so my phone freaked out yesterday and I basically lost a few weeks' worth of photos. I'm trying not to think about it too hard lest I make myself crazy. and luckily many of the events were photographed by friends who I can bug for photos but there are two things that were only documented with my phone that I don't want to forget. so, I'm back here on our little family blog.
anna just finished fourth grade. one of the big events of the year for the fourth graders is gold rush day, where they go to stations set up with fun games that have a gold rush theme. it is a wonderful, happy day. anna is our sweet girl who has always been at odds with herself...drawn to the fanciful, dressing up in colorful and creative outfits, but wary of attention, not wanting people to notice her. as gold rush day approached and the teachers encouraged the kids to dress up for that day, I wondered what anna would do. I was happy to discover she had a miner outfit planned from head to toe, a cowgirl hat, red bandana tied around her neck, denim shirt and pants and brown boots. The morning arrived and I wondered if she would go through with it. in the past on days like this when push comes to shove no matter how much she wants to wear the costume or the crazy hair or the fun socks, she has a hard time actually walking out the door. this day, however, she didn't think twice. she was happy all morning. she let me take pictures without hesitation. and then we drive to school and nerves kicked in...I ended up walking her onto campus to help keep her calm, but she bravely kept her entire costume on as she walked into the classroom. and she wore it all day. I had a picture of her from that morning in our front yard and one again with her on the field when I went to the school later to volunteer to help with one of the games. yes, she looked adorable, but more importantly I was so proud of her for working through the nerves and wearing what she wanted to wear.
cate just finished seventh grade. as the last week of school began I discovered that she and her friends had been planning to spend the afternoon of the first day of summer together walking around the village. cate is a social girl with lots of friends but also incredibly reserved and I often have to force her to act like a normal teenager. so the fact that she was game with this plan to wander with a pack of girls around town made me incredibly happy and nate and I were supportive of the plan. when I dropped her off and she walked to the corner to meet her friends, owen, anna and I started to drive away (with a bittersweet pang in my heart). when we pulled up to the stop light, cate and her friends were standing on the corner to the right of our car. I decided to sneak a photo of them standing there looking WAY TOO OLD and adorable. I rolled down the window and started taking photos. one of the friends, who had never met me before, looked up and saw me taking pictures and asked the girls, "why is that person taking pictures of us?!?" cate said, "that's my mom!" and they all burst into laughter. I had three pictures of the moment, one where chloe is looking at me, one where cate is smiling and waving at me, and then finally one with cate laughing hysterically with her friends. it was the perfect moment for her to start her day with my friends and for me to unravel the apron strings just a bit more.
owen just finished kindergarten. the boys in his grade have become more and more committed to the battling of beyblades. it really is the cutest thing ever and I wholeheartedly support it (especially since nate is so fun about it, battling owen, researching blades, and more). one last picture my phone ate up was of owen. the girls weren't home from school yet and he was alone in the living room with his beyblads and stadium, repeatedly launching his blades and watching them spin and spin and spin. The light from the front window shone down on him and it was a perfect, quiet, sweet, wonderful moment, his little arms in launching position ready to "let it rip!"
I miss the photos. I wish I had posted them on instagram right away. but it was the moments behind the photos that mattered. oh how I love watching these kids grow and become who they are.
