Baby girl goes to Kindergarten

 

Is this real?  Hello?  Where did my baby girl go?  Am I seriously 31?

 

These are things I ask myself daily. 

 

I actually didn't even cry on her first day.  I took her to school and it wasn't until she got in line and walked through the doors that I had a moment of emotion. 

And honestly, I didn't get the "my baby's growing up!" tears.  It was just a moment where I was overwhelmed with "Have I done enough?" 

 

Have I taught her to be kind enough? Have I helped her to be independent enough?  Have I encouraged her to be thankful and grateful?  Have I instilled a love of learning? 

 

As she walked through the doors I found myself feeling like from here on out, it was me against the world.  My influence vs the influence of teachers, peers, curriculum, and the media. I think maybe a lot of moms and dads feel that way. 

 

And man, is she the cutest kindergartener or what? 

 

 

 

 

June

Playing catch-up because I'm a slacker!  Well, not a slacker.... I just am totally over blogging for some odd reason.  BUT, I need to write all our little happenings down because I'll forget if I don't.  My kids are growing so fast and I have the worlds WORST memory.  I always tell myself I'll remember, but when I try to think back on past experiences things are always fuzzy unless I write them down. It's for posterity, right? 

On June 9th we took a trip to Helena to see the fambam and run the Governor's Cup.   MIke and I ran the  10K, and it was SO much harder than the 10K we ran in March.  The course had WAY more hills, so both Mike and I ended up with about the same time as our last race, even though we were in better shape :).  We left the kids with my parents and ran the 10K in the morning, then met up with them and ran the 5K with the stroller, 2 kiddos, and my dad.

Not to get TOO sappy, but it was pretty awesome to run the 5K.  My dad and I first ran the Governor's Cup in June of 1989 and we didn't miss a year until after I left for college (I think 2003 was the first time I missed becase I was in Mexico).  I even ran it with him the morning after my senior all night graduation party! It was great to be able to share the experience with my kids and my dad and my husband this year.  CJ ran the first mile or so, then was honestly a bit of a stink pot for the rest of the race.  She curled up in the stroller and complained about being cold :).  Nolan, however, could not have been cuter.  "I winning!" he would say as he ran and ran and ran.  He probably ran nearly 2 miles of the 3.2 mile race.  It was SO fun to see him out there enjoying it, not to mention the fact that I love my hometown and running through the streets made me happy.

We've been trying really hard to stay active lately, so I bought a second-hand bike trailer and we've been LOVIN' it.  I love the exercise, and if I can keep the kids from fighting while they're in it it's even better!  Those two..... I hope eventually they're friends.  The other day Cecily says to me "Mom, I think I don't like Nolan anymore.  We should maybe give him away."  Like he's a rascally puppy or something.  Sheesh.

We signed CJ up for swimming lessons again this summer!  There were 8 classes per session, and she ended up doing 2 sessions.  The first 7 days were spent trying to coax her in to putting her face in the water and trying to keep her from flailing and screaming and freaking out if someone tried to take her away from the side ledge.  Yeah- it was awesomely horrific. I even took her to the pool later in the day to try to work with her alone and it was a disaster. I'm pretty sure everyone in the pool that day thought I was either a bad mom who didn't discipline her kid, or I was trying to drown the poor child.  My girl has some lungs on her, and she's not afriad to use 'em.  On day 8, the head lifeguard/pool coordinator/boss lady spent some time with her one on one.  By the end of that day she was away from the side AND putting her face in.  I guess it's all about the right teacher, huh? The next 8 classes went pretty well, although she was still afraid.  I'm signing her up for fall lessons so that she doesn't lose any of the courage she's started to find.

Nolan and I did a "Mommy and Me" class, which he completely LOVED.  It was fun to have time alone with him as well.  He loved jumping off the side in to my arms the most. 

At the end of June my good friend Erin got married to the love of her life, Jake.  It was such a fun wedding! Erin and Jake are an awesome couple.  We were so happy to celebrate with them.  The wedding was at the base of the Bridger mountain range in Montana, and it was just incredible, and the perfect setting for a wedding.  Mike and I both commented on how much we love Bozeman.  If we stay in Montana after this coal mining adventure, that is probably where we'd want to be. We'll see! Erin looked stunning, and it is always fun to see all my BSC girls.  They're awesome.  PLUS, my amazing mom and dad took the kids for us so that Mike and I could have a little get-away for a night.  Niiiiiiiiice.

Near the end of June Colstrip has a big..... festival?  Party?  Community event?  They call it "Colstrip Days" and they have a parade where they throw candy and people make useless floats advertising local businesses.  They have a big farmers market thing in the biggest city park and there are a billion booths with food, crafts, more food, local art, and all the fresh squeezed lemonade a girl could ask for.  Delish! Not to mention the Amish come and sell fresh donuts.....YUM! That is also when the town does local fireworks, since most people leave town for the 4th of July. 

AND, last but not least:  Pinterest is good for something besides bad recipes and time wasting!  We made bookshelves for the playroom!  I rotate out all our books because there's not enough room on those 4  shelves for everything we have.  But the kids are reading more, so mission accomplished.

Stay tuned for July.  Hopefully I'll get around to it within the next few months! :)

I so funny...

2,200

Two Thousand and Two Hundred. 

That's how many people are in this little town we live in. 

As in all things, there is good and there is bad.

 And, as in all things, I have moments when I love it and moments when I hate it. 

Here's what I LOVE:

1. The city has a lot of ammenities.  The property taxes on the mine and power plants here are SKY HIGH, so everything is well funded.  This means good schools, a nice little library, and a sweet (free) community recreation center.  Where I get to work out and drop the kids in the daycare center FOR FREEEEEEEEEE!  YIPPEEEEEE!

2. People wave at you while you drive.  Like "Hey!  I don't know you at all, but I'm just waving to be friendly!" type of waves.  So, even though I get "thanks for letting me in" waves, and "you go ahead through the stop sign first" waves, I get "hi! We're friends you just didn't know it!" waves.  Different then Vegas.  And Salt Lake.  And pretty much everywhere. 

3.  Our local church group is really great.  There's lots of people our age, AAAND they have kids our age, which is uh- mazing.  Once a month we all chip in for a babysitter and do a game night.  Again, UH-MAZING. 

4.  It's small enough that if I want to teach, they might actually hire me as a first year teacher who graduated 6 years ago. 

5. Mike loves his job.  Even if I had listed NOTHING ELSE above this, moving here would have been worth it.  They appreciate him and value his contributions to the company.  Priceless. 

And because there must be a yin to the yang (or a yang to the yin?) Here's what I HATE:

1.  It's far from EVERYTHING.  No, really, EVERYTHING.   Although there's a small grocery store, and small medical clinic, it's expensive and doesn't have much.  SO we go in to Billings for groceries, the doctor, the dentist, clothes, movies, books, and on and on and on.  It is a 2 hour drive one way to Billings, so it's not exactly like I can just throw the kids in the car and make a quick trip to the store. 

2.  Subway is the only fast food in town.  Do I need to elaborate on why I hate this? 

3.  There's ONE choice for internet providers and they SUCK IT UP. 

4.  It's far away from all our friends and all our family.  This is probably the hardest. 

We miss you all.  So much.   

The Most Wonderful Time

Hello friends and family,

If you'd like a Christmas card from us, please send me your address.  Christmas is 10 days away and I'm just now getting around to sending out cards, but at least I'm doing it at all, right?  Send your address to wendyV27@yahoo.com.

  If you'd like to send us a card our address is PO Box 974, Colstrip, MT 59323.  Is it ok to put a po box on my blog?  Is that..... not safe or something?  I am not really sure what is safe or not these days.... Anyway, send us a card and don't tell any of your crazy killer friends our address! 

Ps- I will warn you: The pics for our cards are seriously terrible. Freezing weather + 2 cranky kids + tripod in storage + auto camera settings = bad self taken family pics. 

And I didn't feel like editing because frankly, I hate editing, hehe. 

So there you go!  All my excuses.

Go me.

MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY! :)

The Town

Colstrip is a funny little town.  We like it.  It has it's perks.

Here's some of our favorite things:

1. There's a free recreation center for anyone who lives/pays taxes in Colstrip.  They have free daycare if you want to work out sans kids, they have free classes specifically FOR your kids, and there are spinning, lifting, yoga, cardio, and all kinds of other classes. Free.  Awesome. Yay.

Here's my girl, rockin' the balance beam.

 

2. Other drivers wave at you when you pass them.  Just to be nice.  'Cause it's a small town. 

3.  There are 4 wheelers and dirt-bikes all over the roads here.

4. There are (something like) 27 miles of bike/running trails throughout the community and hills.  It comes in handy while training for a 1/2 marathon.

5.  The whole town went to the homecoming football game at the high school.  Go Colts!  There would have been a parade too, but it got rained out.  There's always next year.

6.  Deer run amok. So funny, right?  Tonight on my run one jumped out of a gully and started staring me down. He was about 8 feet away from me and I thought I was going to die, or piddle in my panties (neither of which happened, thankfully).  At least I'm getting close to nature?  I think I'll carry bear spray tomorrow, though. 


7. Yesterday I saw 2 phesants right outside my back gate.

What's your favorite thing about where  you live?