Whoa!

I am truly aghast at just how fast time has flown by lately! It is "Workshop Week" - a time for teachers like myself to stand back and reflect on our summer, prepare our rooms, and begin the daily barrage of constant thought regarding lessons, planning, and kids. I had forgotten how much school monopolizes my thoughts and dreams till this week - I truly enjoy my work, but let's just say that I don't miss the constant monologue of thoughts running through my head. I am vowing to put it out of my head as much as possible this weekend, though. Tuesday will come soon enough.


Grayson is nearly two years old! Where has that time gone? I am amazed at the changes I'm seeing daily, both physically and mentally. He is quite independent little boy lately - "I do it!" is a favorite. When buckling him into the car seat, Russ and I are allowed to take care of the bottom latches, but Grayson is in charge of the chest pieces. Once we do our part, he says "Shut the door Mommy (or Daddy)", and won't do a thing till the door is closed and we are in our proper seats. Whoa!


I am also amazed at how much he loves music - he LOOOVES to sing, and to be sung to, and I've found myself pulling out all the stops. I've always had a passion for singing, and though I've had the opportunity to sing in some fantastic locations and events, there is nothing like seeing his delight as we sing "Mr. Sun" or "ABC" over and over again. He even sings the entire ABC song on his own! Every day is a new adventure, and I never knew I could love someone so much! I am truly blessed in so many ways. Here's a pic in honor of his coming birthday we took last week at the park.

The End of Summer

It's State Fair time, the signal for the end of the summer. I always find myself eager to go back to work during this time, and spend many moments planning and thinking about the coming year, and I always create a "things I didn't do" list. My list isn't so large this year, so I feel pretty good about that. Today, though, we spent a beautiful morning and early afternoon at a perfect summer function - a kids water/pool party at a co-worker's house in Forest Lake. Grayson and I enjoyed playing in the many water items, and catching up with work friends and their kids. I must say, our hosts have a GORGEOUS home, and an even more gorgeous yard with the most plush, green grass I've ever seen (especially in this weather!). We did our part to water it today, that is for sure.

The dogs also had quite the outing today when our construction crew accidentally sent them on a joy run by leaving the gate open. Ever faithful, Vega returned on her own a short while later, but Jeepers, our ever curious boy, braved the elements and went on a multiple-hour field trip. Luckily, after putting out an APB with a few neighbor kids, he returned home safely (and quite clean). I owe those kids some ice cream! If I only could have attached a little camera to see what his morning held...
We are watching our house transformation this week as well, and are very pleased with the results so far - more info to come on that front soon. For now, here's a few great pics from our weekend and the last few days.

Enjoying the butterfly garden at Como

Enjoying a snack with Daddy

Letting Go (just a little bit)

Today was a HUGE learning day for me both professionally and personally. Long-winded as I am, I thought I would write a bit about my personal reflection from the day. Here goes nothing...

Big Marine Park Reserve Play Area

Russ had a work event this evening, so it was just me and the little guy. I felt like we needed a field trip, so off we headed to Big Marine Park Reserve for some play time. We had a blast, and I, as usual, chased him around to keep him safe. As I've mentioned before, this park is a very safe place for toddlers, but he loves to run and doesn' t always know when to stop before the ledge appears. We were having a great time playing in the tubes that slant upward and downward when my little boy turned around and said, "Mommy Out!" I was stunned, in a way - my child didn't want me to help him? Is he capable of moving himself safely?

This moment caused me to pause and realize just how often I still hold his hand and guide him through many mundane tasks, probably out of a sense of routine more than anything. I consciously tried to back off after this, and you know what? He did JUST FINE on his own with many of the park's challenges! I believe that as a mom it is my job to make sure he is secure and safe, but I am also learning about the importance of letting him go to learn for himself. While I do not plan on hanging out on a park bench while he runs like a wild child across the equipment, I do intend to give him a bit more space and responsibility in our daily tasks. It will be a challenge for me, but I think both he and I will be better people for it.

Oh my stars!

I have been quite the slacker again! I often think about things I might write in this blog, but I haven't been great at getting them in. I guess we've been pretty tied up lately, and I haven't even slowed down till after 11 at night, and I'm not always motivated at that point to be a great writer.
I guess it has been a week of finding answers; answers to many of life's little "should I's" that I need to tackle. I am working on grad school options, learning the root of my hives (I know the answer now - yeah and not all at the same time), and the idea of expanding our family (lots of complications there). I am not the best at being patient, but I know that if I do my homework and stay focused, I'll work it all out. For now, I just plan on enjoying the beautiful weather and our always-entertaining son. He's continuing to blow us away with his knowledge and his verbal skills. This week, to our delight, he has been singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" - and at times, the words are actually correct!

We spent some time in LC again, and enjoyed time with my very sharp mom! She continues to make some small yet significant progress. We went walking with both her and Dad, and she sang to Grayson! I had to choke back my tears of joy at her being able to "grandma" him. It was a great moment for our family. On Saturday, we packed in a day full of activity - our final swim lesson (he passed!), a bridal shower, and a scrapbook night/hang with the guys and kids night. As usual, I had a great time hanging out with my friends. Today, we had a nice bike ride, and are planning to enjoy the outside as much as possible.

The Toddler Touch

Every day I become more and more surprised at what Grayson can do. Just when I believe I have him figured out, he does something new, foiling our attempts at "toddler-proofing" our house. Today, he showed us just how good he is at reaching things on the kitchen counter, seemingly no matter how hard we work at keeping things away from the edges. He also showed us his big-boy abilities by pedaling on his trike all by himself! I don't know if he grew in the last 24 hours, but yesterday he seemingly wasn't able to reach the pedals to turn the wheels.


In other news, we are anxiously awaiting word from our contractor - our windows were supposed to be "in" by today, and the crew will hopefully begin work sometime next week. We look forward to the whole transformation, and are very curious about the new look we'll get. Our neighborhood is getting quite the face-lift, and it's interesting to see all the new things that are happening each day. There is certainly much "music" from tools each day ringing through the air.


We visited a fabulous new park in our area today - Big Marine Park Reserve - and had a FANTASTIC time playing on the massive, toddler-friendly in all ways park equipment, and Grayson had a blast in the lake. Here's a pic from our time there.