What? It's Almost Time for School To Start??

It's funny how I can remember my parents, grandparents, even aunts and uncles telling me that life goes by fast--and I responded by thinking they were insane.  I can remember being a freshman in high school and thinking that it would last forever--well, it didn't.  I woke up one day at the age of 32, married to a wonderful man who is an awesome father and a wonderful husband, with two beautiful and absolutely hilarious little boys.  It seems that time is going by faster since the boys were born.  Another school year is quickly approaching and we are slowly preparing for the "big" event.  School supplies, back packs, lunch bags, shoes, clothes, lunch money, milk money--it forces me to budget and organize (gasp) and obsess.  Obsess?  Yes.  I want to be sure EVERYTHING is in place before the first day of school.  I want to be sure that everything the boys could possibly need is here and ready for them before school starts.  Alex knows that the first day of school is coming--every day he asks if he is staying home.  I dread the day he asks if he is staying home and I say, "Nope, not today.  It's the first day of school."  I'm sure his new shoes, new lunch bag, new back pack, etc. will be a big enough motivator to send him off to his first day of school with a smile.
We have had a fun summer.  A summer full of memories.  Playing in the water, popsicles, cook outs, birthday parties, picnics, and countless other fun adventures have filled our days this summer.  Preparing for school has provided it's share of memories as well.  We spent a morning going through the clothes the boys have and I tortured them by making them try on every pair of jeans and every hoody/jacket.  We ended up with two large trash bags full of clothes that no longer fit them to give away. I was shocked at all the 2T shirts that had been shoved to the back of Logan's clothes in the closet and the 2T shorts that were in the bottom of his shorts drawer.  It was nice to get their clothes all organized for school and sadly, I enjoyed it.  Is that bad?  Ha.
Buying new school shoes is something I won't soon forget, either.  I let the boys pick out the shoes they wanted within a certain price range.  I showed them the shoes they could pick from and I honestly think Logan would have been happy with any pair of shoes I had purchased.  He finally decided he liked the Snoopy baseball shoes, so we got those for him.  I turned to look at Alex who was standing there looking at all the shoes. We stood in silence for a bit and I finally started pointing out shoes and saying, "What about these?"  He would say, "umm, no."  He did this for every pair of shoes and I was starting to think that he would end up going to school shoeless.  Finally, he pointed to a black pair of Adidas basketball shoes and said, "Those are really cool!  I like those."  I breathed a sigh of relief since he had finally found a pair of shoes he actually liked--and better yet, they were on sale!!
Picking out a lunch box with Alex was just as stressful.  Ha.  Most people would ask why I let him pick--why not just pick something for him and make him carry it.  In a perfect world that would be great.  I could easily do that with Logan and he would be happy with anything I picked out.  Alex, however, is a very picky boy and if he doesn't like it he isn't using it.  Sure, I might be able to fight with him and get him to take it on the first day, but I'm pretty sure when I picked him up at the end of the day the item would be "lost."  You're probably thinking, "Oh, don't say that.  It's mean!"  Well, I can say this because last year Alex's class made Yankee Doodle hats.  I went to pick him up and he didn't have his hat.  His teacher asked where his hat was and Alex said, "I don't know."  She said, "Well, do you remember what you did with it?"  Alex shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's just lost."  Well, it was eventually found and some one had tried to hide it between the teacher's desk and the filing cabinet.  When they happily announced that it had been found Alex sighed and rolled his eyes.  When we got home he immediately put the hat in the trash.  I said, "What are you doing?  You made that!"  He said, "It's ugly and I don't want it.  I only made it because I had to for school."  I pulled it out of the trash and he sighed again, rolled his eyes, said, "Oh, mom" and walked away.  He is just funny that way.  He wants what he wants and he likes what he likes and that is about it.  Ha.
So, as we prepare for another school year I wanted to share some summer pictures of the boys with those of you who read the blog. 

 Logan was singing into the microphone (the boys entertained us with songs and stories after dinner one evening) and Alex showed us some of his best dance moves! 

Logan singing while wearing nothing but underwear!  (His outfit of choice these days!)

Logan trying to climb into the TV.  They said, "Stay tuned for fun and adventure with . . . " and one of the names was Logan.  Logan said, "Logan!  That's me!  I didn't know I was supposed to be in this show! Nobody told me."  He got a little chair and tried to climb into the TV.  I asked what he was doing and he said, "Trying to get into the TV.  I'm supposed to be on this show and I'm late!"  It was so funny!

Alex as Batman.  This is the day he got a haircut.  He was more than likely watching Batman cartoons while wearing the costume--it's what he does!  Ha.

 Alex the day we went to the bone specialist.  He thought it was pretty cool that they took pictures of his bones.  This is before, of course--we were all tired, hungry, and hot by the time we got home! 

Logan the day he had his hair trimmed--again in his underwear! HA!


I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer!