All good things ... including summer ... must come to an end

The last few days have been filled with back to school business. Jacob and Savannah went on a much anticipated … “Daddy is taking us to work today” adventure complete with a trip home on the city bus. We’ve also had haircuts, gotten new shoes, bought first day outfits and a backpack or two, had dentist appointments and have tried …. very unsuccessfully I might add, to go to bed a little earlier.

I told Caroline she would have to get up one hour earlier every day this week. She started at almost noon, then 11:00, then 10:00. Today she came in my room at 9:30 and said … “I’m up” and then promptly went back to bed.

Bill an I went out Tuesday night to celebrate a belated anniversary with dinner and a movie. There was no one else in the theater and it felt like they had a private screening of the movie just for us. It was so fun! We saw “The Proposal” which seemed like a good anniversary choice.

The movie started at 10:05 and driving home after midnight I was thinking … next week is coming oh so quickly. There will be early, early mornings complete with scrambled eggs and scrambles to the bus.

As much as I’ve enjoyed summer, it will be good to get back into a routine. I’m tired of the Disney channel, the bickering and people saying they are hungry around the clock. I swear my kids eat more times a day now then when they were newborns.

But as ready as we are, I will miss the long days, late nights and laid back schedule. In fact…the last 2 days we have eaten lunch at 3:00 which is exactly what time the bell will ring to send the kids home from school this year. Yep, next week is going to be different all right.

A few things I will miss:

Jacob, I’ll miss watching you walk to the end of the high dive at the pool and never even stopping before you jump off. I’ll miss you begging to go to Incredible Pizza and how much you love to be at home. That week the girls were gone and it was just us? That was a great time buddy! Oh, and the way you hold your mouth while you play your Wii games … it’s something I love to watch!

Savannah, I’ll miss all the help with “jobs” you so willingly gave me every time I asked. I’ll miss being able to sneak out on “errands” to see a movie with you or how excited you get to do just about anything. I love how you and Brittany get up at the exact same time everyday and how you can climb up the rock wall at the gym faster than anyone I’ve ever seen.

Brittany … you are the calm in the storm and I’ll miss your sweet spirit and loving heart. I’ll miss you asking for sweet tea whenever we drove past a McDonalds, all those times you came to the gym by yourself to workout with me and you playing “Great is the Lord” and “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” over and over on the piano until you got it “just right”.

Caroline … It won’t be the same sitting at the computer not being able to call on you for help - be it scanning pictures, making a slideshow, or posting on ebay. I enjoyed these projects with you so much. You took the responsibility and ran with it. And those videos of myself you taught me how to make on the MAC … I think that is the hardest I have laughed in years.

And one last thing … Brittany, tonight when I asked you to read me something from your Bible and you said … how about my favorite verses … and then proceeded to read about the wise man who built his house on the rock … well, add that to the highlight reel of my summer. Especially when you proceeded to tell me what those verses meant to you. Then when Savannah wanted to read “The Lord’s Prayer” and you said….“oh Matthew 6:9” I sat in amazement. I wanted to call and thank every Sunday School teacher and Pine Cove counselor who has ever poured into you because you are both spilling out what they have poured into you.

As much fun as we’ve had this summer, tonight is surely one I never want to forget.

And when Caroline read the title to this post she said, “I don’t want summer to end.”

And now that I think about it, I’m really not that ready for it to end either.