Clover Lane

We did a little clothes-clean-out because Patrick has grown so much.  Even some of the shorts that fit him in the beginning of summer don't fit anymore! I knew he needed some fall clothes, pants especially.   I made him stand still while I tried things on him as fast as I could.  (A little more on how I organize the kids closets here and here.)

The very next day, I was asked by a company called Tea Collection if I would mind picking out $100 worth of boys clothing in return for a review.  OH, the perks of blogging, not to mention the perfect timing!  Heck yes, thank you very much.  I ordered 3 items (yes, this isn't Target!) and I broke child labor laws and had Patrick model them for you. I will say, honestly, that these are the softest, highest quality clothes that have ever touched this little boy's skin.  (And probably will till he starts buying his own.)

My favorite, so soft and cuddly:

His favorite, the "one with the bike":

And pants that fit:

That just about wore him out, all that work.

Off to play Candy Land, where I purposely put the good cards on top, and I pick from the bottom...it speeds up the game considerably.

Abbey you are the nicest, prettiest, smartest girl ever and I love you so much.  Thank you for making me go shopping with you, I need to do that sometimes, really I do.  Thank you for always being my "opinion" go-to person in this house whether it's about decorating, makeup, photography, life. You are a voice of reason and have darn good taste that you inherited from someone, not me.  Same with those brains of yours.  And those abs.  I consider myself the luckiest mother in the world to have you as my daughter.

This week I am grateful for:

1. My husband, who has endless energy and loves being a father.
2. September! Beautiful weather, with a tiny hint of the smell of autumn in the air.
3. Nicer-than-pie neighbors.  They are priceless aren't they?
4. My in-laws who welcome all of their children and grandchildren to their wonderful house, and feed them, and supply them with a great big yard, a beautiful pool, and fun for all ages every single weekend.

 Andrew got a Cyco Cycle for his birthday.  I wasn't sure about this weird thing-no handlebars?-but it is a hit.  Patrick can usually be found hitching a ride on back.

Here is my new plan I thought of out of my own head.  It is working well and I love it, which makes me think some of my brain cells lasted through the summer.

Sometimes when I post my housewifey sort of things like this, I feel (in a paranoid way) like there might be lots of people out there who are making fun of me.  It's OK if you do.  If you say, "That weird Clover Lane lady just has to find something better to do with her time then make cleaning charts for herself."   The thing is, I have made cleaning charts (and all other sorts of lists) for myself since I was 5 and I just can't stop now.  It's a crazy weird addiction.

I wish I had a better picture for you, but I don't.  I spend a little bit of each morning (I will bore you more tomorrow with my daily schedule) doing basic cleaning and straightening.

The DC after each weekday stands for Deep Cleaning (how tricky!) and that means that once a week I have a room to work on where I do more than just the basics, but get down to the nitty gritty like baseboards, windows, cushions off the couch-that sort of nitty gritty.  So if I do what I am supposed to do I won't have to do a huge spring/fall/Christmas cleaning, because it's been done slowly but surely.  I have the whole week for each room, so I can get to it on a slow day, or little by little, instead of tearing it apart and spending hours.

The first day of his last year of high school- as much of a smile as I'm going to get out of him this early in the morning.

Abbey, excited, on her first day of high school.

The boys.

And of course, when this happened:



And the year before:

Geez, that's the last thing I needed to do to myself today-chronological photos of my baby.

.Isn't that beautiful?  And oh so true.  And dang hard at the same time.

As eager as I am to have the kids out of school for the summer, I am always ready for them to start up again after summer break.  And they, thank goodness, are already to go back too.  I am eager for structure, schedule, organized days, and time to think and talk without interruption (somewhat of course, I still have little Paddy to keep me company).  I think they are ready to learn, to be around friends, for something to fill their days, and honestly, just to learn.

At the same time, I get little panicked feelings-of letting go, of all that change that takes place with a new school year. As my kids have gotten older, oh boy, do I get a sense of nostalgia at this time.

For everything to be the same as it was years and years ago.  Before high school came into the picture, before, by golly, the thought of college came into the picture.

When it was just simple.  When the choices were just peanut butter and jelly, or ham and cheese, not SAT or ACT, not "let's think about the future and make decisions that can alter the course of your life".

When the school supply lists involved a 24 pack of crayons, not an Ipad.

When I worried about whether the crabby lunch lady would be crabby, not would my son make it safely to school driving in construction during crazy rush hour.

Letting the old go and taking the new to heart-but loving the present, without constantly yearning for the past-that's tricky isn't it?  I do trust that the busy-ness of life, the work of  'mother', usually compels me by sure force into the day, moving forward.  The truth is that present will be past soon enough, and if I don't embrace the change, I miss out on the life that I have opening up before me.

Change is hard.  I know that, I tell myself that, but I still allow myself a little time to be sad and miss the days of old.