It’s been a noisy couple of weeks. My house has been full of action and chaos, mess and excitement.  As the girls prepare to go back to school, they have been squeezing every activity and social event into the last few days of their summer vacation.  Between school clothes shopping, open houses, social events and Drivers Ed, our lives have felt like a rodeo.  (I was going to say three ringed circus but decided a rodeo with wild horses and pretty girls was more impressive).

I remember feeling this way at the end of the school year.  I was so excited for school to end and the chaos to be gone.  Summer came……we had some calm days.  We took a few vacations but then August rolled around.  My girls started to see signs of fall.  They saw the new clothing hit the mall and the school supplies move from the back of Walmart to the front of Walmart.  It dawned on them their days were numbered and the season was changing.

“Mom, can I have my friend spend the night?”

“Mom, can we go to the mall for the 25^th time to shop for clothes?”

“Mom, can we go to the zoo?  We have not gone to the zoo this summer.”

“Mom, can we make you crazy by watching too much TV and leaving messes around the house?” (OK, they did not really ask me this question).

“OH NO….My school website says I need to read this book. We need to get this book.  It’s an emergency.  I can’t sleep until I have this book. I will not let you alone until we get this book.  Did I say it was an emergency?  This is a full on crisis!”

“Mom, I know that you just spent hours at the mall with me and bought me all my school clothes, but I need an outfit for the first day.”

“Mom, I need a hair cut.”

“Mom, I want to do a sport.  I need a physical.”

“Mom, I lost my really expensive calculator. I will need it for Pre-Calculus.  It’s an emergency. I need a new one.”

“Mom, I need to get stuff to decorate my locker.”

“Mom, can I have a big party at Christmas time?”  (huh????)

“Mom, can I drive on the freeway?”

So part of me is excited to get my kids back in school. Really excited.  Oh the quiet and peace it will bring to my home.   My house is always trashed during the summer, and the girls are like little puppy dogs that wrestle around and raise the level of emotional chaos in the home.

But……the other part of me is sad and reminded that my babies are growing up.

Isabel, my baby, starts middle school this week.  Do I have permission to cry when I drop her off?  It reminds me of that feeling of sending her off to kindergarten for the first time and watching her get on that bus with 5^th graders.  Grace, my middle child,  is changing so much.  She has transformed into a little lady. Julia, oh my word, the girl is driving.  She is growing up and maturing and I see glimpses of adulthood popping out in this 15 year old.

Me?  I definitely have more lines around my eyes and more grey underneath my blonde color.

What a journey I am on with these three girls. From the time they were infants to this very day, I am amazed at how they change along the way, and how they process life as they navigate through their days.  I continue to pray they walk with Christ in their hearts and compassion on their lips. Oh how I pray this with all my heart!

So each new season brings a bit a chaos, and each day brings an adventure. Honestly, I don’t think there will ever be a final destination to this thing called motherhood,  so I want to enjoy this journey….this chaos…this rodeo along the way.  I just need to catch my breath every once in awhile.  So with that I say, Woohoo, school is almost here.

Pictures of change

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