Oh Happy Day!

Did I just say that out loud? It came out wrong! Well, you know........school started today so for me it was a bittersweet kind of happy day!

Let's just say it has been a long, very fun summer with a super messy house 98% of the time and bickering kids in the background a good portion of the time too! whew! I am ready for some peace and quiet and some crowd control. Careful what you wish for..........

This year P-man is starting Kindergarten finally, and will be there all day. This is definitely the bittersweet part. Although he takes great delight in griping at me and all, he is truly a momma's boy and deep down I know I love that about him! I love that he hates to leave my side because I know it won't last so I must savor the moment. He was so excited this morning, he who sleeps until 9, and was up and dressed by 7:30. We'll see how tomorrow goes!! Oh how i love that boy!

As for the girls....this was the bitter part. As usual, we are taking part in the annual first day of school photo shoot and it was GONE! No matter how hard I tried........GONE.......what is gone you ask? That twinkle in their eye when they are so excited to being going back to school.

GONE!!

Anyone who knows Kendall will see that the twinkle is obviously absent this morning! So,so sad! And so young. What a shame. Sierra was just happy to be in front of a camera ............but surely the twinkle in her eye is unrelated to any of today's events!

And, Noah.....we took his picture too, just so he didn't feel left out.

Oh happy, bittersweet day!

Baby girl

So!! For the whole summer I have been about a month behind. Kendall turned 8 years old in early June, her party was on the 27th. Noah turned 4 in July, his party is in 2 days. There is a pattern here. There is, however, a couple of events that I have great remorse for not blogging on much, much sooner. Those events are Kendall's 8th birthday and her baptism.

Kendall was baptized on June 7th. It was a beautiful day among family and friends. Everything went so smoothly, and she just oozed a sweet, loving spirit. While I am not good at articulating how overwhelming it is to watch your child make the choice to be baptized, I must say this is the epitome of a pure heart. I was so touched by the whole experience. I absolutely love watching her as she conitnues to strive to do what is right.

Kendall is my second girl. She continually reminds me that she is my 'baby girl'. She is my shy, quiet, calculated child who has a weeee bit of a temper on her. (I just wanted to be realistic!) But what I love is her sweet demeanor (most of the time) and the quiet stares I frequently get from those enormous blue eyes. I have wanted so badly to capture those eyes, and that stare on film... in her baptism dress........for so long. (For whatever reason, I waited for her to get a haircut first. Oh wait, she hates doing her hair.........just tuck it behind the ear and go!)

My simple, complex, sweet, fiery tempered, beautiful, loving, kind, nuturing, fight picking, music loving, piano practice hating, lanky, creative, intuitive, accepting, afraid of the dark, junk collecting, organizing, mother hen, school teacher, independent, dependent is captured in some of the most adorable photos taken my by friend Kelly( http://www.kellymccaleb.typepad.com/ (shameless plug)). Kelly truly captured the essence of our Kendall.

So beautiful, so simple, so uncertain of her own beauty on the inside and the outside. I only pray that as her mother, I can embrace that essence each day and let Kendall know how very much she is loved! I love you my sweet baby girl!