Morals.

I took my sister and a few of her "peeps" to a Ke$ha concert. It was a bit over the top. Kayla and her friends are older so I wasn't about to run them out of the concert or anything dramatic but I was a bit taken back. If I was the mom to the twelve year old girl sitting in front of us we would have straight up called it a loss and left. Hearing a grown woman sing to an audience of young girls about sex and being inappropriate was disturbing. There were children younger then my girls there. What disturbed me more then Ke$ha was the way these young girls portray themselves now. My children will NOT be caught dead prancing around in shorts that show their butt cheeks. Seriously, how do you teach your child self respect when you encourage them to use their bodies to draw attention to themselves. It is not going to be easy, I want my girls to fit in and have the right amount of freedom but more then that I want them to have morals. Kayla and her friends had a great time, they were there to enjoy music they love. To experience seeing someone you adore performing before you own eyes. Where songs you have heard over and over sound magical and leave goosebumps on your arms as adrenaline rushes through your body as thousands of people who are there for the same reasons scream and dance like nothing else in the world matters. They didn't even move from their seats, they are a great group of kids. I tried not to be too much of a downer, I wanted them to enjoy themselves :) I spent time on my phone refreshing facebook waiting for pictures of my kids to show up. First was a pizza party at their sleep over then smoores. Each picture put a smile of my face and I was even more thankful for my kids and being so grounded and happy with where I am in life. I missed them last night and couldn't wait to see them but I was happy to watch Kayla and her friends have such a good time. I have heard my whole life that you can't shelter your kids, especially after last night I will be doing are fair amount of sheltering. This world is so big and versatile, it is too much for a maturing mind to sort through and make good choices. I get that they have to fall and get burned to learn and I will let them, I just want them to be kids as long as they can. Cell phones, and facebook and tight jeans will all have to wait.

New School Clothes

Look at all the adorableness :)

Prep work, school style

We are prepping to send our little ladies off to 2nd grade. WHAT, when did we get here, and how :/ The girls are excited about starting school. This makes the transition back to school way more desirable. They have friends that they are dying to see. It makes me happy and sad all in one. They are confident in themselves and their abilities but they are also growing up. Ryleigh got the teacher they both dreaded having… this is the second year in a row that she got the stricter, down to business teacher. Devan has a male teacher this year and from what I have heard he is more laid back and the kids really like him. I chuck the your child’s needs input form in the trash every year because I feel I am playing with fire when it comes to delegating and being involved in the decision process for the next years teachers. If things go to hell I don’t want that to be because I wanted things that way. Devan would have not done well with Ryleigh's past teacher. Devan is my laid back silly fun loving girl. She needs a teacher that fosters her creativity and spirit. Ryleigh is all about being smart and getting her work done. I LOVE buying school clothes for the girls. I spend far too much time drooling over cute outfits. I am frugal and get away without spending a ton of money but they always looks so adorably cute, this year’s most exciting buys for the girls are Danskos and LL Bean Dresses, which are oh so comfy and can be passed down and down and then again. Both girls are in a size 8 slim for pants this year. WHOA tall!!! They are in a 13.5 – 1 shoe and size 7 tops. We have their well child check soon it will be interesting to see how tall they are and where that puts them on the growth chart. The girls have grown a lot this summer both physically and maturity wise. They are growing up so fast. The girls enjoy listening to music in their room, when they are not out on the trampoline or riding bikes. We finally ditched the training wheels!!! Yayy. Devan has a new love for dresses this summer. She has realized just how comfy they are. For the first two months of summer she wore one every single day. This is a big change from never wearing them. She even decided that she likes certain shades of pink ;) We had a discussion last night about not fighting her likes, it makes her who she is regardless of who else likes the same thing. Pretty sure this is a twin issue she is struggling with. Ryleigh girl is loving summer, flipping all over the place and being just as sassy as can be. When her new clothes arrived in the mail the other day she waited (very anxiously) for Momma to get home so she could have a fashion show, and that she did. She stood looking a gazillion feet tall and scrawny. She posed for each outfit and Chris and I looked at each other and throught how did we get here. We are ringing out the summer with a vacation for Mommy! Yup that is ten whole days of vacation for me! I love that I get to spend every day with my girls until they go back to school. Life is short and their childhood is not everlasting so I really try to take advantage of every minute I have with them. They are my everything. I love you so very much girls.

All Moms Need A Break.

Today Sami and I planned an impromptu girls night. We ate dinner on the pier at Archers and laughed until we cried. We went to see We're the Millers and laughed some more. Why not finish the night off with an ice cream from Dormans. I have never done a very good job of taking time to enjoy things without my kids in toe. When I do, I am reminded of how important it is. Today was stressful at work and Garret had a set back with treatment so a good time was definitely in order! Thanks Sami for a great night!

Summer

We have done A LOT this summer and I have slacked big time in the picture posting department :/

Class field trip to the Discovery Museum in Bangor. A little late posting this... This was the end of first grade.

NH with great friends! We started off the summer with a bang! Just as school was getting out we headed to the white mountains for 2 nights, 3 days of fun. We went with Sami and the boys, her sister Amanda and her kids, and Amanda's friend and her daughter. It was so much fun. The hotel (more like apartment) we stayed in was so nice. The outdoor pool was amazing. Find the picture of our four legged visitor. He was in the parking lot of our hotel. If you head to NH stay at the Attitash :)

Story Land. As you can see our princess Devan dressed like a princess.

More Story Land.

A day at the pool.

Lincolnville Beach. We are so spoiled, we have the ocean in our back yard in Maine.

More Beach

Belfast Park with Sarah and Bradyden

4th of July

Childhood inocence.

Today a simple name brought childhood memories pouring back in like they happened just yesterday. It's funny I can feel like I am back to my childhood with just a quick thought back to my youth. Everything feels so familiar and I want to go back. Go back to when I got my sweet 90's style baggie pants from My Aunt Gail and Uncle Bill for my 6th birthday I still remember exactly how I felt in them, like I owned the world. Or when my first bike arrived on my 4th birthday and I demanded my training wheels be taken off the same day and I road off like had always ridden. A week later I blew out my tires from "burning out" and rode my sisters 10 speed (when she was at school and it was safe to use it). I would walk it over to the fence climb up onto it and drive around until I was back at the fence and could climb down. I was up shit creek without a paddle if I fell down but I never thought about it then. My brother and I spent hours playing together, Lego's, cars, exploring and everything else we came up with. No matter what we picked we had a few characters made up that we used all the time. It's funny at that time how it was nothing, we made them up and both understood, it was like we were one mind. I always played Maggie and Sean was Jim, we had twin boys named Michael and Bobby and a dog names Jock. I drove a purple and pink shiny matchbox car, Jim was a cop. There was a store down the road named Ambles, owned by Amble herself. Jim's father lived with us, he was a fan or aerobics. I can't believe just how much I remember about this game we played. We would build a logo house each time we played and discuss characters. I don't really recall "playing" with the characters. I think it was mostly our way of exploring what we wanted out of this big world some day. I can remember one snowy day getting excited over tomato soup as Sarah and I sat laughing watching Sean build a fort outside while the snow fell down. I don't ever want to forget the joy and excitement I had in my heart growing up. Sean and I never argued with our too cool sister about the front seat of the car ;) but not because we didn't think we could win once in a while. Because we played Garfield and Odie in the back seat pretending we were driving. Once upon a time two door cars had this nifty little lever on the back of the drivers seat that flipped the seat forward when getting out. It just so happened that this lever would let the seat lean ALL the way back if you pushed it when someone was sitting in it. You can just imagine a 9 year old boy pretending he was driving, of course he would use the lever a peddle. When your mom is in traffic taking off you'd think it would be a good time to pretend to hit your accelerator. Only to really hit the lever and send your mother in the back seat WITH you at the same time she has punched the gas peddle. LMAO, insert ration of shit here. HA HA. Sean and Sarah once blacked out our room with blankets on the window and pretended we were orphans trying to find our way to a safe place in the forest. They somehow along the lines convinced my 4 year old self that what we were playing could actually come true. Turn your sisters socks inside out and peel the blanket away from the window and she will believe you when you tell her the sun will make her turn into a monster. I still remember being scared to death. We ran out to tell Mum and she gave us the yeah that's great do whatever you want as long as you play together without fighting look while she cleaned the house. I didn't get this look then but I know it now because I have smiled the same way at my girls. Thinking yup great just go back to playing, as they run off with excitement galore. There are so many memories, it would take me all day to list them all.  The memories themselves don't matter half as much as the happiness that comes back when I think about growing up with my Mom, Sister and Brother. To anyone else this post will appear sporadic and unorganized but to me it does exactly what it was intended for reminding me of special times in my life. It was not prefect but it was our life created by our Mom who wished the world for us. Thanks Momma B.

7.5 went like this

Happy seven and a half little ladies :)

Off the beaten path

The girls are having a sleep over tonight with one of their very best friends. Chris and I decide to go wheeling. We drove into the woods on an abandoned four wheeler trail to find a cove on the pond not far from our house. The trail got a little rougher then I was comfortable with. Like usual I found myself waiting in the woods for Chris to go over the tipsy rough terrain. We found a beautiful sandy cove that hasn't been touched in years. We dipped our feet in and took in the peace and quite. Chris and I argued (laughed) about me being the one to drive. I told him it was no fun to just ride so as much as he hated to he let me drive while he rode on the back if the wheeler. What a good boy ;)'

Kayla Jo

Thursday night coffee house fun :) I think it is safe to say my girls will be well rounded. We headed home showered changed and headed into town with Randi and the kids to watch Kayla sing.