The days are long, but the years are short

I never really bought into this. I'd heard it many times, but couldn't really believe it to be true. Because, let's face it, the days are long. All of them are long. And day after day after day is just long. And sometimes the week just drags on. 

But now, here I am, the night before I send Curly Girl off to full day kindergarten, and all I can think is yes, yes, a thousand times yes. This couldn't be more true. 

The days are long, but the years are short.

It dawned on me recently that I've been a mom for as long as I was a teacher. That means I've now been out of teaching for as long as I was in it. Doesn't seem possible, but five whole years have gone by. Five years of being a full time stay at home mom.

Five years of investing and pouring into this beautiful little human. Giving her all I have to give every day and then some. Giving of my time, my energy, my patience, my caring, my livelihood. Giving her all of it. 

These days are so long. So exhaustingly long. Dealing with the mess and the tears and the noise and the chaos and the whining and the bodily fluids... 

And the love. And the joy. And the smiles and coos. The belly laughs. The happiness and laughter.  

And right now, I want to see this amazing little girl shine and soar! But I also want to press rewind and get these 5 years back to do it all again. Because, crazy as my life is these days, I absolutely love it.

So, as I sit here tonight, with tears in my eyes, wishing that tomorrow wouldn't bring what it's inevitably going to bring, all I can do is pray. Pray for me. Pray for her. Pray for this teacher who is hopefully going to pour into her as I have for the past five years. Pray for the friends she'll make. And pray for our relationship, that despite her no longer being my little girl at home with me, we'll grow deeper in love each day.

And also the assurance that everything is going to turn out okay :)

Ginger Fun in the Summer Sun

The summer is sadly coming to a close with Curly Girl starting full day kindergarten in just a little over a week! This summer has been a bit more challenging than last summer with our littlest ginger here and requiring a lot of attention and naps, but we've managed to have some really fun adventures. We know this fun time in our lives with these three kids is only just beginning! 

We took the kids on the T for the first time and spent the day at the New England Aquarium in Boston.

We went both strawberry and raspberry picking at two different farms.

The kids were both in my cousin's wedding. And this, sadly, is the only picture I took that day because I was so busy taking care of the littlest ginger :)

We went to the grocery store all together many times. And if you don't think that's an adventure, then you can try it ;) 

We went bowling on a rainy day for the first time.

Ginger Boy went to his first movie in the theater. And then we went again for the $1 movie days. Yes, that's right, $1 movies :)

Our littlest ginger got to meet her great grandparents who came up for a visit from Alabama. It really made my heart happy.

We spent a lovely day at the beach in Mattapoisett where the littlest ginger went in the ocean water for the first time. 

We had a wonderful week participating in and volunteering for our VBS program at church. So much energy!

We visited many playgrounds and gained a lot of new skills over the course of the summer, especially on the monkey bars :)

Many swimming days at the Hopkinton State Park beach and Papa & Gaga's pool.

A fun weekend-long camping trip with our MCC church family in Charlestown, RI, which will become a yearly tradition :)

A long weekend trip up to Maine to visit Papa & Gaga and spend the day at our favorite place - York Harbor Beach :)

Baby girl starting to roll and scoot and take a bottle. All of these things making life both easier and harder ;)

Finding fun & exciting ways to enjoy non-dairy summer treats with the discovery that Curly Girl is milk-intolerant like Mommy and Daddy.

Spending time just hanging out at a favorite place - Tangerini's Farm with friends.

And lastly, Darling Daddy and I have managed to get away for two child-free nights attending weddings for friends! (Insert high-five emoji here) 

What a fun summer it has been!