Mostly Balanced.

I'll start with a little of yesterday... It was open house at Bella's school :)  She chose to wear her navy dress with pink roses, white mary janes, and pigtails.  Perfect.  We arrived at school around 4:15, the same time as the Primm clan.  Marty is in Bella's class this year and B-bo could not be more excited.  Once in the classroom, Bella showed Marty all around, and then introduced her as her "best friend" to any of her former classmates that were there.  She gave Miss Angie, who is about 6 months pregnant, a big hug before introducing her self to the new teacher's assistant, Miss Alexa who is another cute, young thing like Miss Ensley was.  I chatted with Angie for a good 10 minutes, and she tried with her charming self to coax Liz and I into being co-room parents, but I didn't bite.  I am going to do an art project a month, starting in October, with the kiddos in conjunction with what they will be studying at the time.  I think I may be as excited as Bella.

As for as excited as she acts about going back to school, there is also some anxiety creeping in and reeking havoc.  She has been with me all summer, and she gets very used to hanging out with Mama as well as attached which tends to some slight separation anxiety.  Plus, it's been a rough summer and she can sense that I'm sad, so she's extra protective of me right now too.  Don't get me wrong,  I love having her here, but I'm also trying to grow a small business, and I know once she has been in school for a week or two she will have adjusted nicely and be just fine.

After I put Bella to bed last night, Vince and I lit the huge bonfire we set up in the backyard, enjoyed a glass of wine, adult conversation, and the dogs running amuck around our feet.  After an hour or so, we were headed back inside, but paused to take in the stars first.  They were truly breath taking, and a nice reminder of why I love living in the country... so to speak.

As for today, for the most part it was great, with a bit of yuck.  Let's start with the great.  Vince took the day off to spend it with Bella since it was her last day of summer vacation.  He decided it would be fun to start a new tradition, and what better time to start then the day before kindergarten :)  They got up, got dressed, and went to The Flying Biscuit for breakfast, and I went out thrifting all by myself.  We met up at the Restore around noon to say hi to Pap Pap, and while there I scored a vintage chair for $40 that I'm going to reupholster.  Pics of that project at a later date.  From there, Vince and Bella went to Discovery Place and I went home to sew in a quiet house <3  They stayed at DP for 3 hours before Vince had to carry an exhausted/not wanting to leave kiddo out to the car, and she was out cold before they even made it out of the parking garage.

Now the yuck.  My Mom is home in Cali, which is good and bad.  She is exhausted and alone which = prime time for bad thoughts to creep in.  We had a very long conversation where she kept saying she just needed to get it all out so she could feel better, through big sobs and at times gibberish because of extreme exhaustion/devastation.  I just wanted to reach through the phone and wrap my arms around her and reassure her that it is all going to be ok.  Sucks that I can't do that.  All I can do is pray that this nightmare is all over soon, and we can all find some peace.

Back to good.  While Bella took a bath, I ran to Target to make an exchange and get some white air dry clay for Bella's class.  It was a teacher wish list item.  Anyway, while I was gone, Vince made dinner, and when Bella finished hers, she helped me make her lunch for the next day :)  Let's see if we can keep that one up.  Her outfit has been selected, teeth brushed, story read, kisses exchanged, and lights out.

In case you were wondering, the answer is yes.  I am doing a Kindergarten Fashionista album for this school year.  And her first outfit is awesome.

For now, good night.sleep tight.and don't let the bed bugs bite.

Unless you like that sort of thing ;)

One more thing... We discovered this at the end of the day.  Apparently, Vince dripped toothpaste down his shirt this morning while brushing his teeth, and it happened to fall in just the right spot.  Funny stuff.