THE STELLY FAMILY

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Homework

I have to admit, this week was emotional for me.
Alexander came home with homework.
He popped it out of his backpack and went to work.
We sat together but truly, he didn't need his Momma.
He knew what to do.
He wrote out his lines of "big M" and lines of "little m"

then he got up and went to play with the Sisters.

Huh? What just happened here?
Wasn't I supposed to be more involved?
Wasn't I supposed to push harder?

Nah, I can do it by myself, Mom.

God, I love those little nail bitten hands

We Heart Reading

Now that Bubb's in school, it's been challenging to find extra things to fill our days. I didn't realize how much we did with him.
Recently I finally felt comfortable with bringing Wild Child 1 & Wild Child 2 into the local library.
We went in, got a library card and went to town reading.
The girls did so good.
I was constantly reminding them to "whisper!!"
Izzy thought it was hilarious to run away from me & then squeal when I caught her.
Sophie thought the closest chair was a launching pad to jump really high into a bin of books.
The Librarian so kindly asked me, "Did you know that you can check the books out and bring them home to read, right?"
Okay, so not really.
Well, really yes she did.
But in a really nice tone:-)

So, we brought our books home.

Which was for the best because Sophie likes to read in her dress-up shoes and they're just too noisy for the library.

Sophie's favorite book was a Potty Book.

We're mastering that right now (Thank You, Jesus!!)

Izzy LOVED the Elmer Books

Friday, August 13, 2010

Ready or Not...

Kindergarten, here we come.

We had a quick dry run of getting dressed the night before, so naturally this morning, he wanted to do everything himself. Down to tucking his shirt in.

{Waiting for the bus.}

I couldn't help following the bus to school & him into his class. Nothing changed from Orientation the other day. He just got to his seat & started working like he'd been there for years.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

One Last HooRaa

We all met up at the splash pad the other day before all of the big kids started school.

It's gonna be the last summer time fun all three of the kids get to do together before Bubb starts "riding the Bus" on Friday.

Ironically, with all of Alexander's friends there that day, he mostly played with The Sisters. It was really touching.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Pickin' Muscadines

Every year at the end of the summer, Chris can be found on Sundays in the back yard.

Picking muscadines.

He loves muscadines.

This year the girls got in on the fun.

Their Daddy taught them how to pick them,
pop the hull
& spit it out.

Nice.

{Sigh}

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Am I ready for this?

Today was Kindergarten Orientation.

Kindergarten

Orientation.

My Son is going to Kindergarten

in a few short days.

Am I ready for this?

Up early in the morning.

Riding the Bus.

Volunteering in the Library.

Playing Soccer, Football, Baseball.

Can't we go back to the summer of 2005?

When he was such a tiny little thang?

I could kiss his birthmark

& he wouldn't flinch.

I could snuggle for hours

& he wouldn't jump off of my lap.

I could talk all day to him

& he wouldn't be sassy back to me.

Five Birthdays later

& we're at Kindergarten Orientation.

I thought my heart was gonna thump out of my chest.

I was so nervous.

Could my other Mom Friends see that?

Chris could.

He wouldn't stop teasing me.

This Child here:

He couldn't have been more comfortable.

I don't think he was nervous.

More like right at home.

I love how annoyed he looked.

"Mmmmmoommmm.."

Look how excited Ava Riley & Alexis looks!!

Could you just look excited like them?!?!?

Or, at least be nervous like me?!?!?

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Legos & Dress-Up

My Son L.O.V.E.S. putting legos together.

Kind of an obsession.

Could build for hours.

I don't think this was a kit.

Just a hodge podge of pieces put together.

Our Girls L.O.V.E to dress-up.

{Or, in Sophie talk, "I wanna putta on ma Printhess Dretthhess!!"}

They ended the "dreth-up" party singing "All the Single Ladies."

I want to remember these days forever.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

In the Word Wednesday

Thursday, July 22, 2010

We love us some...

...cheese & crackers.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Izzy's Newest Accident

Izzy.

Poor, poor Izzy.

If it's gonna happen,

It's gonna happen to Izzy.

Mosquito bites,

Ant Bites,

Falls,

Bumps,

Bruises,

You name it.

It's for Izzy.

Last Sunday, she fell down.

We don't know what she hit.

She doesn't know what she hit.

All I know is that

I left her for two minutes

And the next time I saw her,

she had a golf ball-sized knot

on her already large forehead.

(these are from Chris' phone on the way to the ER)

Seriously?

I was shocked.

All I could do was breathe,

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus....

I had no words, not one.

Chris said lets go & I walked her

directly to the car.

I called out to my brothers &

In-Laws to take care of the other two.

We drove from the driveway

with Alexander crying for his sister

praying for her to be okay.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus was all I could say.

I swear, I couldn't get any other words out.

In the midst of searching

for other words,

an unspeakable peace came over us.

Inexplicable.

That child began giggling,

talking,

singing.

Seriously?

We drove to the ER in peace.

We felt silly, actually.

Taking this giggly girl

inside the sick, solemn ER.

It could have been so much worse.

So much worse.

Just for peace of mind,

we had her checked.

We were in & out in 1 hour.

We left with instructions

on what signs to look for

in case she got worse.

Nothing prepared us

for the shiner we woke up to

the next morning.

Comical.

Poor baby looked like she came out

of a bar fight

(excuse the food on her face, she's only still during meal times.)

And it got worse that Tuesday.

The bridge of her nose was swolen so much

that I brought her into the Pediatrician.

She told me that the black eyes were

going to become worse before they got better.