My baby is going.....

I had a first with Olivia the other day. The conversation started off the same as many others we've had daily the past couple of years:

Olivia: Mom, can I watch a show?
Me: Sure. Which one do you want to watch?

This is where it gets a little different....

Olivia: How 'bout Hannah Montana or the Cheetah Girls?
Me: *GULP* I'm not sure if that's on right now, let's check....

I swear yesterday all she wanted was Blue's Clues and Animal Planet shows. Just yesterday I tried watching Hannah Montana to see what it was all about. Just yesterday she told me Hannah Montana was boring and she didn't like it so can we please watch Growing Up? But, she wasn't in school then. She was in my little protective bubble....

My brother in law posted this letter on our family site. It still gets me every time I read it. So go ahead, grab a tissue, and (for maybe the first time in your life) consider all the benefits of home schooling.

Dear World:
I bequeath to you today one little girl ... in a crisp dress ... with two blue eyes ... and a happy laugh that ripples all day long and a flash of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning ... and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine. Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Good Bye"... and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.

Now she'll learn to stand in line ... and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears to the sounds of school-bells ... and deadlines ... and she'll learn to giggle ... and gossip ... and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue at her.

And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in a sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn to kiss lilac blossoms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about important things.

Like grades ... and which dress to wear ... and who's best friend is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls.

And now she'll find new heroes.

For five full years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and parent and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers ... which is only right. But, no longer will I be the smartest person in the whole world.

Today when that school bell rings for the first time ... she'll learn what it means to be a member of a group. With all it's privileges. And it's disadvantages too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud. Or kiss dogs. Or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms. Or even watch ants scurry across cracks in the summer sidewalk.

Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to become a woman.

So, World. I bequeath to you today one little girl ... in a crisp dress ... with two blue eyes and a happy laugh that ripples all day long ... and a flash of light blonde hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

Sniffle, sniffle.

Good Ol' Onion Days

I uploaded these pictures a little while ago, but i have not really been in the mood to blog about them. Don't get me wrong, I had an excellent time....I'm just tired and busy and going crazy and normal stuff like that. Well, on to the good stuff!

The pictures are out of order, sorry, I'm not fixing it! Monday I ran my first 5k. I actually enjoyed myself! I ran it in 30:30. Not too shabby for a running hater. I am already looking forward to running another!

Emerson's first Carnival ride! She loved it! she had the cutest little grin on her face the whole time. When the Merry-Go Round stopped she threw a big ol' kicking, screaming, back arching fit until her obedient father went to get more tickets. then , she clapped and smiled again....for 3 minutes.
Sambo and the twins (Max and Chase) thought they were pretty cool in their big truck. Although, this truck, even if it were to scale, would have nothing on the trucks I see driving around Utah. I wounder how many of the drivers need ladders to get in??

Olivia with two of her favorite reasons to visit Utah, Gracie and Lauren. Megan isn't in this picture, but she absolutely adores her cousins.

He looks like a fire fighter in this picture! But not the kind of fire fighter that poses for those "Hot Fire Fighter" calendars. I don't think I'll recommend this profession to him. I'd rather he not be going into burning buildings. Why tempt fate?

Jen's work had a little shin dig Saturday night. The kiddos loved it. Liv made it about half way up the wall. She thought she was pretty cool!

Olivia and her personal stylist! Thanks for the cute haircuts and fun times, Jennica!

Ahem...."she's a maniac, MANIAC on the floor...and she's diggin' like she's never dug before..." To answer any questions that might be in your heads...Aaron was in charge of both her and the camera. While I am generally not too terribly opposed to my children digging in the dirt, I prefer they don't do it in their cute clothes.

Olivia, and her version of cotton mouth, with my sister in law, Ashley.

We had a great time visiting family. Sure, it got a little (or A LOT) rainy here and there, but I'd run through more torrential down pours in the middle of the Band Concert and Parade to hang out with my family any time!