Summer Break, I will miss you!

Summer vacation is coming to an end.  Anna starts school tomorrow and the two older ones the following Monday.  It went by fast.  I knew it would!!

Vacation Bible School with old friends...
Sarah Elizabeth spent a week and a half with Mike in China...
My parents came to visit from Georgia for a week....
We took our 11 day road trip to Michigan with lots of stops along the way...

Ok, so that's why it went by fast.

I hear (or read) comments about sending the kids back to school and how they are looking forward to it...I understand.  I get my days back to doing my thing, I set my schedule, I plan my day and for a borderline introvert/extrovert, I've missed my time to myself.

At the same time, I'll miss having the company of my kids.  For one, cleaning day has turned into cleaning morning with the help of three more!  The first week is always a transition week, no one knowing what to do with themselves, but we figured it out fast!   Seemed like we were always getting ready for the next thing.  Plus, when school starts, there's a routine for me that comes with it that I don't particularly like...an alarm waking me up, packing lunches, helping with homework and trying to get the kids in bed on time!!

We always hear how time flies and in a blink they are all out of the house.  I know one day, I will really understand this, but I feel like I've had glimpses of that future.  When the kids are real little, it just doesn't seem to be true...drowning in motherhood.  But as they've gotten older, the role of mother changes.  They can take care of so many of the things I used to do for them (with lots of reminders mind you!).  We talk more on the same level, they are good company!

Friday I walked Anna, just Anna, into the elementary school to meet her teacher and drop off supplies...this is a new era, only one kid left at elementary school.  It will be a short era with only three years left of elementary school...then things will really fly by!  When she starts middle school, I'll have two high schoolers!  Yikes!

So I'm trying to slow down and enjoy these years.  I think I can do that easier than I could have in the baby/toddler years.  I've gone back and forth for several years about getting a job outside of the home, but I think I'll wait, God will provide has he always has.  I don't want to miss the next 10 years of kids at home...

The alarm goes off in the morning...summer break, I will miss you!