1st Day Back to School

One child down, one to go.

Parker starts school tomorrow, but Payton started school today with a bang! Literally.

We were riding our bikes to school this morning, in an attempt to avoid the chaos of cars that bottleneck all the way around the entire building, when we slowed down to stop at the cross walk and "POP!" Payton's back tire popped!

Fortunately, the crossing guard said, "Just leave your bikes here and I'll watch em until you come back." So, I went on ahead with Parker on the back of my bike, and Brian and Payton walked the rest of the way.

In the end, we all arrived safely at school and that's what's important.

Here are a few obligatory "1st Day of School" photos...

We couldn't convince Parker to get dressed. He said, "But I'm not going to school today, so I'm staying in my PJ's!" Can't argue with that.

By next year, I fear he'll be almost as tall as me.

Proud Daddy

Payton's sweet teacher

So, to wrap up my back-to-school post, I want to share some great pics from the last couple weeks of summer. We crammed a lot of fun in to those last few days!

Brian took the boys to two baseball games:

I don't know what Parker likes best at baseball games: the food or the mascots?

 We also hosted a little pizza and ice cream sundae party for the boys and some friends.

Puttin' my Baskin Robbins skills to work!

Payton & his buddy Macklin before...

...and after. (I love the pure joy on his face!)

Nothing like a little whipped cream on the nose to make for a good laugh!

Of course we also swam... a LOT! Both in our neighbor's gorgeous pool, and in our own plastic blow-up pool (I'll spare you the redneck images). :)

 And the last weekend night of summer wouldn't be complete without s'mores. The perfect ending to a super fun summer.

 And, somehow, the day before school started, I got talked into baking a "Back to school" cake. I seriously don't even know how this happened. But it did.

I won't end this post with all of those cliche sayings about how the summer went by so fast, or how time passes so quickly as my kids get older. I will just say that I'm savoring this time with them. I'm learning how to love the great moments, and learn from the tough ones.

I'm happy with the growth that our family experienced this summer - both mentally and spiritually, and I'm very excited for this fall... our first trip to Disney as a family of 4, a new job opportunity for me with Brian's company, my brother and his family are moving to Orlando, and many other fun things to share. Stay tuned... it's gonna be a wild ride!!

 

Summer Goals

Here in the Heckman household, we are in full-blown summer mode.

The kids are staying up a bit later (sometimes a lot a bit later); I am allowing myself the luxury of sleeping in till 7 a.m. on most mornings; there are far more Popsicles and pool play dates than ever before; and things just overall have a more relaxed feel to them.

Today for instance, we left the house at 9:30 to go to the movies with our neighbors. Only to return to take naps, read, and relax until we left to go pick up another friend for a sleepover. Which will undoubtedly involve more swimming, staying up late and ice cream.

Granted, not all days are like this, but I am relishing the ones that are.

And speaking of fun summer things... we recently decided it was time for the boys to start sharing a room. We've been wanting to "bunk them up" for a while now, but wanted to wait until school was out in case Parker kept Payton up during the night.

The first night was a little rough, but by night 3, they both seemed to be falling asleep and staying asleep all night. Next up, bunk beds! Of course, this will require me to sell, get rid of, store, hide, move the crib out of the room, but one step at a time...

For now, I'm just loving listening to them on the baby monitor when they first wake up in the morning...the adorable chatter, the giggles, and the invite from big brother to come snuggle in his bed. Priceless.

I'm also taking time this summer to teach the boys some kitchen basics.

I realized that - to my own fault - I have always done all the cooking around here. Unless it was cookies or brownies, I rarely ever involved the kids in meal preparation. But with more time on our hands these days, I am trying to integrate them in the cooking process. Who knows... maybe it will help with their finicky food choices if they help prepare the food???

Another personal goal this summer is to cut down on the clutter. Not just the tangible, every day clutter (although that is definitely included), but also the mental clutter...

...the incessant emails from every web site that I've ever visited, the worrisome thoughts about life that worrying absolutely does not change, the mental confusion over our summer vacation/camp/work calendars that I have been continually messing up lately...

... that kind of mental clutter.

I started tackling this goal yesterday by going through my inbox and "unsubscribing" to all of the emails that I get from unnecessary web sites. Yes, some of them are good, and some of them are fun to look at (especially those shopping web sites!!), but they do not benefit my mental clarity on a daily basis. They entice me to buy things I don't need; covet things I don't have/do; and feel anxious that I'm "missing out on such a great deal!" if I do not buy them.

I'm taking things one step at a time this summer...baby steps if you will... moving from crib to "big boy bed"... from mental confusion and worry, to more margin and space in my brain... from doing all the cooking myself, to involving the family to help out.

I'll report back in August and let ya know how things are going. And until then, you'll probably see a lot less posting here on my blog. I'm taking a summer vacation of sorts. Not technically leaving town or anything, just spending more time doing other things.

If you'd like to keep up with us more frequently, please follow me on Instagram (@StacyHeckman). Until later my friends... enjoy your summer... Popsicles and all!

Counting Down To Summer...

Let the countdown begin.

Only 3 more days of school.

Only 3 more days of waking up to my wretched alarm clock at 6 a.m.

Only 3 more days of sleepily making breakfast and praying that the coffeemaker brews faster.

Only 3 more days of cleaning out backpacks, making lunches, and signing agendas (thank God they're already done with homework).

Yes, this Mama is ready for the slower pace of summer.

Of course 3 weeks from now I'll be pining for the structure of school and wishing the kids weren't bickering every morning over what cartoon to watch... but for now, I'm going to pretend that stuff doesn't happen and just focus on the happy summer-y things.

And speaking of fun Summer-y things, we're working on our "Summer Bucket List" today. Ya know, all the things we want to do this summer as the nights grow longer, the bedtimes grow later, and there are far more "Sure, why not?" responses than "No's."

I found a great list that the moms over at www.thepinningmama.com created. You can download their entire list, or just use it for reference, as we did, to help jog your brain for fun activities. Click here to view the list.








The boys really love coming up with all of these crazy ideas. I can't say that we always complete 100% of them, but just compiling the list is loads of fun.

I also framed a new Summer Subway Art piece. I just adore this one that I found over at www.queenofthecreek.com. Click here for the free download.

Whatever your plans are for the last few days of school, I hope you are safe and make lots of fun memories. Here's to summer, Cheers (clink!)!!