Time flies!

How can I keep time from passing too quickly? Is there a way to make these days, weeks, months and years slow down? (I wish there was!)

It seems I don't get here to write as much as I like. Time flies and these moments fade into memories so quickly. So here goes a quick recap of the past few months.

We certainly had a fun, busy summer. Lots of swimming, playing, sleeping late, eating ice cream and more. We were lucky enough to go on two vacations this summer. The first to Bermuda in July for Katie and Mike's wedding. It was a quick, stressed, busy trip in a beautiful place. I've said many times that Matt and I need to go back someday just to relax! It was a great experience for the kids and we loved seeing Aunt Katie and Uncle Mike get married (finally!)
Our second trip was our annual vacation to Cape Cod. The kids have grown to love going there and are making some of the same memories I made as a child. They look forward to the trampolines and go karts (Matthew got to drive by himself this year! He was so excited and proud, My big guy.) They love the pool and spent many hours in it. Both Matthew and Kaylis can swim well now. This was Avery's first Cape experience and I'd say she had fun exploring the "Cape Cod House" and walking around outside. Two great family trips in one summer. I'd say we're pretty lucky.

At exactly 11 months old Avery started walking on 8/9/10 (like the date!) Since then she hasn't stopped. My nickname of the moment for her is "pesky monkey". She is into everything and climbs on everything! Can't take our eyes off her for a second. Climbs into her high chair, wiggles her way out of the straps, climbs on the stair railing, and on and on.......
She is such a happy, funny baby. Such a joy! Today she turned ONE! Seemed like the fastest year ever - even though I tried my hardest not to let it go by fast. It's so amazing how much they grow in the first year. This past week has been filled with reminiscing for me. I've enjoyed every moment of my last baby's first year. We celebrated her 1st birthday today with a lunch playdate with friends followed by dinner with Aunt Katie, Nana and Grandad. Of course, Elmo helped us celebrate too. Avery loves to watch Elmo on TV and can recognize him anywhere. Cute!

This week also marked the beginning of new school memories too. The kids are attending a new school this year - Beekaman ES. Our school closed last June due to school budget cuts. Matthew wasn't too worried about it. He's easy going that way. Kaylis hadn't started yet so it's all new to her anyway. So we now have 2 elementary school kids. I joked with Matt that now it's double the notes home, double the trips, conferences, homework and so on. But I love it! With a 3rd grader and a kindergartener, I'm so proud and excited to see them learn and grow this year.
On Wed, 9/8/10, Matthew and Kaylis were off on their first day of school at 8:30am. But we didn't get there without some craziness. As Matthew was getting ready in the bathroom upstairs he banged his head on the corner of the sink. He got a nice, big gash that scared us both for a minute. Once he was cleaned up a bit we realized it wasn't too bad, gave him some tylenol and sent him to school. I was a bit worried about him but it turned out fine. Kaylis and her friend Olivia (a neighbor) are in the same class. They made plans to sit with one another and walked to the bus holding hands. I waved to her at the window, blew her a kiss and she was off. She came home around 11:45am and hopped off the bus....all smiles :-) It was a successful day for everyone. So proud of my big kids.

The soccer season has begun too. Matthew is in his 4th year and Kaylis in her 1st. Twice the practices and twice the games this season. They sure do keep us busy! I love watching them play. Such a difference between the 5 year olds and 8 year olds. Matthew plays on the "big" field now. So when he is goalie he's got a much bigger goal to protect. I'm looking forward to see how he does. Kaylis plays on the little fields and seems to have fun so far. We'll be splitting our time between two games every Saturday. Good thing they'll be right next to one another :-)