When fall comes, it means that the kids go back to school, which I admit brings excitement of its own. (I love shopping for school supplies even more than they do!) But every September I go through a few weeks of melancholy. The house is so quiet. There's nobody clamoring to use the computer, the bathroom, the tv, or what have you. The house is mine, and I don't like it. It feels big and empty and the hours of the day tick by as we wait: the house, the pets and I, until the kids come home from school and everything is alive again.
This year it felt like school started way too early. Erin and Cory started back on August 26th. So we're already deep into our school routine. I am already getting sick of driving back and forth to the school three times a day. (Drop off, pick up Cory, pick up Erin after soccer.Go to bed. Repeat.) It's relentlessly dreary and eats away the time I could devote to anything particularly engrossing. Of course Erin will be able to get her driver's license any day now. We've been working at it. She drives home most days and I am getting at least a little bit calmer with her behind the wheel and myself in the passenger seat. A little bit calmer. Getting her driver's license is just another thing that reminds me how quickly time is flying; How quickly they are growing up, and therefore, growing away from their Mom. Of course that is the goal, but it is coming way, way too soon for comfort. I'm not done being integral to their lives, and the writing is on the wall. It won't be long before I'm just a weekly phone call, or the occasional visit, or a Holiday diversion. I know how much I will miss it all. All of the things I complain about: the endless piles of laundry, the driving to and fro, the fighting, the eye-rolling, all of it. Some day soon it will all seem precious and quaint, like changing diapers, or cleaning up a little spit-up. Everything is rosy once it's gone.
To make up for the moody tone of this entry, I'm including pics of a few projects I completed recently. The first one is of a few photos I took of Cory at a Duluth Huskies' game last summer. I was pleased with the way it came together easily, and definitely told the story of our "unique" boy!
The second layout uses a picture that has been a favorite for years. My sister maureen took this photo of Erin, Cory, and all of theri cousins one easter. I love the way it tells the story of each kids' personality, and shows just how much they continue to mean to each other.
The third layou uses a photo of Erin from a looooong time ago. It has always been one of my favorites, too. When the kids were little and we were living in Maryland I used to take them to play at a place called Imagine That. There were all sorts of opportunities for dress up and role playing, including this fire truck. Erin has always been an incredibly imaginative kid, and that place was made for her. I love this photo of her in the fireman's hat, coat, and (especially) rubber boots!
The following are some pictures of a new project I'm working on for my Big Picture Scrapbooking class called "Have More Fun". We are working on present moment scrapbooking. The album is called "30 Days Hath September" and we are making a page a day with special prompts for things we are to Capture, Collect, and Record. For instance the Day 1 page Captures: A Sunset, Collects: Something with the date on it, and Records: My feelings about the month of September. I am really enjoying the project and would highly recommend doing something like this in order to help you live "in the now". I love it. The first picture is the title page (there's a quote hidden behind the photo.) The rest are days 1 through 5. I'll post more when I finally download them off the camera! Enjoy.
Title Page
Sept. 1st
Sept. 2nd
Sept. 3rd
Sept. 4th
Sept. 5th
