Well, with Covid behind us (and our SUPER IMMUNITY around us!) the glorious school year began!!!
It's been a week since our kids returned, and I'm sort of allowing myself to breathe, as it all seems too good to be true after last year. Things are far from "normal" in school, but I've had to surrender all these worries in order to truly bask in my joy and gratefulness of where we are at.
My house is CLEAN and ORGANIZED!
I am HEALTHY again, and exercising.
The weather couldn't be more BEAUTIFUL.
My kids are HAPPY at school.
And Lucy hasn't had an accident inside in a very long time. ;) (She turned 1 on Sept. 11)
Evelyn is in 4th grade.
She has a male teacher this year, Mr. Killan, and I couldn't be more pleased. She is also playing soccer; however, the Girl DRAMA has begun. She sits in the front seat with me now in the car and while the boys are talking in the back, I'm listening to all her girlfriend ups and downs from the day. I know this is a part of growing up, and I refuse to get myself all emotionally invested because it seems to change daily.
The boys are enjoying 2nd grade with their teacher, Mrs. Erickson. Their focus of the day seems to be on recess and soccer games. The second day of school I already got an email from the school nurse saying that James crashed into another student on the field. So it begins again.
Their drama in school seems to be "too much academic time and not enough soccer time."
The weeks leading up to school were hard. We all had to find new ways to occupy our time.
Caleb found a new passion: Domininos. He spent hours setting up elaborate domino creations, and then would proclaim: " Get ready for the Grand Knockdown!"
James spent his time building incredible lego creations.
And Lucy seemed to always be in the mix.
During Labor Day our family drove out to the gorge and went on a beautiful hike.
The trail actually got kind of high!
I held on to Caleb's hand tighter than I ever have.
We ended at a gorgeous waterfall. We let Lucy off leash. Our family explored and played in the water. It was a little slice of heaven.
Our Labor Day tradition seems to always include one last summer indulgence: Ice cream.
We also picked pears, plums and hazelnuts at an orchard. We made plum cake and the kids had fun cracking open the hazelnuts in the front yard.
Labor Day also marked one of the saddest days for Evelyn.
During her 2nd grade year when Covid hit and she found herself at home alone, she befriended a very socialable kitty in the neighborhood. She named him Bob, and she really took it upon herself to feed, play and care for Bob. Well, Bob was tragically hit by a car that weekend, and when Evelyn heard about it, she lost it. She experienced real grief for the first time.
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| Bob will truly be missed. |
I know all these emotions she seems to be experiencing this year- grief....friendship drama-are totally normal. It's all a part of growing up.
