It has been a Bitter ~ Sweet Week!

I am having more of those "they are growing up moments".
This summer was the start of teens for us.
I enjoy each stage. Cause what is not to enjoy. They are constantly giving me reasons to laugh and reflect. They have their moments, but so do I.
Some days, weeks, seasons you are hit with the fact they are growing up even more than other times.
This past Sunday it came to my attention that after 13 1/2 years this December we will no longer be a part of a church nursery. My youngest will have outgrown those days! 13 1/2 years is a long time! That is how long I have been a Mommy.

Then this week we started working on Little Princess' thank you notes from her birthday. Since they were wee little we have always done thank you notes. I would put a marker or crayon in their hands and let them scribble. I would put a few words on the paper to say thanks. When they were a little bit older I would take dictation and they would color. Now Little Princess is writing her thank yous all on her own. I suggested drawing a picture and she looked at me like I was from some other family and just kept doing her thing as if I had said nothing of the sort. When Fun Mom switched to just words it didn't catch me off guard cause that was just her. Hockey Player was never much for coloring. He actually told me he didn't want to do Kindergarten school work cause he didn't want to color. So his switch to just writing a not was definitely not suprising. Little Princess loves to color. She just loves it and still does when she has a chance.
Now I do still have 2 youngers to do thank yous with. They are not too much into coloring either. Maybe a few stickers. Daddy's Buddy just prefers dictation. He would prefer to forget the whole process but I won't let him. Flutter Nutter, he just grins and goes off on wild crazy stories for me to dictate. He also just doesn't seem to get it. I have actually resorted to creating cards using Print Shop and when I select printing preferences I have them printed as "coloring sheets". I force them to sit and color just a bit. Voila, they are done. So much for the fun days of making thank you cards.
Some doors are shutting...but lots more are opening up. So much to look forward. I am just also trying to make mental snapshots to remember these days. Cause the camera rarely comes out anymore. Or I am just not there when the moments happen.