Where does the time go?

Over the past several days I've become keenly aware that time is flying. I'm a little surprised that Halloween will be here in less than a week. What happened to October? Looking back, it seems like this past month was a blur of soccer games, running back and forth to do school school drop offs and pick ups and house cleaning. I know I got a lot accomplished this month, but I feel like this month and the two before it zipped by before I had a moment to sit back and enjoy them.

Flying time also means growing kids. It has really hit home with me within the past week that Ellie is growing up and away from me. There is hardly any baby left in my baby. Her little palms are still baby soft, but she's a little kid who talks and does her best to be independent. It hit me last Thursday morning as I chased her around the house with foam swords that she won't be here in the mornings next year. It will just be me and Mr. Furkins and that makes me feel very sad. I don't want Ellie to grow up. If I could have her stay just as she is right now forever I would. I know next year as I sit here alone every morning after the kids go to school that I will miss her terribly. Next year she will be in school for a full day. I think if she was in a half day program I wouldn't feel so bad about it, but I know that's not going to happen.

We got drenched Saturday afternoon while the girls played soccer. Madeline and Ellie had back to back games. The weather was sketchy. One minute it would be sunny and warm and the next it was rainy and windy. This scenario repeated itself more times than I care to remember. Madeline had a good game where she scored three goals. Ellie's game saw more wind and rain than Madeline's. The game felt like it went on for forever. I think we were all really happy when we finally got to head home.

On Saturday night Ellie fell asleep on me at Mass. It is very rare that she falls asleep in my arms anymore. So while part of me was happy to have her sleeping in my arms, other parts (my back, arms, shoulders and neck) were straining under the pressure of carrying one third of my body weight in limp child form. It's moments like these that I really wish Bryan was beside me instead of sitting at home watching a movie or playing a computer game. By the time Mass was over I was beat, but I'll take it. It's worth the sore muscles to squeeze a few more drops of baby out of Ellie.

Madeline developed a bright red rash on her cheeks on Friday. I though she was a little red when she came home from school, but after going to her school Halloween party that night she was really red. At first we thought she was just hot from running around. It got progressively worse over the weekend, but she wasn't itchy and didn't have a fever. My parents, without seeing her were convinced she had the mumps. (They always jump to the worse case scenario.) Bryan thought she may have had an allergic reaction to something. I wondered if she picked up some sort of contagious rash. When she woke up with the rash looking brighter than ever yesterday morning, I decided yesterday to take her to the pediatrician to see what it was. She has Fifth's Disease. The doctor tells me it's harmless in her case and that she could show signs of the rash for a few months. Unfortunately, we had to sit in a waiting room that smelled of vomit and sour milk packed with sick kids for over 45 minutes waiting to get called back to an exam room to be told that Madeline is perfectly fine and just has "a cool rash". (Madeline isn't amused with the "cool rash".) I hope that Madeline and I don't come down with anything. I did notice that our pediatrician's office will happily take gently used toys and books. I sat there thinking of how wonderful it would be for me to dump the huge stack of unwanted children's books I have sitting on my bedroom floor in their office. I could get part of my room back! I'll certainly be keeping them in mind.

Just a few more days until November. I hope it's a month that lingers.