Flying by ....

Unlike my last post --- the summer is now flying by!! Ryan has been home more and we've been working on some home improvement projects, so I've been busy!



Before I know it, Josh will be off to first-grade, and Maddie to Kindergarten!! Seems like yesterday she was 2 years old, crying her eyes out, begging to stay home with me as I dropped her off at PreSchool with Josh. And now she is off to the "big school". I hated leaving her at Trinity PreSchool, afterall, she was my baby. But school was good for her. Once she stopped crying, she realized that she had been crying right along side her future best friend, Gianna (they were sharing the crying chair for the month of September!). This made going to school very inticing everyday...she and Gianna have been inseperable ever since. (See above for the partners in crime!)

Now that she has left the safety of Trinity and her little friends who would greet her at the gate every morning, I have a whole new problem: Kindergarten. Maddie says she is excited, but I can see in her eyes that she is a little scared (maybe a lot scared). Maddie "talks" a big game, but we'll see!! Even my social butterfly Josh had a hard time on the orientation day...so I am a little worried for my "I don't know you, don't talk to me because I will look at the floor and not answer any of your questions" Maddie. (Actually, she will do this even if you DO know her!) ha-ha!!

Only time will tell how she does in this new chapter of her life. I am really hoping her shyness is overcome, and that she really gets to enjoy and have fun in Kindergarten!! Maybe she will surprise me, and run off not at all scared; or maybe she will cry and I will cry and it will be a hard day all around! I will update!

Trying to be good ...

This summer has been long .... already! And it's only July 2nd!! I feel like the last 3 weeks have crawled by. Thinking I was crafty, I have kept Maddie in ballet through the summer, and Josh in swim classes with Redlands Swim Team at the High School 4 days a week - til August 5th. I also signed up with my friend Amy for a Baby Boot Camp class. Maybe I was wrong!! Who knew that my kids would all of a sudden decide to sleep in late (til 9:30 on some mornings) and that I would have trouble getting out of the house for the 9am class! It is taking everything I have to get Josh to his classes at 3:30 (not a good time!), and Maddie to her ballet/tap lessons. Who knew that my kids would be at each other's throats (literally) all day long, complaining that there is nothing to do, it's too hot out, and when are we going here, when are we going there ... Also to top it all off, who knew Ryan would be gone almost everyday, leaving me to play single mom? I rarely complain when he works long days, just because I know we are getting bills paid off faster with the extra hours. But, with the kids home all day, it is really HARD!!

SOOO chaos in ensuing in the Malak house most days. I am lucky if I get anything done (ie, dishes, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking...you know, the normal stuff!). Between breaking up fights between Josh and Maddie, Maddie and Ty, Ty and Josh ... Ty and the dogs? Racing Ty to the potty, fixing legos for Josh, getting Maddie's latest art project started, getting someone a snack or a drink or a movie.... agh! Bedtime is starting to become a very treasured time for me!

It is very hard for me to be good. It is hard for me not to complain about my kids, to yell at them, to threaten or to punish (the timeout chair has many visitors everyday .... sometimes two at a time, so I had to invent the sister chair!). But I am only human. I love them with all my heart, and couldn't imagine life without them. I am very blessed that they are all healthy and happy; that we are a family.

It's the little things that happen everyday that I reflect upon at night when the house is quiet, the tv is silent, and the toys put away. I love to watch them when they sleep, so angelic, so sweet. I love to hear Josh singing along to Moose on Nick Jr. I love to watch Maddie playing with her baby dolls, sometimes repeating some of the things I say to Tyler to them. I love when Ty comes up to me and gives me a big hug and tells me "I wuv you Momma". My kids will only be little once ... I keep telling myself to cherish these moments ...