First day of school

Enough already! I know there was once a time in my life where I wished that my children would grow up faster, but I quickly realized the error of my thinking and changed my mind! With Sam in kindergarten, Luke in preschool and Afton on the move, it seems as if my children are already halfway out the door. Before I know it I will be reduced to stalking them in high school parking lots, work and even their own homes......sad!!!! I must verbally express this remorse often because Sam will periodically say, "I'm not going to grow up too quickly, right Mom?"

Despite my best efforts these kids are continuing to grow. It was a strange feeling dropping off Sam on his first day of kindergarten. Even though I did not cry, I felt empty walking away from the school without the child who has continually been by my side for the last 5 1/2 years. I also felt resentment. I resented the school system for taking my child away from me for such a long period of time. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't resentful enough to consider homeschooling, but it is odd to think that aside from Saturday and Sunday, I now only have a few hours to spend with him each day. I guess we'll always have our summers.

With that said, Sam loves school. He is excited to go each day and when he comes home he often goes up to the office to create "worksheets" that he and Luke complete. I'm sure that will change once he starts getting homework in a couple of weeks. He has a wonderful teacher and I really couldn't have asked for a smoother transition.

Luke also started preschool this month, but he seems to be having a harder adjustment period. There is usually one small meltdown on the way home from preschool, but I'm optimistic that these will end soon. Aside from that, he seems to be having a positive experience and is extremely proud of the art work he gets to bring home. After two years of watching Sam attend preschool I think he is thrilled to have finally entered this stage himself.

The good news- my boys will now stand still and pose for pictures.

The bad news- they both have developed awkward fake smiles. I guess its hereditary.

Family Reunion 2009

If you ever find yourself planning a family reunion around the Mid-Atlantic I would highly recommend looking into Oglebay. It's where we've had our last 4 family reunions (on Andrew's side), and where we plan on having the next one in 2 years.

Located in Wheeling, West Virginia, Oglebay is an all-inclusive family resort which has just about everything you need to keep everyone in the family happy. This year we opted for one of the "premium cottages" with 8 bedrooms, 6 1/2 baths, 2 common areas, 2 refrigerators, and a washer and dryer, which more than comfortably accommodated our 12 adults and 16 children. Some of the on-site activities include a zoo (complete with a train), nature center, miniature golf, large playground, horseback riding, lake with paddle boats, indoor and outdoor pool and plenty of hiking trails. And that's just for the kids. Oglebay is comprised of 3 golf courses, as well as an 18 hole par 3. Remember, this is West Virginia we are talking about here...so the golf is CHEAP. And if we are being honest, golf really is the main allure for the 30-40 year old males in our family.

And of course, what reunion would be complete without a family picture? This typically painful process was particularly painful this year due to our color scheme choice (who would have thought it would be so hard to dress everyone in pink and green?) and the insane amount of time it took our photographer to pose the family. By the time we were situated for the picture various 4 letter words were on the tip of each adult's tongue (and possibly some of the children's). Most of the pain from this experience has since been forgotten and we are now left with beautiful family pictures. All worth it in my book.

It really was a wonderful reunion, made memorable by everyone's planning and contributions. Grandma, Grandpa and Peter had special outings with the grandchildren based on their age groups. Andra planned nightly activities which included the unveiling of the "wall of shame"- a wall covered with 8x10 pictures of everyone making their goofiest faces. Sunday, which usually is a lost day since we don't do any outdoor activities, was perhaps my favorite day this year. After attending the Wheeling Ward for church (which was a branch when we first attended meetings there 4 reunions ago), indoor activities were planned to occupy our time. Crystal and Tim had everyone make homemade pretzels, Jen had the children make tie blankets to donate to charity, and Andra put on a pretty cool shadow puppet show.

It was a great reunion (even if Afton refused to sleep at night) and we look forward to returning in a couple of years.

The boy cousins rocking out their pink family pic shirts

The boys making pretzels

Uncle Matt leaping in front of "The Wall of Shame"

Shadow puppet show

Waiting for the train at the zoo