I’m sorry. Really I am. I had every intention of posting a thought this weekend and here it is Sunday night and I haven’t posted since Thursday!! Last week was my first week back into the real world. For the past 5 years I for the most part lived without an alarm. I’d wake when the kids woke, and our day would begin, sloooooowly after that. Now that we’re in Kindergarten I’m up at 6 and getting the circus crew fed, dressed and ready to start the day by 8 am.

In the interest of keeping it real and not pretending to be something I am not, I feel the need to come clean. Remember how excited I was when my 2 year old was wearing underwear at her 2nd birthday? Yea, I believe I received many a pat on the back and comments of “You’ll have to come potty train my kid.” Well, I must come clean and say for the past few weeks she has totally regressed.

After months of deliberating, praying, waiting, and a little second guessing, the first day of school finally arrived this week. As you may recall we decided to home school, but with a twist. We’ve enrolled our son in a home school tutorial that he attends two days a week. So he has school at home with me three days a week, and at his tutorial 2 days a week. In a lot of ways, it’s the best of both worlds.

**** Updated with new quote from this very afternoon**** One of my favorite parts of motherhood, is watching my children grow and develop. As they get older it is so much fun to see their individuality and personality emerge. This week marked some big milestones in the circus family life. On Sunday, for the first time in 5 years, I didn’t drop any of my children off in the nursery for church.

My children have been inundated with Chick-Fil-A from birth. The first thing I ate after my daughter’s delivery was a CFA sandwich. I have scrapbook pages in each of my daughter’s first year scrapbooks, dedicated to their first Kids Meals at Chick-Fil-A. The first logo/graphic my son recognized was for Chick-Fil-A. Anytime he saw a cursive C when he was a toddler, he thought it was the word Chick-Fil-A. They’ve known and loved the Chick-Fil-A cow since they were babies and we’ve even dressed like one for the past 5 years.

My child has been permanently scarred by a helium balloon. I’m sure you think that I am kidding or exaggerating, but I promise you I am not. Remember this? Well two months after that traumatic experience, Scott took the kids to buy a balloon for my birthday, and needless to say my son (being the oldest child, and the overly cautious one that he is), was very nervous about the balloon flying away.

Last week I captured this sweet father/daughter moment. Which reminded me an awful lot of a very similar moment captured a year ago. Funny how life repeats itself, isn’t it?

I love my husband’s Nana. She’s a remarkable lady. I loved her for years, just based on hearing about her from her grandson and reading her sweet letters. Then, I flew to California and met her. And I loved her as my own Nana!! When I walked in her side door, I instantly felt at home. I sat down at her table and never wanted to leave again. Gana (as my kids call her b/c she is their Great Nana) is famous for her quince jam, her tacos, and her French toast (among many other things).

"It takes a long time to grow an old friend." - by John Leonard Nothing says labor day weekend to me, then a house bursting at the seams with friends. For the past 8 years, we’ve spent labor day with my group of 6 best friends from high school and our growing families. While we’ve changed locations over the years from rustic accommodations, rental homes, and friends houses, some things have remained constant.

Last week I survived the Annapolis 10 Mile Run. I’d like to say that I raced it or ran it, but in actuality I just survived it. While one might wonder why I am not more excited and proud of such an accomplishment, it is because the year prior, I ran it well. I trained for it all summer and come race day I did my best. Now my best is only about 15 min faster than my survival pace, but the feeling I had when crossing the finish line was worlds different.