The Final Countdown...

It happens each August, but this August I really mean it...."Where did this summer go?!"  Here we are getting ready to start our last week of summer vacation, because this Thursday, school begins for our family.  We will have a first grader and boy, is she excited:)  On Saturday, we went to her school's "Back to School Day" where all the families enjoyed a praise and worship celebration and then we were able to go to her classroom, meet her sweet teachers, put her school supplies away and more importantly...

 ...see where her desk will be!  Goodbye group tables, hello desks!  Caroline is so excited about this part  So, three more days of somewhat having relaxing mornings. 

I have to say that I learn each summer that I am a person who needs to be on a schedule.  I like knowing what my day will bring and I like knowing that I have to be somewhere at a certain time, even though I have liked our laid back mornings.  This will be my first year that I really will be doing a lot of back and forth driving, between two schools getting out at different times, speech therapy, gymnastics, and piano lessons...and an almost two year old that will need a nap sometime!  I am thankful for sweet friends who have said they will help me in the carpool area.  And I realize that I am not the first mom to do this.  As Frank says in "Father of the Bride"..."Welcome to the real world, Mr. Banks (Bonks!).".

Roy Austin had his teacher visit last week for preschool and it went well (I still cringe when I think about last year's).  He got into a great class by the skin of his (or my) teeth.  When the ladies came for their visit, I was surprised how shy he was.  He is never shy, but he hid upstairs for about 10 minutes before I had to drag him downstairs with bribes of Skittles. 
Last week, I found a cute little man's tie at one of my favorite consignment stores. He couldn't wait until Sunday to wear it to church and each morning he'd say, "Is it Sunday yet?"  It's a real tie...no clippie for him!  He was very proud this morning, can you tell?:

And then we have Charlotte. She has really grown up lately.  Our 22 month old is a talker.  She will say the funniest and sweetest things.  Her favorite is, "Thank you, Mama!" and she says it at the funniest times, like when I get her in her car seat.  She says it very matter of factly, too.  And she has learned to be feisty.  Someone is ALWAYS trying to carry her or pull on her or sit and even lay on her.  I think I say 20 times a day, "LEAVE CHARLOTTE ALONE!".  Her sweet older siblings think it's so funny to teach her words like "poopoo" when I'm not looking, and she knows it's not right.  This morning, Caroline called her "Charlotte Poo" and she got so mad.  She said, "NO, Nie Nie! No poopoo!".  And the other day, those same sweet older children of mine decided to chose the Post Office at lunch time to be the scene of a fight.  They were literally screaming at each other, fighting over who got to pull down the door to place the package I was mailing.  I was humiliated, but calmly got on my knees and got close to their faces and quietly told them (through my gritted teeth) what they needed to hear.  They apologized to the line of customers waiting to be helped and when we got outside I said, "I am so disappointed in the two of you!".  Charlotte, (sitting on my hip), replied quietly, "Me, too.".  It was hard not to laugh.  That was followed by a, "I sorry, Mama." from my little apprentice.  And the rest of the two minute ride home she kept telling me, "Sorry, Mama".  (the other two were sent to their rooms without lunch).
Here is a video of Charlotte that Caroline and I took yesterday.  She sings all of the time and it really makes our family laugh.  Of course, when I got the camera out, she didn't do it like she normally does, but here she is singing one of her favorite praise songs...it's a little long:)

So this week will be filled with alarm clocks being set for 7:00 to get ready for earlier mornings, a few last minute trips to the pool and a Carowinds visit starting tonight!