Looming

School looms just over the horizon. Wait, not there. It’s much closer than the horizon, it’s right around the next corner, it’s something that is going to happen first thing in the morning.

We’ve had a great summer. We didn’t have an official list of things we wanted to get done but if we had, I think we've managed to check most, if not all of them off.

We went to the pool, like, a lot. Though Alyssa has bemoaned the fact that we haven’t been there AT ALL in August. Waaahhh…

Alyssa got to take her first trip to Cedar Point. Wheeee!

We made it to the beach a few times and realized each time that we much prefer the pool. Huh…

We also relaxed, we gardened, we canned the vegetables that grew in our garden. Okay, Tom canned them but I snapped some beans and crushed some garlic and diced some onions. I’m counting that toward the canning. And hey, it was more on his list to can than mine

And as school looms this year, I realize I’m much more relaxed about school this year than I was last year. O’s got a year under her belt. A’s got two years down at this school. She’s established herself with her group of friends. She’s definitely not the new girl anymore.

Olivia knows how to do the bus thing and she’s got new shoes and several shirts with tutus. She’s ready to go. She can sit still longer these days than she could back in August of 2011. She can enunciate even better than ever and she promises to talk to her teacher this year. We’ll see about that one but you know what? I’m not counting that girl out. She’s going to surprise everyone with what she’s capable of doing.

I didn’t get any closets painted this summer but I did pick out colors. The paints haven’t been purchased but that just might be on the fall to-do list.

The girls have new shoes and their backpacks are bursting with school supplies. They’re ready.

And this year I’m ready too. I’m ready to let them go a little bit more than I did last year. I’m ready to let them shine, let them show us all how amazing they are. I’m ready to loosen the apron strings just a little more than ever. Let’s not untie them completely. Not yet. They’re only nine and five after all. They’re both still so little even as they’re getting so big.