Endings...and new beginnings...

Today is June 7th, 2011.  Today, my big guy graduated from Kindergarten.  Next year, he will officially be a "grader" and will be in school all day.  He will leave my house before 8am and not be home until 3pm.  He will bring his lunch to school.  He will eat his lunch with his friends and tell THEM all about his morning and share with THEM all the amazing ideas and stories dancing around in his head.  I will miss him. 

My little guy will start pre-school in the fall.  A baby no more.  He turned three a week ago.  He is potty-trained (finally).  But I will no longer be the center of his universe.  His teachers will inspire his imagination and feed his confidence.  His friends will excite him and he will start to beg for playdates (like his brother).

We bought bunk beds and are going to move the boys into a shared bedroom this summer. 

Which leads me to the next big thing in our lives:  the baby growing in my body.  I am pregnant again and due at the end of September.  We will have a tiny baby in the family again.  Someone new to love and to share our lives with.  It is amazing.  An unexpected blessing.  I am joyous about the arrival of this new baby but now I really know how quickly it will all go by.  Every milestone that Declan and Brendan hit seems to come rushing at me like a comet - so fast, so unexpected...even though it's coming is as regular as the ticking of a clock.  Kids grow.  That's what they do.  And parents are stuck in a weird time warp, just watching in shock as the time rushes by in a blur of color, laughter, tears and those moments.

Dry for too long...

Well, finally a blog post.  My friend Beth passed away in October and I haven't had the heart to post here since then.  But her daughter, Melinda (yes, we share the same name) has generously agreed to read here and comment here if I wanted to blog again.  And you know what?  I do want to blog again.  Beth once said that her blog was a place to record the life of her family, the good times, the memories that build up family and forge bonds.  Akin to why we scrapbook... and so, I want to keep doing it!

So what is new?  I'm knee deep in potty-training my little guy, Brendan.  He will probably be diaper-free in just a few short weeks...and I can't wait!  My big guy, Declan went skiing for the first time last weekend - what a trooper!  He took a 3 hour ski lesson and then had some lunch and hit the slopes with his big, high-school-ski-team cousin, Kevin.  Kevin took my big guy up EVERY chair lift (except the red one) on Schuss Mountain  and then, heroically, skiied Declan DOWN the mountain...

I am crocheting again.  I took a little break after Christmas - I made my mother-in-law a shawl and it took a l-o-o-n-g tome so I was not anxious to pick up my hooks again.  But I just finished a hat for myself and I am starting a baby blanket for a friend who is having a baby in April. 

Ok - what else?  I've joined the debate about dropping cable TV and watching shows from Netflix, Hulu and iTunes.  Could save a couple of bucks and lesson our addiction to television.  And when I say "our", I mean mine.  Not my husband's or my kids'.  My kids each get to watch one TV show per day.  After they go to bed, I find myself on the couch for TWO PLUS hours, watching mindless nonsense when I could be crafting, scrapbooking, crocheting, blogging, cooking, working out, etc. 

I have lots more to say, but I'm just happy to be getting my feet wet again.  They've been dry for too long.

Kevin takes Declan down the  mountain

Me and Brendan with Kevin

Cool kid Declan

Brian skis for the very first time!