that was a successful first week of school and successful Labor Day Weekend!  Boom!

Here's Laney making her very own "youtube" video.  I didn't even see her doing it.  It's hysterical.

"It's Me Waney the cra-craze"! from ingrid brang on Vimeo.