August is such a wonderful month around here. We have birthdays. And more birthdays. We have anniversaries. And now we have Kindegarten camp and school starting as well. Umm….excuse me while I go ahead and bring the Kleenex box in here. I’m sure I will need it before to long. I will go ahead and admit to being an emotional train wreck with my babies starting school this month. So if this blog makes absolutely no sense, please just ignore it. Hopefully, the temporary insanity will go away….sometime in the next few years or so.
Even though I might have been emotional about the kids starting school…they weren’t. They were so excited to go and make new friends and have new experiences. That’s a good thing, right? Right. Of course it is. But I MISS my BABIES already!!! And they haven’t even started school yet! That is beyond crazy.
So, when we found out that Kindergarten camp was on Camden’s birthday I nearly withdrew him from school. I wish I could say I was joking….but I was kinda seriously considering it. Birthdays are a big deal for us. We celebrate ALL day long. We couldn’t do that if he wasn’t going to be with us that day now could we? He was going to spend the entire morning with other kids and teachers playing games, having snacks, doing crafts, making friends. Surely, he wouldn’t want to do that instead of being with his Mommie all day! Well, the funny thing about babies, is that they grow up into toddlers and then big kids right before your very eyes. Before you know it they are wanting to try new things and have a little independence. And as a Mom who would do nearly anything for her kids, I had to let him go and have fun without us on his birthday. And here come the tears I warned you about!
This was the first day of Kindergarten Camp with Baby Groot and his big sis Maylin giving him the big thumbs up for encouragement. Do you see how excited he is?!!
Camden was so happy when we picked him up that afternoon. He was also extremely proud of all the crafts he had made.
Cam had a great time at Kindergarten camp on his birthday. They celebrated him big time and even brought out the Lion mascot for a photo op. He was so happy!
When we went to pick Camden up we made sure that the celebration kept on going. Cam got to choose where we ate lunch and where we went for the afternoon. He chose Burger King and then he chose to go to the video game arcade. They have a really cool Avengers game and a very realistic Star Wars game. I wasn’t surprised that he chose to go there again!
Then we went home and had our cake and ate it too. Godzilla style, of course.
My baby boy is now 5. I just can’t….
I mentioned that we have an anniversary in August and my birthday. Well, our Anniversary is always at the wrong time somehow. We seem to always have some kind of appointment or something that just has to be done. This year Jim was working. My birthday was pretty much the same way. With all the craziness that has happened lately, we just haven’t had time to celebrate either of them yet. Wow. I really need to get on that. Otherwise, I’ll be celebrating my 43rd birthday when I’m in my 90s!
Only a few short weeks after Kindergarten camp school started for Maylin and Camden started the next day. That was a good thing. My silly emotions couldn’t handle letting them both go on the same day. It would just be too much for this crazy Momma.
Maylin was so excited to start school that she was up about an hour before she needed to be. She was watching the clock like an eagle. We try to make these signs every year to remind us of what the kids liked at that age. It all changes so fast.
I was so happy that she was excited. I was also so scared for her! I wouldn’t be there to protect her or help her make friends or make sure she ate her lunch or did her schoolwork correctly or any one of a hundred other things that Moms are supposed to do. Again, excuse me while I cry for a bit….
I started crying before we even got out of the car with Maylin the first day. I couldn’t stop either. It was so embarrassing! And embarrassing her on the first day of school was the last thing I wanted to do!
Look at her smile! She was so ready for this….and I wasn’t.
I hugged her bye and waited in the office crying big ugly tears while Jim walked her to the hallway. I will say that the office workers were so amazingly kind to me. They talked to me and told me that loving your kids is the best thing a Mom could ever do. They said that letting go is hard sometimes and that I shouldn’t ever feel guilty for that. They even gave me a group hug and slipped me the private number of the school so I could call every hour and check on them. Wow. I’m so glad these are the people we chose to leave our kids with everyday because they are amazing! Just for the record I did not call and check on the kids because I knew they were in a great place. And I was very right. They both got in the car after their first day of school and couldn’t stop talking about how wonderful it was. They both made some great friends and they both have wonderful teachers. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience for them.
Cam started the day after Maylin. He was a little jealous that she got to start first but I was so glad to have another day to prepare to let him go too. This growing up stuff is for the birds y’all!
As you can see, Camden was excited too! Maylin had told him so many great things about school that he couldn’t wait to get started. He’s such a big boy now!
They let us walk Camden into the school and I didn’t cry. I hugged Maylin and watched her go to class. I didn’t cry. We walked Camden to class and I didn’t cry. He hugged us and kissed us and walked to the floor where the other kids were sitting. And I cried. He looked so grown-up! Where did the time go? I want it all back now! How is it possible to want to see someone grow up and be the best they can be and want to keep them in your arms forever at the same time? A mother’s love is complicated obviously.
As for me, I have found that there isn’t enough hours in the day anymore. While the kids are at school, I rush around taking Maleah to her appointments, doing farm chores, paperwork and not so fun tax stuff, along with about a million other things so that when the kids come home I can sit down and listen to them for as long as they want to talk. Boy, do they talk too! They take after their Dad! But I love to hear all their stories – every single detail. I absorb all their memories while they still want to include me. I am grateful that they still want to tell me everything. I want them to know that I will always listen.
I’m not sure if Jim put Cam up to this, but I find his little action figures all over the house these days. I’ve found them in the dishwasher, the laundry, the back of the toilet, the dogfood bowls. They pop up in the weirdest places at the weirdest times. I love it! I love, love, love seeing little reminders of the little boy that he still is. Now, if time would just stand still so I can savor these moments forever. Yeah, that would work. Since I can’t quite figure out how to freeze time, I guess I’ll just keep taking thousands of pictures to capture the memories. So, her is some of my favorite August memories.
Camden also likes to have his action figures pop up and surprise me. Bring it on Groot!
Maylin loves her art class at school. She spends most of her spare time painting. I think she’s finally given up on teaching me to paint. It’s a pretty much a lost cause…
She has taken a rather young apprentice under her wing though. The dynamic duo strikes again.
Maylin spends her time in the car knitting. Yes, knitting. Or crocheting. She can do either. I’m quite jealous and proud at the same time.
Jim bought Camden a dirt bike helmet and Maylin photo-bombed the picture. I’m not sure whose expression I like more. They are both hilarious!
I will say that having the kids in school means that our family time is more important than ever. Playing T-ball in the rain with a dog trying to steal the ball is most definitely quality family time.
One weekend we even took a quick trip to Boone to look at some Dexter cattle. The cattle didn’t work out but we made a day of it and discovered that the kids really like gem mining. The girls loved finding the gems and rocks. Cam just loved to play in the mud. Of course!
In fact, Cam takes advantage of every opportunity to play in the mud. This was one afternoon after school. We went to the barn to feed the cows and he stripped off his clothes and literally dove in to the mud. So much for a quick trip to feed the animals.
Camden also likes to help cook. He takes after his sisters since both of them love to cook as well. I’m a happy Momma.
Two days a week the kids still have speech therapy. Maleah goes in the morning and Camden goes in the afternoon after school. So, after I take Maleah in the mornings, we deliver eggs to all her customers. It seems like every week she gets more and more egg customers which is very exciting for her. Her little egg business is growing quite well. She is selling out of eggs nearly every week and a few times I’ve had to buy eggs for us at the grocery store. Oh, the injustice of that! I think she will likely be expanding her egg business soon so she can pay her chauffeur with eggs each week before her driver goes on strike. Just a head up, Maleah. Your Momma likes farm fresh eggs too!!!
Her little egg layers are starting to make her quite the little business. That’s pretty exciting for this Momma to watch. The fact that she loves her chickens and is happy taking care of them and selling the eggs is such a blessing. While I do want my kids to succeed in life, ultimately, I want them to be happy and successful.
Maleah started out selling just a few dozen a week.
Now, she sells around 12 dozen eggs a week. Wow! Jim’s crazy trip to the feed store that brought home an extra 12 chicks has finally paid off. Good job, Jim!
Maleah’s little turkeys are not so little anymore. They have grown and are now ready to be outside day and night.
This was the their first day out in the big yard. They were so happy to be outside.
The first few days we kept them in a very small area and then introduced them into the “Big Yard” as we called it. We had turkeys running and jumping everywhere. We just pulled up a chair and watched.
While watching the turkey antics one evening, we heard some deer come out of the woods and head toward the creek. They just kept coming! We counted 6 bucks in that group! One was a young spike and the rest were at least 6 points up to a 12 point. Every evening like clockwork we see the group headed for the creek and sometimes the group has a few extra bucks with them. The most we’ve ever counted was 9. Yes, 9 bucks!! I’m not a hunter and I don’t know a lot about deer habits, but I was under the impression that only young spikes stuck together. I must have been mistaken or else these bucks have joined into some kind of fraternity pact.
Getting really good pictures of these bucks was quite hard. I need to invest in a zoom lens, I think.
I keep saying that we need to let someone hunt on our property to thin the deer since we have so many. Then, I watch these guys and I’m not so sure….
With all the other changes in August, why not add in some more change? Why not? We added in a new website for the farm complete with a blog page so I can share the blog posts straight from the farm page. We will keep building the webpage as the farm grows, but for now it’s a simple website with some nice pictures of the farm. That’s enough for now. Simple is how I like to roll.
Simple is always good.
