10 Things keeping me from updating my blog

10. Going to the Red Sox vs Rockies game with some of our Boston buddies. (i had a hard time choosing which team to cheer for...so i cheered for both)

9. Teaching piano lessons to Grace and Abby--they both really love their daily lessons, especially Abby, and I love the memories it brings back of the days when I used to enjoy lessons from my mom (that only lasted for 5-6 years, until my social life moved up to position #1 on my little pre-teen priority list, and piano lessons became a total draaaagg)

8. Spending evenings with just Reid and Eliza while Abby and Grace were at Vacation Bible School last week. 5pm-9pm without Grace and Abby? Eliza was in heaven. Reid and I enjoyed the quiet sounds of summer nights. And the girls had the time of their lives.

7. Getting rid of the evil (and not at ALL cute) bunnies that ate my kale, swiss chard, beets, carrots and spring lettuces. Traps didn't work. Coyote urine didn't appeal. Fake Snakes creeped me out. Having the Boy Scouts remove 5 massive junipers (their home) didn't even do the trick. So, I left it in Reid's capable hands...and there hasn't been a bunny in my yard since Tuesday afternoon. (if you want to know how he got rid of them, you'll have to ask him...)

6. Park days, pool days, zoo days, stay-at-home-in-pajamas days

5. Checking everyone else's blogs and wondering how I am so lucky to have such awesome friends

4. Planning an all-sisters trip to Indiana later this summer. The four of us sisters haven't all been together since before i left for Chile as a missionary. I'm looking forward to this trip more than i can say.

3. The need to not only water my vegetable garden daily, but to also go out and check on the plants 3-4 times a day. I'm a little obsessed with it...to say the least. I can't believe i haven't dedicated an entire blog post to my new garden....i will....soon

2. Getting ready for Girl's Camp this week (our church's youth camp for all the 12-18 year old girls.) It's in two days. I have a garage full of camping gear, a kitchen full of camping food and a head full of things i'm sure i'm gonna forget. I'm not much of a camper. I love nature, but I don't necessarily love to sleep in it. Yet still, I'm actually surprisingly excited for this week.

1. The Number One thing that's kept me from blogging???? It's not really an event....it's not wanting to write about an upcoming event--my oldest child starting Kindergarten in EIGHT days!!!!!!!!!! I've heard about a hundred other moms say the very thing that keeps crossing my mind: "As soon as your kids get really helpful, and really fun to have around, they ship 'em off to kindergarten." What's up with this???? Why does it work this way? And is there any chance they'd take Eliza, and leave Grace for me? Grace is so helpful--legitimately helpful...as in I ask her to clean up something and she does it. I ask her to help her sisters and she does it. I ask her to get something for me and she does it. When did this start!?!??!?! She even comes up to me about once a day and asks what she can clean!!!

Not to mention that I enjoy just being with her more than ever. We talk all the time about all sorts of things, and I feel like I have a little friend in the house at all times. I don't mean to make it sound like we don't still have our battles...'cause we do. But I feel like I've completely exited the "i have no one to talk to during the day" stage of parenting, and I'm really loving it. And now, for 3 hours each afternoon, she's gonna be gone. I am going to miss her.

And multiply what I'm feeling times a thousand, and that's where Abby's gonna be. Those two are better playmates than ever (so much so that I feel bad for their slightly excluded lil' sister, but that's another post). Abby looks up to Grace so much. I don't have enough imagination or energy to fill Grace's shoes for three hours every afternoon!!! It'll be good for them to have some time apart, though. And Grace is more excited than i would have imagined possible. She's changed so much, and grown-up so much over the past year. Oh, i love having her around...almost enough to consider homeschooling her....almost. I've read many blogs about this very thing over the past few years and I've thought "that will NEVER be me writing about Grace!" And now it's here.