Back in full swing!

And school starts next Tuesday. And I have a kid entering kindergarten, something I've been anticipating with equal parts excitement and dread. I'm constantly telling my kids to stop growing. And they never do.

Aidan has been doing much better lately. We had a rough start to summer but he's been awesome lately. I'm so proud of my big guy. He's so goofy and silly, and he and Nadia have a special bond which I've loved watching develop. If he's in a time-out, she goes and sits next to him. She just sits there quietly, keeping him company. I've never had the heart to ask her to get up. Aidan's looking forward to kindergarten and being in school so close to home (two blocks away!).

Here's Mr. Saturday Night now:

He's going to be six on Halloween. And I swear today I looked at him and he looked like a ten-year-old. His new shoes are a size 2, his new pants are a 7, and he's in a boy's medium shirt. He's losing his clumsiness and is less like a Great Dane puppy (all legs and paws) and more like a sure-footed, able-bodied athlete. "ET" is his new favorite movie and he's bugging me for "Star Wars" movies.

Miss Makena is entering what must be the pre-PMS stage of a young girl's life. She's been so emotional lately. Crying and whining and then laughing wildly at Aidan's weirdo shennanigans. My no-nonsense tough-it-out tomboy tendencies is having a tough time dealing with it. And I'm horrified to think that this oh-so-fun stage will last until she moves out. Or at least until she's fourteen and has boobs and stops speaking to me altogether. Her saving grace is that she is still the most beautiful girl and still says the best things: "Mommy, when it's Easter and the Easter Bunny forgot your basket, I'll share my candy canes and jelly beans with you."  Let's hope the sweetness is still there when she's fourteen. Hey, I can hope, right?

Here's Miss Thang with my cousin Katie, and then yesterday during the 17.3 seconds she sat still for me and my big honkin' camera:

And then there's Nadia. Spaghetti, Oreos and cereal are her current favorite things to eat. Oh, and paper, too. She loves to eat paper. She's also back into her screaming stage, and I swear it's only a matter of time before glasses start shattering. In China. She adds new words to her syllabus daily, including the new and inevitable addition of "no". It was coming; I knew it had to happen at some stage in her toddlerhood that it would arrive and be the clearest and most frequently used word in her limited vocabulary. What I didn't expect was that she'd use it with reckless abandon, stringing twenty or thirty together while kicking daddy in his nether regions on the way to her crib every night or on the way to a diaper change. If we weren't infertile, we would be now. Either the kicking would afflict Chris or the screaming would shatter whatever's left of my eggs.

Lucky for us (and for her, too, sometimes) that she's so damn cute:

She starts pre-school next Thursday. But I'm not ready to talk about that yet. *sniffle* September is full of big milestones for us and for her, and I'll just save talking about those for when I'm ready. Like after three or four gin and tonics. Well, I'm not really drinking anymore, so maybe just a few stiff chocolate soymilks and the rest of my Vicodin will do the trick. =)

And because I hardly ever post scrapbooking stuff anymore, here's a little project I started tonight:

This where I'll put photos of all those fun fall activities - school, Halloween (and Aidan's birthday!), turning leaves, colder temperatures, Thanksgiving.

7Gypsies album, Basic Grey paper, Maya Road tree chippie, American Crafts stickers, KI Memories paper, Kaiser Crafts rhinestones (they're yellow and orange and very cool), EK heart punch, and *tada!* my new favorite tool, the Stampin' Up! scallop border punch.

And, just in case no one caught it, my handiwork (photo and layout) is on the current cover of Simple:

The beauty on the cover is the daughter of a friend of mine. Isn't she gorgeous? And in the July/August issue I was the featured artist and I created all the section openers. But I'm not bragging or showing off or anything. =)

I'll be back over the weekend with some more ramblings, and with a few fun give-aways!

Comments

[Amy Coose]

Love seeing your pics. I swear, you amaze me with your skills! Love the swing picture...too funny!

[Cheryl]

Tina! You talent continuously amazes me! Congrats on the cover! It's a gorgeous page - I can't wait to see the little book you're working on finished! It's adorable!!! (as are your kids! I hope school is going well! We start in a few days - cross your fingers for Lucas ;)

[AllisonK]

You make everyday moments look spectacular!!

Our boys are the same age. We are starting Kindergarten on Tuesday as well.

[Christy]

I've been telling Madison to stop growing for like EVER... the stinker refuses to listen, darn it! Love those photos... and that lil' book is the cutest! Congrats on the SS cover *and* being the featured artist.. you go girl!!!

[kribss]

just wanted to tell you that i love that picture on the sweetwater blog! {ok, i love all your pictures!!} and your kids are way cute. i told my 15.5 year old the same thing and now he's about 5" taller than me. *sigh*

[Séverine]

Thank you to share this with us!
I love to come here and reed your blog and see your amazing pictures!
Your children are so beautiful!

I love the fall album too! The tree is simply too cute!

[Martha]

You talented babe, you!

[Leanne Stamatellos]

and so you should brag - you are one talented scrappe and photographer not to mention a great mum and wife to her beautiful children!
what's wrong with that? :)

[kyla]

Love these photos! These precious little faces are just priceless and you've captured them perfectly. I'm glad you're feeling back to normal (or at least mostly). Hope the kids get into the swing of back to school quickly.