My baby is coming home

Aidan's last day of school is this coming Tuesday! I am excited to be bringing him home to homeschool. I spoke with his teacher yesterday about my concerns- how Aidan is very unhappy, etc. and she put the blame on him. In a mean tone, she said "Aidan wants to do what Aidan wants to do when Aidan wants to do it." She told me she was getting him ready for the real world and this is KINDERGARTEN- time to grow up. Woah. So, I realized that they didn't care if he was there or not. It was draining my time, money, gas, and sanity. So, Tuesday is his last day! 3 days at Myrtle Beach for a little vacation, and we will start school the following week. I am scared but excited!

I love this age!

Ok, I have to post these cute stories from my sweet 5 year old, Aidan.

Aidan and I were talking about our visit to Eastwood lake on Sunday and he told me how much fun he had jumping into the water. I said, "Oh, you liked jumping off those docks, huh?" He said, "No, Mommy, those aren't docks. Those are there to catch the goose poop so it doesn't go into the lake". :) The docks were, as usual, covered in poop and he thought they were there to catch it.

Later on, I was discussing with Aidan the concept of "tri" meaning "3". I gave him the example of a triangle, a tricycle, triplets, etc. After I couldn't think of any more examples, he said, "I know! A moose tri". I asked what that was, and he said, "You know, when a moose wants to do something and it has to try". I cracked up.

Gotta love the things they think. :) Hope that made you smile.

Anxiety...

I'll admit, I worry. I worry about money, my children, my choices in school, the meaning of life, the state of my marriage, my family, and more. I have OCD and because of this, I worry about the same things, every single day, all day long. Right now, my main worry is about my son, Aidan. He is not thriving in school right now and I feel like I should take him out. He is ahead of the class (he can read, they are doing vowels), getting into trouble, refuses to go, pretends to be sick, etc. It also costs money, gas, and 80 min. of my time every day I don't carpool (at least 40 min a day, at minimum). However, he is gaining independence, making friends, and I'm hoping it will improve. It has only been 2 weeks. I feel like homeschooling will grant my peace from this anxiety...
So, I am trying to look to the Bible. Philippians 4:6-7 states, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"(NIV version). On a side note, one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible follows, 4:8-9. Read it. :)
I am not supposed to be anxious, but how do I resist worrying? My mom tells me I must get it from my grandmother, Bessa, who (my mom thinks) "wakes up every morning and picks something to worry about".
I guess I will just continue to pray and hope that prayer alone can help. I know my family is quite sick of hearing about my worries. I am going to try and not worry for at least the rest of the day. Thank goodness it is already 6 pm!

My little boys are growing up.

So, two huge milestones have come to fruition at the same moment. My older son, Aidan, is starting kindergarten on Tuesday. My younger, Preston, is now in a big boy bed. Where has the time gone?
I have mixed feelings about kindergarten. On the positive side, it is only 3 hours a day. It goes from 845-12, 5 days a week. He will be home for lunch and have time to play with friends. The teacher seems sweet and his best friend, Nate, will be with him. Unfortunately, I am not ready for my baby to be gone every single day. I like having him home with me. Aidan doesn't really want to go, but because I have a feeling we will need to homeschool after this year, it will be good for him to socialize for one more year. I have decided that our boys will not attend public school- ever. After reading Gatto and various statistics, I would not put my children in even the best one. I am OK with private schools, but there are still issues there- bullying, drugs, etc.
As for Pres, he is doing well in his big boy bed. We moved the full size bed out of our guest room and gave it to him. The crib and baby stuff are now all in the guest room- which is now the baby's room. Now I just have to get pregnant! We no longer have a space for guests, but we rarely have people stay. Preston will have a pirate room. The bedding and wall mural are on their way!

Baby Dreams

We have tried, without luck, to get pregnant for 3 months now. It seems that everyone I know is pregnant or has a new baby, making it more difficult. I am so thankful for my 2 beautiful, healthy children but I do have hopes for more. I will just keep praying for another!

Emerald Pointe was a blast! I took the boys yesterday and today. We went on the lazy river, ate cotton candy, and I watched them enjoy all of the slides. Preston barely made it to his crib before he fell asleep for nap today! Here are some videos of the boys I took today.

Canine Clinic and Wet and Wild!

The stares I got at the animal shelter clinic today were priceless. Each month, the Guilford County Animal Shelter offers rabies clinics for 5 dollars an animal. With 3 dogs, this is quite a steal. Joel is out-of-town so I towed my 2 boys and 3 dogs to the clinic. I had Preston on my hip, the chocolate labs on leashes, and Aidan next to me with Belle. Yes, I heard the whispers... HOWEVER, my dogs and children were very well behaved. In fact, they acted better than those with only 1 dog to control. It was a bit stressful, but worth it.

This afternoon, the boys and I are heading to Emerald Pointe, Wet and Wild. I am sooo excited! There are two kid sections and we went ahead and bought season passes for me and Aidan. Preston is free and we got 2 guest passes for Joel. I am going to take them during the week a lot the rest of the summer. Next year I will buy them at the start of the season. In 2 visits, they pay for themselves. I know they will sleep hard tonight. I told Aidan we will probably go tomorrow too, as our schedule is free. Aidan starts Vacation Bible School tomorrow night at Harvest. I think he will have a lot of fun.