February Little Things

The morning skies without rain have been brilliant. I think I really see them differently as they don't happen when it's cloudy and rainy. I loved the sky so much one morning, I wanted to capture it for memory. 

At family dinner one night, Mike looked over at Abby to see both of her front teeth sticking forward rather than down. They had both been loose for awhile and sure enough they were ready to come out at the same time! We've loved having her toothless these last few weeks!

 Mike's sister introduced us to the pineapple corer while we were in Utah visiting. Ordering one has been life changing.

Rob was in town for a short 24 hours - so fun to visit with him! He and Mike have been friends since elementary school, and Rob has visited us in almost every place we've lived (including South Korea!).

 We call this "Bob Ross" style painting. We watched one of his episodes on Netflix and then the kids had a blast creating their own versions on canvas.

Lots of elementary school activities happening. The older two girls made valentines boxes, Abby made cards for the kiddos in her class. Tayler's grade had an awesome play production - each class had a min-play, complete with costumes and everything. It was darling! Tayler was a swan in "The Ugly Duckling." Of course, her play was starting at the exact time that I needed to drop Max off at his school. Mike was traveling, and no matter how I worked it, I knew I'd be a few minutes late, and probably in the very back of the cafeteria. I said a little prayer that I'd at least get to see her. As I was driving Max to school, I started to stress that I might not even get a spot in the cafeteria (we've learned these school events are well attended - which is great, but stressful if you can't get there early!). At that very moment, I received a message from a sweet friend who said "got here early, saved you a seat on the 5th row!" And while it sounds like a such a small thing, it was a reminder to me that the Lord is in the details of our lives and knows our hearts. So grateful for her, and that I was able to pop in (a few minutes late) and still able to be there for Tayler.

Every month or so, I get to go volunteer in Abby's classroom with another parent where we spend an hour or so sharing a theme through a book, and then stations of science/math/games/art. I've forgotten to take pictures, but captured this one as they were celebrating Presidents Day. It's been so fun to be there!

 A day of sun and warmth meant bubbles on the driveway!

 We've spent oodles of time at basketball games or driving to/from practices. Max actually had a small window in February where he overlapped being on three different teams - one for the feeder High School, one for the Middle School, and one for church. While it was crazy for a couple of weeks, he really stepped up and managed his time well. We're super grateful he had the experience of being part of each team. His feeder team made it into the tournament and held themselves really well (their season had only one loss). His middle school team rocked an almost undefeated season as well. And his church bball team won the stake championship! They were all so different, and all offered unique learning opportunities for Max. He's fun to watch!

We kept our heart attack tradition - everyone writes a kind heart to everyone else in the family! We've also made our monthly focus centered around the book, 7 Habits for Highly Effective People. February was teaching and practicing the principle "be proactive" and each kiddo wins the award for the week. Sundays are the short teaching moment, sometimes with role playing, sometimes in conversation, sometimes the "short" is the main part about it. Then everyone does nominations for the winner (who gets construction paper sign on their door for the week). It's felt really doable, practical and simple.

 During the first week of crazy with the new puppy, Abby took to creating her own after school snacks. I thought it was hilarious that she made a "snack" of bread with chocolate chips!

 Mike and I had the opportunity to attend the JA (Junior Achievers) annual banquet for his company. It was a black tie event and so fun to spend the evening doing something we never typically do!

We've celebrated a few 'firsts' with Max in February as well. We attended his high school orientation night (bah!). It was so awesome and I couldn't help but smile pretty much the whole time. We are so excited for him and this new chapter that'll be beginning for him! Then, he and I spent a couple hours one night pouring through the high school class options (SO MANY OPTIONS!) and while it felt a bit overwhelming, we called a few families who've been through the process and they were so helpful! Fun stuff. AND, Max was able to go to his first church dance! He wasn't jumping at the opportunity, but thankfully a group of his peers welcomed him in by picking him up and all going together. He had a blast.

And things in February that happened without photos:

*We've been painting all of the kids rooms and helping them create an intentional space. It's been a fun process.

*Mike had some whirlwind travel from the first of the year through February which took him to China, Mexico (twice), England and Amsterdam. Gratefully, he's stayed healthy, and I need to do another post of the few photos he captured (between the hotels, meeting rooms and airports!). Amsterdam is officially on our list of places to go visit together!!

*Mike and I enjoyed some lunch dates between his traveling schedule while the kiddos are at school. Different seasons of life bring opportunities for us to find those times to intentionally connect.
*We coordinated a family service activity with a few other families and went to an assisted living center. Whoever wanted to played music, and we visited the residents in the memory care facility. Definitely something we want to keep doing on a regular basis!

A Pause Between Pages

A new chapter begins. New state, new home, new community and new schools. Our oldest begins his last year of middle school while our youngest begins her first year of Kindergarten. The first day of school, they awoke excited yet nervous. Confident yet doubtful. Calm yet anxious.

Or maybe those were my emotions.

Because as I watched our kindergartener boldly step into her classroom, held the hand of our second grader as she asked bubbled with energy, saw our fifth grader courageously step into her classroom with a smile, and chatted with our eighth grader on his way to school, the moments filled me with reminders of their strength, their light, their courage.

They are there and I am home. It is quiet. It is still. As this new chapter begins for our family, I find myself taking a moment to pause between the pages. Drinking deeply the moments of the past. Of exploring and discovering. Of letting go and trusting. Of embracing and connecting. There is so much to be grateful for.

The light of those moments travel through me like the warmth of the sun on my skin on a hot summer day. Closing the eyes for just a moment to see, hear and relive them as they imprint on the mind and heart.

Between the pages, I find moments of vulnerability. As with all change, what encompasses the next chapter is new and undiscovered. Yet, if I truly look back at our story, I see two themes carried throughout every page.

Faith and courage.

Pausing for a moment to breathe them in deeply, I remember. How they speak to my Spirit, open my heart and soften my rough edges. They are continual teachers as we travel as students of life. I remember. There is nothing to fear, nothing to hold back from.

I am ready.

The next chapter awaits.

School's Out!

Abigail adored her preschool class and Miss Allison and can't wait for next fall. She's a sponge right now with words, writing, and anything that requires movement. She loves to paint, read books and spend time outside.

 The girls and I have LOVED riding bikes to and from school! We only had one afternoon that I had to drive to pick them up (thunder and lightning!), we had a few wet days (grateful for ponchos!), and a few hot days (I figured out carrying a misting squirt bottle in my basket was handy!). The girls were excited to wear "regular" clothes on the last day of school.

 Abigail has LOVED biking to/from school. She has built friendships with the crossing guards, police officers and so many of the parents. This morning, after we dropped off the girls and were headed home, she was about 3/4 the way across the street when she stopped, threw her bike down, and ran to Wilma, the crossing guard, to give her the biggest hug. It was so sweet! 

Alexis was all smiles at the end of the day - she's worked so hard academically and she's seeing the fruits of her efforts. She's opened up and has blossomed into sharing her kind-hearted genuine personality. She's a natural with the routines and really looks for ways to include everyone around her. She told me on the way home from school how much she has loved the bike rides and was full of smiles for summer ahead!

Tayler was all smiles going to school, and was so excited to celebrate the last day. She's made some sweet friendships and it's been so fun to see her thrive. As I picked her up, and we walked away, she had a moment of genuine sadness to close a chapter she'd loved so much. There was something so sweet about hugging this little soul full of light who felt what so many of us relate to - that some chapters are hard to close!

Dropping off Max for his last day!

 Yes. I totally snuck this photo in before driving away. Something about seeing them walk away on that last day makes me feel a whole mix of emotions. We chatted in our car ride over about his first day, his first/first day (before we moved), and what he's learned now that he's on his last day. It seems moving and throwing ourselves head first into all kinds of change opens the door for exponential growth. So grateful this kiddo rose to the opportunities, took on the challenges, and maintained his determination to keep moving forward.  From making a basketball team and not knowing a single person, to putting himself out there to making friendships, to jumping into academics, to starting his own business (selling lollipops made in Columbia).

More than the "what" these kiddos have done, it's been amazing to see "who" they are becoming in the journey.

And OF COURSE we kept our first day/last day slurpee tradition! We chuckled in the car ride as we remembered how this tradition began. We'd just moved to Nebraska, and Max was starting first grade. It was a struggle getting there each day, oodles of anxiety, and as a "reward" for getting to school, I promised him a slurpee. We kept the "slurpee after school" going until he transitioned a bit more. And since we couldn't maintain the slurpee tradition all year long, we opted to end that first grade year with one too - to chat about how much we'd all learned.

And here we are...six years and three states later! Love this bookended tradition!

Commute

Then came the fun part.

School began.  We were still about 5 weeks out from moving in (although we didn't know that at the time - we thought it was 2-3 weeks!).  

We were living a good :45 - 1 hour away from it all.

It was an awkward window of time.

And there was a TON of debate and conversation with "what to do."  But, with all the solutions to make it easier on me, I really knew the best solutions for the kiddos was to start them in school.  Not to wait, not to enroll them somewhere else, but get them moving forward in their new chapter.

Which meant a commute.

Not two times a day, but four (thanks to a full day third grader and a half day kindergartener).

So grateful for the help I had from my dad and hubby who were able to pick up some of the morning drop offs for our full day guy.

And for my sis allowing us to crash at her house when we were 'in-between' places for the day.

In short, it was tough.  A strong willed two year old who wanted to have 'fun' all day, and who of course wanted to start potty training (I bribed her in every way to hold her off on that one until we moved in), and a newborn, who wasn't sleeping.  So mama was tired.

But we funny little things were blessings.  

Like we had AUH-mazing weather almost the whole 5 weeks.  There were fun parks to go to every day.  We discovered all kinds of things - like the closest public bathroom to our house, that McDonalds will give you ice water in the large cups for ridiculously cheap, I was able to do a handful of outdoor workouts (when I had the "energy"), and we'd drive by the house daily - simply to see if it might be 'ready' yet.  I focused on taking it all one day at a time.

Some days were longer than others, and clearly, I needed to learn the value of patience.  Breathing.  And enjoying the present moment.

Can't say I'm an expert at any, but it's good to look back and know we did something that felt so hard at the time.

May

We loved heading back to our favorite place - the Zoo!  The weather was wonderful, and Max had the day off school, so we took advantage and enjoyed it.  Tayler loved the butterflies, Alexis loved the penguins, and Max loved the lions.

 Taking down our easter decorations, I realized I never took a photo when we dyed the eggs!  I'm not a big holiday decorator.  Often, our decorations are homemade and then let go after the holiday has ended.  It works (and it's one less thing to move!).

 Alexis at her 5 year old doctor appointment - getting those shots!  She was so nervous and excited because she knew she was one step closer to kindergarten!  At the time, I thought she was headed to school in Omaha, and I had so many mixed feelings about sending her off to full day kindergarten (she was so excited though!).  Funny when we moved, and I told her she'd be attending half-day kindergarten, she was so disappointed!  She was looking forward to eating lunch at school.  But, I feel lucky I get to spend a bit more time with her before she's off!

 Max's school had field day and we popped in to watch.  Most everything was outdoors, but I was able to sneak this pic in while they were inside.

 Still building!

 At "mom's tea" at preschool.  They had a darling program and she gave me the cutest painted pot.  I loved seeing her in her element!