Five Years Ago...

I feel like the title of this post should read: "Five Years Later..."  Where have I been?  While it may feel like five years, it has actually been five months since I last updated.  I miss writing.  I miss organizing pictures.  Like I do with almost every other thing in my life, I let the pictures and the updates get so far behind that I just avoid it.  It overwhelms to be behind, so I ignore it.  I'm healthy like that.

I had started a post in May titled "Tired" then another one in June titled "Fail".  I've been thinking about it and I've been missing this, but I have just been busy and overwhelmed with the thought of catching up.  I don't think I can catch up, but I'm here anyway.

It is almost nine years to the day that I started this blog.   I had an almost three year old and a baby.  I was writing down every detail because it seemed like it was my story to tell.  As I have become the mother of an almost twelve year old going into seventh grade, the details feel less like mine to tell.  I finally get what was being said to me five years ago by a new friend I made.  She is a mother of four boys.  Her youngest was even older than my oldest and even though we haven't seen each other since the summer after we came back from Belgium, I will always remember her words of wisdom.  She was one of the many moms telling me how I'd miss those days.  How she couldn't believe how quickly time was flying.

Five years ago, I was juggling an almost 8 year old, a 5 year old and a 3 year old.  I wrote blog posts frequently-- with titles like "Long Days, Short Years".  They were busy and exhausting and it was hard.  Some days I felt like I couldn't wait for them to get older.  Some days I wanted to shrink them back down to babies.  I wanted five minutes to myself and date nights with my husband.  Sometimes I missed working.  Sometimes I was lonely.  Sometimes I was overstimulated.

I still have all of those emotions, but now I am just soaking it up.  Soaking up now.  Because I finally get what my friend was saying and a little of what she was experiencing.  At the time I did not get it.  She would often ditch plans with friends or her husband because she was feeling like they only had so much time together with everyone home as a family.  At that time her oldest was five years away from going to college.  Guess what.  Time's up.

That was it.  He's starting college now.  We are one year away from where she was then.  We have six years before Nathan is old enough to go to college.  I think five years ago, I just couldn't see past the long days to grasp the short years.  Now the days feel as short as the years.  The seasons (with the exception of this past winter) fly.  Summer has been a blink.

So I left off in March.  It was cold.

Sarah had artwork displayed at a local hospital.  She was so excited to bring our whole family to see it and her art teacher was very sweet about how Hannah's project wasn't quite finished yet.  It is now on display in our basement stairway.

We became guinea pig owners as opposed to guinea pig sitters.  Sarah's has officially been named: Ginny Hermione Weasley.

Nathan named his Samoa after his favorite cookie.  There was a little drama with Hannah's.  She had one that had to be returned and later, we came to own: Molly Weasley.

I am getting used to them, but some days I feel like a farmer.

Spring break took us to Philadelphia.  We had cheese steak, saw the Liberty Bell, learned about Ben Franklin and saw Phillies game.

Baseball started.  So much baseball.

We made time for facials though.

Hannah ran track.

Sarah played softball.  Dad coached.  He gave up his own softball season to coach both her team and help with Nathan's again.  They love that.  They need that.

Girls and I went to a circus.  A very weird experience I don't care to relive.  The highlight for both girls was this elephant ride.  Sarah dreams of having her own elephant one day.

We celebrated the baptism for the twins.  As of early July I am no longer the care taker of these two cuties.  I haven't even seen them in as long.  I miss them, but I know I was too busy to help them out as much as they needed.

Nathan's travel team played a tournament that same weekend and they ended up playing for the championship.  The girls and I missed all of it--it was too far away and we had too much else going on.

Hannah's class had a field trip.

And a late night track meet where Sarah got to hang with her friend, Georgia.

They did this for Mother's Day.

And then it was June.  And there were still track meets.

School Picnics.

6th Grade Field Day--which involved a last minute trip to two stores for the required eye black.

Sarah's Daisy Troop became Brownies.

Pool time.

Dance Recital.

Girl Scout Camp Out--Hannah & Mom overnight.

Daisies joined us for the day.

More Pool Time

Yeh yeh squeezed in a visit before school ended.

We celebrated the end of Nathan's Little League team's season before school ended.

Finally school was out!  Make up days in June are hard!  We welcomed our friends Howie the guinea pig and Alissa the hamster.

Then we had cousins in New Jersey!

And we ended June by celebrating Uncle Jay's 34th birthday.

There's more--July was full of visitors and visits.  We're already full into the swing of football, back to school shopping and calendar sorting.  I counted 22 more days of summer for Sarah.  We have just finished book five of the seven in Harry Potter's series.  Time flies and we're busy soaking because this is how we do.