Endings, Middles and Beginnings

I know I JUST posted, but I wanted this to be a separate blog.
Tomorrow is Zane's last day of Kindergarten. How did that happen? It really doesn't seem possible that a whole school year has come and gone. When he started he knew a lot of the things he needed to and that knowledge has been improved on. His printing has come a long way from the beginning of the year, his reading , yes I said reading, gets better every week. His love for school is undiminished after a year of Kindergarten and he's very excited to start Grade 1. Wow. It's sometimes hard to believe that this wonderful, smart, confident and friendly kid is mine. Who he is today is due largely to me. (I'm not trying to be cocky....I know lots of other people influence him to, but if we're honest I've been the biggest influence so far). And that's really humbling. I'm so proud of his accomplishments and of his confidence.
Saturday is the last day of soccer. The final tournament. It's been fun to watch him play and learn and improve every week. He's really thrilled to be out there on the field just playing the game the best he can. I hope it's always like that for him and not always about the win. (We don't keep score in the league he's in). I've been really impressed with all the coaches and kids that we have played with and against. It's been a great season but we're ready to wrap it up and be done.
We're getting geared up for some time with family. Cliff will be with us for the first week and then it will just be me and the kids visiting. This visit has an ending and a beginning too as mom and dad J move from their home into their new home. It's exciting and a little bittersweet too. The kids all grew up in that house, Cliff lived there while were dating, and it's the only home that Zane and Rhett know Grandma and Grandpa in. There was always lots of room to spread out in the old house and the new one we'll be a little more on top of each other. But change is good.
Summer feels like a middle to me. We're ending some stuff like school and soccer but not starting new things like school, piano lessons, playgroups and stuff like that until fall. Also, Brock is in the middle of stages. He's learning and changing every day. He's in the middle of a little baby and a big baby and by fall will be moving onto things like crawling and solids and things like that. So I'm excited to enjoy the summer. To enjoy the middleness of our lives right now and anticipate things to come. I hope we get to all the spray parks we want to, jump on the tramps as much as we can, see as many cousins and family as possible and make as many memories with friends that we possibly can.
Last weekend as we were helping mom and dad clean out their basement we came upon a couple of boxes that were still there from us. And one of them had old journals of mine....from before high school and through high school. I read a couple of them. Some of it made me laugh, some of it made me cry. Some made me sad because I can't believe how much I've forgotten! But mostly I'm really happy that I did that and that I have them now to look back on. (Although there are definitely a few years that need to be edited before I want anyone else reading them...or maybe I just need to be a little older so I don't care. I think I was a little too detailed some times! ) But for all the memories - good and bad - I'm grateful that they are recorded. And it makes me realize that although a lot of the time I don't feel a lot different than I did 14 years ago, I really have grown up a lot and I'd like to think become a better person. I wonder if I'll think the same thing in 14 years when I read these blogs?
And one more fun tidbit...Zane was playing with Brock Tuesday night and got him giggling really good. Usually you still have to work pretty hard with the tickles to get him going and then it's short lived but whatever Zane was doing Brock thought was hilarious! It made it even funner that Grammie and Grandpa Dooley were here for the night as well so they got to see it!