First Day of School

So Jackson has decided to no longer sleep through the night (I think sleeping through the night lasted about a week...just long enough for him to psych us out). This morning he woke up at 4:00 a.m. screaming and crying. Since today is Jeremy's first day of official summer band and he had to be there at 6:45 a.m., I thought maybe I should be the one to tend to our darling, little son. After I settled him down, I tried to get back in bed for a few more minutes of much needed sleep. Unfortunately, my mind would not quit racing...thinking about everything I needed to do (today and ten years from now). So after wrestling with myself for about thirty minutes, I just got up and jumped in the shower.

By the time I was getting out, it was time for Jeremy to be up. It was nice starting our day together. We had breakfast, had a few quiet moments to talk about what was going to happen today (him at work and me at home), and make a few evening plans. Then it was time to get him out the door and me on to the treadmill! I'm supposed to be doing a 1/2 marathon in September with Ashley, but at this rate I'll be fortunate if I even finish a few miles! But I'm doing it! I've found that I'm way more likely to work out if I'm talking to someone, so Jeremy and I continued our morning conversation via cell phone while he was commuting (what did people do before cell phones?!).  By 7:00 a.m. I have gotten dressed for the day, breakfasted with my my hubby, worked out, had my quiet time, cleaned up the kitchen, and looked over my 'to do' list. I feel pretty accomplished.

 5 months-first ride in the jogging stroller- He loved it!

But what I really want to reflect on is the first day of school. This morning while Jeremy was getting ready for school, I kinda felt like I was having flashbacks to my school days.  It's that time of year when the air is full of hope...it's a fabulous new chapter in life, for everyone. Things seem so exciting, there is much to anticipate, new goals to set...and then reality sets in. (But the Isley household has much to be thankful for, especially Jeremy's new job as percussion coordinator at Frenship High School!)

Yay drums!

Anyway, it made me think about my mom and how she was always the first one up every morning in our house. She got us all up and running for the day by flipping on the lights and singing, 'rise and shine and give God the glory, glory...' usually throwing in a few hand claps here and there. (Perhaps this is where all four of us got our great musical prowess.) We all promptly responded with grunts and groans and with large huffs while pulling the covers up over our heads to shade the light from our sleepy eyes.

David, Jeremy, Laura, Rachel- back in the day!

Mom also made sure to have breakfast ready for us each morning. I always loved breakfast (I still do). One of our favorite breakfasts was always monkey bread- biscuits covered in butter and lots of sugar...yummo! I think my brother, Jeremy, always called it monkey brains...it does kinda look like a brain with all of those biscuit chunks. Good memories!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sugar-rush/monkey-and-gorilla-bread-recipe/index.html

My sweet brothers!

Seeing how hard it is for me to get up with my husband, makes me really appreciate my mom and all of those mornings that she made so memorable for us! Perhaps that's one of the reasons why all of my sibs are so close...my mom created a home with a warm, loving atmosphere. We didn't realize it took any energy or effort on her behalf...I mean, she's mom! But now that I'm on the flip side, I recognize her hard-work and sacrifice as well as her joyful attitude. I'm thankful for my wonderful mom; she set such a great example for us to follow. I'm excited about creating fun moments for my wonderful husband and sweet baby boy! So it stinks that I couldn't sleep this morning, but I'm thankful for the time to reflect...time to think about how to make the first day of school...each day of school, for that matter, start off on the right foot! Thanks mom!

Back before digital cameras-sorry Dave! Ha Ha!