Something new...

I love traditions. I love the routine. The memories. The easiness. The sentimentality. The significance. I love the stories behind them that get told over and over again and the way they can change over the years. 

But there is also something to be said for trying something new especially when it's your kid's idea (and only major "bucket list" item of the season.)

Emersyn decided that she wanted to make Christmas cookies - REAL ones - not the break and bake kind. So I got my friend, Jenn, famous sugar cookie recipe, made some dough, set up the kitchen and let them go to work... 

I'm actually surprised with how well they turned out. The dough is DELICIOUS on it's own, but add in all that sweetness from a teeny impromptu neighborhood cookie decorating party and they were over the top, amazing!

"Everyone put your hand in there..."

#basic #stillloveit

I've come to discover that my favorite moments are the ones that I don't have pictures of... which just means I enjoyed the memory as it happened instead of after the fact. We let the kids pick the color of icing to make and then let them loose with decorating.  And y'all... I LOVE them... every single sugar overloaded cookie was just perfect!

So here's to loving the old while not being afraid to try something new!

First Day Fun....

I love summer. I love the slow and easy of our days followed by the non-routine filled nights. I love that we spend hours at the pool, play pretend, eat too much ice cream, and cozy up on the couch watching movies. We make some of our best memories in the summer... we even tried to talk the kids into selling everything and just homeschool. 

And it almost worked except they love school which works out since the back to school rush of life has started! 

I can't believe that those signs say "5th, 3rd and 1st"... what world allows kids to grow up so stinking fast?

There is no kind of crazy like first-day-of-school crazy but this year was record setting. We had to park and walk up to school which was extra fun when we ran into the Baileys!

I love CHE for 100s of reasons but one of my favorite may be this sign.

I was a little sad that we were back down to two Kings posing in front.

Radley wanted to walk them in and I considered forcing him to be a 4th grader for just one more year. 

Instead, we dropped off these two cuties with their brand new teachers... Emmy came home full of first-day stories. My biggest hope for them in school is simply that they enjoy it. That they feel safe and cared for and eager to learn new things and having amazing teachers is one of the things I'm most grateful for as a parent. 

We hugged their necks... 

as they latched on to their friends... 

and then Rad gave Emmy a "you're the oldest King kid here now" speech and then my heart exploded. 

We loaded our big kid back in the car and prepped to just DROP AND GO. 

As if he was some kind of reliable grown-up totally capable of finding his own way through a giant maze of halls. As if he didn't need us. Or want us. I MEAN CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE?

WE ARE HIS PARENTS. 

But I rallied and we pulled up, kissed him on the cheek and just watched him walk away. 

And I may have cried a little. 

But y'all. This was the first time since he was five months old that I didn't walk him into school on his first day. I get to cry. But honestly, these tears are less about being sad and more about being proud of the human that he is and about being excited about all the things he's going to do.  

So those are teensy sad, but mostly proud and excited tears!

The night before, a friend had sent me a text inviting me to breakfast with a whole bunch of moms. I knew about 1/4 of them and the rest became fast friends. At one point when I was looking around I couldn't help but tear up at the solidarity of it all... no agenda, no plan, no big agenda... just a bunch of moms celebrating the beauty of the journey. 

Here's to another year of fun

Bittersweet (back to school) days ...

Once again, summer came and went all too quickly. We had more fun than we know what to do with and made lots of lasting memories, but the start of school is always so bittersweet. The kids are at a cross between excited to see old friends, make new friends and spend time with their favorite teachers.  We filled our last week of summer with lazy days, time with Gigi, fun in the sun and a few of favorite movies.

And we even made time to meet some teachers.... Landry is ready to take on first grade with Ms. Cameron and Ms. Kriscunias, and something tells me that Ms. Munoz (far left) may already be wrapped around her finger. Ha!

The third grade team is seriously amazing at College Hills and Emmy is so excited for Mrs. Ferguson and Mr. Solis and if you can tell by the "photo bombs" they have zero fun. Ms. Padilla keeps them on their toes!

College Hills is definitely home for our crew and I'm so thankful that we took that leap of faith and chose this amazing school all those years ago. 

And just when we were all acquainted and in a groove... something new comes along. This giant first-born of ours refused to repeat 4th grade for life, which means he is on a new campus... and y'all... I just can't take it. He's 1000% ready and while I'm only being a tiny bit dramatic... this big giant step brings so much of the unknown with it. 

I don't know the drop off process.

I don't know all the parents.

I won't know all the new kids.

I don't know what it means to be an orchestra mom.

And I'm pretty sure that I won't know half of the "advanced math" that he's going to bring home. 

But I do know this kid. 

I know he is kind.

I know he is capable.

I know he is caring. 

I know he works hard.

I know he helps others.

I know he loves to learn. 

I know that he makes me proud. 

And, really, that's all I need to know. Our job is to prepare him for the path... and while we don't have amazing parenting days 100% of the time... we have done our best to raise a kind human that is more than ready to tackle any journey he finds himself on. 

At some point, our kiddos quit holding on to us so tightly... they stand up tall, they are confident and brave, they show courage and try new things. They're that kid on the left. And then there's us crazy mommas, holding on to dear life refusing to let them go until we absolutely have to. And if we're lucky, then the kid on the left will also be like the kid on the right... happy to let us hold on a little longer, knowing that we will let go eventually. 

;) 

Being selfish...

I have a confession.

I can be a little selfish. No, really. It's true. Most of the time I'm pretty good about putting others before myself, staying humble and attempting to live a life of service. But there are two days a year where I am completely selfish. Where I say and do exactly what it is that I want to do. No questions. No apologies. No excuses. The day is about me. 

And Mother's Day is one of them. 

Here's usually what is included:
Saturday mass

Sleeping in

My choice for breakfast

Time alone

And a family outing near the water.

So that's exactly what we did... oh, and I got to do the girls' hair anyway I wanted without complaints. 

On Sunday morning, I woke up late, packed up my computer, calendar and other "to do" list items and headed out to breakfast... alone. 

"But, Katy, aren't you supposed to be with your KIDS on MOTHER'S DAY?! I mean... aren't they the whole reason you GET Mother's Day?"

Yes... they are. But also, y'all... we do a lot for our kids... all the time. Truthfully, we should do more for ourselves more often, so I didn't feel guilty in the slightest as I ate one of my favorite indulgent breakfasts, sipped on a perfect iced coffee and did whatever it was that I wanted while they stayed home and CLEANED THE HOUSE.

#literallyperfectday

I came home in time for lunch, refreshed and reenergized and fully ready to just be WITH them without the distraction of that running list. A little time to ourselves and FOR ourselves is so dang important for this exact reason. Sometimes I catch myself resenting my most favorite people instead of rejoicing in them. Crazy? Maybe. But true. 

  

After our bellies were full, we headed to the lake and enjoyed an amazing afternoon with our favorite family. I've typed so many words about friendship in this space and I will never get over the gift of them. The gift of each of the amazing women that share this ride with me and how lucky I am to have them near and far to shoulder burdens, rejoice in success, cry in sorrow or cuss in frustration. The gift of motherhood is amplified when you are sharing it with dear ones. 

Including the one that shares this crazy parenting gig with you. He hardly ever questions my crazy ideas. He tells me "yes" more often than he should. He makes me laugh. He annoys the heck out of me. He eases any burdens and carries most of my fears. 

He tries so dang hard to make each of my dreams come true that sometimes he forgets, he already has.  So eternally grateful that I get to be selfish from time to time simply because of him. 

A break...

While Ryan and I were busy getting the girls room ready the kids were living it up with Gigi and Pops in Waco. They LOVE spending time with them and I'm so grateful for how close they all are. 

I drove up on Wednesday and Landry's birthday celebration continued with the "frousins" at Poppa Rollos. Jenni suggested we go to dinner and then like all good best-friends, showed up with cupcakes and a tiara for the birthday girl. 

As much as I appreciate the quietness of an empty house and the ability to use the restroom without interruption, I sure am happy when we're back together! 

On Thursday morning we headed to Dallas for quick trip to Spark! This is a sister museum to the City Museum we visited in St. Louis. 

If you are within driving distance then I highly recommend you make plans to visit!

There is enough fun for everyone! *Note me in the bottom right

So many nooks and crannies to explore that kept a smile on all of their faces.

Then this girl was even more in heaven when she noticed they had art stations set up!

In between crawling through tunnels and sliding down "the fastest slide ever!" we still made time for a few selfies. (Except Radley who made a friend in exactly 2.4 seconds and was off running around.)

They even have a selfie station which we clearly tested.. 

And as if that wasn't enough fun for one morning... Emmy lost a tooth!

Fun day, awesome break! 

Christmas Countdown (9, 8, 7)...

The countdown continues and so does the fun... 

Only 9 days until Christmas... the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for ALL to hear! 

We have done some iteration of this every single year. Some years, it means we stick in Elf and have a movie night. Last year we went to see Sing with the Munsons, but this year.... y'all. We sang... and it was so much fun... even in the cold, pouring rain. 

We got all bundled up.... sent a few texts to people to make sure they were home... practiced our caroling and headed out to spread some cheer. 

This may be my favorite thing we've done ever at Christmas time. 

We really were spreading cheer - regardless of how well anyone sang, or if they knew the words or if you could even hear the song over all the giggling... 

every single door that opened was greeted with genuine cheer... 

and in return we saw genuine gratitude... 

and lots of joy!

And if you can believe it - we already started scheming on what we would do NEXT year! 

Only 8 days until Christmas, it's a WONDERful day to see a movie!

Like lots and lots of families and schools - we bought into the wonder of Wonder. The story of a remarkable kid named Auggie that taught everyone around him the importance of being kind. We actually started reading it a lot later than I had planned but we finished the book in under three weeks... 

And celebrated with a Sunday morning matinee post church and Sunday school. This story deserves so much more than an item checked off on a Christmas countdown. The lessons taught in the pages of this book are relevant and important to everyone from 5 to (almost) 40 and beyond. We all laughed, we all cried and we all left a little more convinced that we can all offer kindness. 

Only 7 days until Christmas, Let's go see some lights!

Once again we headed out to "never before seen" neighborhoods for a stroll through some lights. Ryan treated us to some fun finds he has discovered delivering all that happiness to people this season. 

Landry fell asleep within 20 minutes of driving... 

And the real miracle is that she stayed asleep through all the singing, dancing and selfie-taking from the rest of us!

And just like that, we are a week away from Christmas... the countdown continues and the best is yet to come...