Made My Day- No, Made My Life!

This is a conversation Micah and I had tonight.

"Mom, I love someone."

"That's great, Micah. How do you know that you love someone?"

"I just know, because it's you!"

After giving him a gigantic hug, telling him that I love him too, kissing him and tucking him in, I left, only to break down crying. My tears were tears of joy, tears of appreciation, and tears of... that feeling that you only feel by being a mom.

I love you too, Micah.

Micah's Back-to-School Party

Micah had a "Back-to-School" party the day before school started. He invited all the kids his age, plus a couple of kids that were older and younger, that he has played with for years. We tried to set things up as if we were at a movie theater. I closed the blinds, turned off the light, and fixed a bunch of movie theater type food.

The whole gang.

With this many kids, you would think it would have been total chaos. It wasn't. The kids were soooooo good and took the movie theater concept very seriously. When Abby got a little too noisy, they promptly asked that she be removed from the party.

We had candy, Capri Sun, popcorn, and pizza. I cooked 5 pizzas and we did not have one scrap left. Five-year-olds can really put it away. :)

We watched "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". It was so cute to see the kids following the storyline so well and laughing in all the right places. :)


I've thrown many parties for my kids and this was probably the funnest, easiest one so far. The kids were great and cute as can be. It was the perfect ending to a fantastic summer and the perfect beginning to a new chapter in most of these kids' lives.

Some "Firsts" for Abby

Abby has really missed having Micah at home during the day. She wanders around, checking his room, to see if he has magically returned since the last time she checked. To fill her time, I put her in a dance class and a Waterford computer class.

Here is Abby all dressed up and ready for her first day of dance class. She could not wait to get there. She was literally bouncing off the walls, she was so excited.

Abby picked this leotard all by herself. When she saw this one, she knew it was the one. She twirled around in it so many times, she actually fell down from being so dizzy.

Abby is very social. So, first thing she did when we got to class, was go introduce herself to a new friend. This little girl's leotard had a pretty, sparkly heart on the front of it. Abby admired it.

The teacher handed out a dance schedule. Abby is studying it hard. She doesn't want to miss a thing.

Here she is giving me that look, like, "Oh mom! Would you just leave already?"

And here is Abby just before we left for the computer class. I've been telling her that we are going to "her school". She was so excited and kept telling me that she is "big" now.

It's so true too. Abby is getting so big. She can do so many things and definitely has her own opinions. She is happy, loving, a social butterfly, and tons of fun to be around. She can he feisty and even naughty at times, but we love her so much and wouldn't change anything about her.

Scary Experience

Last night, we were in Saratoga Springs for my nephews 2nd birthday. While we were there, Micah learned to ride a bike w/o training wheels. He was so excited and took off riding it. As he rode down the sidewalk, the sidewalk became steeper and steeper, and he started to go faster and faster. I could see that he didn't know what to do to stop himself and that he was panicking. I didn't know what to do myself, so I started running down the sidewalk after him. All I could do was run and say a silent prayer, asking for that he wipe-out in the vacant field off to the left of the sidewalk, other than keep going and hit a mailbox or a car. As Micah was screaming, I was running behind him, as fast as I could go. Just then, his bike slipped out from under him and threw him into the vacant field. He landed right in a giant bush. When I got to him, he was screaming, mostly because he was scared. His right leg was twisted a bit, and Micah said that he thought his ankle was broken. So, I proceeded cautiously as I removed him from the bush. Quickly, I could see that his ankle was not broken. In fact, there was very minimal blood (mainly from scratches). The only real injury was that his little legs were covered in small, super fine, thorns. Once I removed them, they didn't even leave a mark.

After things had calmed down from the excitement of this situation, I sat on the grass and realized just how lucky we were. Micah could have easily been seriously hurt, but he wasn't. He was watched over last night by someone much more powerful than me. :)

More Pics from Micah's First Day

Here are some more pictures of Micah's first day of Kindergarten. I forgot my camera (who does that on the very first day), so I had to take my pictures with my phone. My friend, Melissa was kind enough to share her photos with me.

Miss Mook's class

Micah tends to put his fingers in his mouth when he gets nervous.

Micah, Levi, Caden. All three of these adorable boys are in Miss Mook's class. It's so fun to have your neighbors as classmates.


It makes me want to cry all over, to see him so nervous.

Micah's super cool backpack. He LOVES this thing.

Thanks, grandma!

When I picked Micah up from school, I got to talk to his teacher for a quick minute. I asked her how Micah had done and she said, "He was an angel."

Yeah, day #1 is down and it was a success.

Micah's 1st Day of Kindergarten

Micah started school today. He was so excited! He got right out of bed this morning, picked out his clothes, and was ready to leave before I was even dressed. He is ready to be a "big kid" and wanted to ride his scooter to school by himself. Unfortunately, mom has to tag along. :)

Here he is, all dressed up and ready to go.

I can not believe my baby is in school. He's ready. I'm not. :)

This is Miss Mook. Micah was so excited to be in her class. She has a strong science background and believes in incorporating that into the Kindergarten classroom. Micah wants to be a "Scientist" when he grows up, so I think she is the perfect teacher for him.

This is where Micah will be sitting.

His locker. He loves his new backpack. It's the silver, black, and lime green one. He thought it was cool that his locker is right next to his friend, Levi.

Micah's cubby.

Micah's classroom. Doesn't it look like a fun place to be?

The kids line up, outside their classroom in the morning. Here is Miss Mook putting Micah's name sticker on him.

All line up and ready to go.

I was so impressed with Miss Mook this morning. She handled the kids (and parents) so well. I'm not sure I would want a gazillion parents watching me on the first day of work. But, she was prepared, kind, and oh so patient.

Micah handled things really well until it was time to leave the classroom and go visit the lunchroom. For some reason, that made him nervous, and instead of getting in line, he ran over to me and clinged to my leg. He kept saying, "I want to go with you" over and over. It was breaking my heart to see him that nervous about something. I reassured him (several times) and finally got him back in the line. As they left the classroom, I took that as my cue to exit. So, as Micah faded into the hallway, I left.

Fortunately, I ran into one of my friends (who was dropping her son off in another classroom), so I walked home with her. It was a good thing, because I was choking back the tears the whole way. As soon as I left her house, the tears started coming. I keep thinking of Micah and hoping he is okay. I keep hoping he feels more comfortable and that he will open up so Miss Mook and all the other kids can see what a wonderful kid he is. I know he will, I just hope it happens soon.

I can't quite figure out why this is such an emotional experience for me. I guess it's just the realization that he's not my little guy any more. He's growing up and it has happened so fast. In five short years he has grown into such a sweet, kind, handsome, smart, active, curious boy. No longer is he the baby that needed to hold my hand each step of the way. This is a step he has to take on his own. I can't be there with him, but you can bet, I will be there waiting to hear all about it.

Can't wait....