Monday, September 12, 2011

The First Day O' School. Or, The Beginning of the End

Is it melodramatic that I'm feeling like life is over because this is Bennett's last year before Kindergarten?

It may be, but I'm freaking out nonetheless.

It's the beginning of the end. The end of his toddler-hood, the end of being home all day every day, the end of his whole world being our family, the end of him thinking Mommy and Daddy are the coolest people in the world. Pretty soon he'll be moving away and marrying some girl from the University.

I object.

I often voice these objections to Benny-boy.
Me: "I don't WANT you to grow up. Please stop."
Bennett: "Moooom... it's OK! I'll still give you hugs and kisses, even when I'm big."

Sigh.

Do you see now why I refuse to accept him growing up?

Nonetheless, school started today, and I decided to get over my temper tantrum and make it a special day. After all, I do love a good reason to break out traditions!

Like the "Special breakfast on the First-Day-of-School" Tradition.

I made these apple cinnamon muffins. They were amazing (I made mini muffins instead of biggies, just FYI). I served Benny's up with some yogurt.
Along these lines, we also celebrated the "Bring-the-Teacher-an-Apple-on-the-First-Day-of-School" Tradition. Also known as "My-Mama-is-a-Kiss-Up" Tradition.

I packaged up 12 of our Apple mini-muffins in an egg carton. I found this cute idea on Pinterest. Benny was excited to give them to his teacher Miss Mary!


Moving on... to the "Picture-on-the-Front-Steps" Tradition. Our pics were a little sub-par this year. We were rushed, and we have two young children. Enough said.

Still we got a few semi-cute shots.



Getting a semi-decent picture...

When we got to school, it was all craziness and hustle and bustle, which is not Benny's favorite.
He likes it calm and quiet like his Daddy.
He said hello to sweet Miss Mary, who greeted each child outside the door with a big smile and hug. Love her already.

She oohed and aahed over the gift Bennett brought her, and I saw his little eyes twinkle with pride.
Inside the classroom, Bennett found a quiet corner where he played Dinosaurs and "Guys" (which basically means action-figures in Bennett-speak").

For the first 10 minutes or so, he kept asking me to stay, and then all of a sudden, he said very calmly, "Mama, can you please leave me here now? You can go."

So I kissed him (twice) and told him to be good (10 times) and drove away.

When pick-up time came, my buddy emerged from the classroom wearing a green Birthday Crown since he just had his birthday. He had a great first day of school and told me all about the special snack, the toys and the friends.

We then went and celebrated with our final tradition of the day... the "Special-Lunch-After-The First-Day-of-School" Tradition. This was one my Mom always did with me, and have fond memories of the first day of school!

He picked "Pandamania Express" :0), and we had a really nice lunch and playtime at the park afterwards.

After lunch he said, "What a beautiful day this was. I love this day."

Enough with the preciousness, kid. Can't you see your Mom is hanging on by a thread today? Sheesh.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

5 years ago today...

...God blessed me with the most amazing gift.

It was this.
And this...And this.
A precious little baby boy who would change my whole life, deny me of sleep for 5 months straight, smear dirt on everything I own, melt my heart and kill me every day with his preciousness.

I like to call it Death by Bennett.

Because I die a little bit every time I look at his precious, little face.

As he grows up, I get to see more and more of the unique, special boy God has made him to be. God has given his such an amazing heart, character and conviction. Just like his Daddy.
Of course I can't sum all of Bennett up in one blog post, but here is a glimpse.

My Bennett is:

The kind of boy who just likes to sit back and watch sometimes...
Imaginative!
Lover of bad guys. He wants to redeem them all so they won't be bad anymore.

Loves to play, play, play!

A quiet and complex little boy. And old soul... He loves to sit quietly and play by himself away from the chaos of life.

Lover of the outdoors...

Lover of adventures...
Always holding a stick or gun... he is ready to defend and protect others!
Sweet and thoughtful... he loves to cuddle and is always telling me he loves me.
Sometimes precocious...
Loves quality time with his family. Here he is with his Bobob.

A very sweet brother to Mallory (most of the time) :0)He melts my heart and he knows it. He is the joy of my life.
Happy Birthday, Benny-boy. I can't believe how quickly these 5 years have gone by and how many special memories we've had. You are SUCH a blessing to me. I am so blessed to be your Mama. I pray that God will continue to bless and keep you and grow you into the young man He has designed you to be.