off for her first summer-week away at her dad’s. you think i would be used to it by now— she’s been doing it for over 7 years now… but i’m not. up until the time she’s gone, i plan my events to include her. i try to enjoy her a little more than i usually do. i try and take the time to talk more, to connect more. because i need that bond with her. and sometimes, it’s not there. we butt heads. we argue. we don’t see eye to eye. and as she’s walking out the door, i am thinking, this will be good for us.. it’s what we need… a little break…(reality, sorry)… she gets to go to places like sea world, the wild animal park, ya know- places daddies like to take their little girls. (sorry, but it’s true).
and then i kick myself. hating that she will miss out on things that go on here. hating that she has to go in the first place. hating that she is not WITH me. 😦 and of course– looking back on all of my shortcomings with her. and so i promise… not to take a day for granted. to love her like she needs to be loved. to truly enjoy her. to do my best.

look what we found at the library!!! too bad it was 4 months too late!
storm trooper cupcakes!
death star pinata… you hit it with lightsabers!
padme powerbars!
lol- anyways, totally cute. so many cool ideas and really funny pictures. 🙂

the kids are done with another year of school. kira is onto the 5th grade, cam onto the 2nd, and caleb onto his last year of preschool. i decided to stop working after a year of trying it out, and stay at home a little bit longer… to try and savor this last year before all my children are in school 5 days a week… that’s a lot of alone time… the most i’ve had in about 10 years. 🙂 i’ll miss them.
we have quite an adventure planned this summer. chris and i will be going to australia for 2.5 weeks. without the kids. which is why we finally entered the blog world. a way for our kids and others to see what we’ve seen. to stay in touch. because it is oh so far away. and it will be the longest we’ve been apart.