Oh What? You are still here waiting to read about us?

Wow....
Does time zip by when you have kids? I don't remember days - weeks, and months even, accelerating along cannonball style before I was a parent. Have you all been spinning in endless summer to do's like I have?? I suppose it's possible that when you have something to assess the amount of time that has passed, such as a growing child...time can and does seem to go faster. It's like watching a flower garden grow in the spring and go back to the earth in the fall/winter. I can imagine you saying "Wow, it seems as though my Lillie's were just in bloom and now all that is left is the green foliage and the dried out stem." OK, I know that is not exactly what it is like watching children grow, but you can relate to what I am trying to get at. At the very least I can let you know that we are all still here, where we always have been, and each of us is doing well but you know I will go on (and on perhaps) and you will not get the very least. At least not today. Ha!

Ella started kindergarten last week, and seriously people, at the end of the day she is like all foliage and a dried out stem!! No flower left in her....just a wilted dried out sad tired stem and the only perk I can get out of her is that left over foliage. I mean..she is just wore out. She is beyond being able to function at times. The thing is...she LOVES school. Absolutely loves it. She is going to bed on time without argument because she is so excited for the next day. Let me tell you - if you know how it is in my house at night then you know this is huge for us. I guess I would rather give her teacher and her schooling my perky bright little Lilly I will take the tired girl at the end of the day. (I guess)
And I know she will adjust. I know this because she HAS to. :)

Gage began practicing for tackle football. This is a first for us. For me a chilling first. My initial reaction was to be scared about the potential of injury, but surprisingly enough that is not the worst of my fears. (Even if it is in the top 2) I am so afraid of how hard he is going to be on himself. Gage is a natural athlete. I am not whistling Dixie here. (really I'm not) He is pretty darn good at anything he tries to do, only he is unbelievably hard on himself. We have never pushed him into any sport, or pressed him to be better at any sport. He just is and will probably always be a perfectionist. That can be good at times..but also very hard at times. It's hard to explain to him that just doing his best is not only good enough for us..but good enough for everyone else too! He will be the QB again this year (last year he played flag) and he is so excited. I open his door to find him reading over plays quite often. So far during practice he has really had a great time and I trust he will continue to enjoy it.

We had a really fun week long cabin stay at backbone. We enjoyed a few hikes, canoeing (is this even spelled right?!) swimming and fishing, but most of all spending time with those we loved. We took Birdie with us after deliberating about it for a very long time and we ended up being very happy we took her. I'm pretty sure she had a lot more fun than we did.
We also took a week and went to Texas to visit Wade's brother, Sister and his Mom and Dad. His sister and mom and dad drove over from Georgia and we drove (long, tiring, never again, long, long) as well. The kids did great in the car. I think better than me though I tried my best not to show it.


I will update with some pictures later today or this evening. We are in the process of switching bedrooms around at home, so the house is even more chaotic than usual. I will do my best.

Love to all!
Trisha