new stages

summer is drawing to an unbelievably quick close. i mean, i'm definitely that person that has a fall-weather countdown going since about the end of may, but the speed of this summer has been nothing short of indecent. i guess that's what happens when you get b.u.s.y.

as we're practically staring fall in the face, i thought i'd let you know what our upcoming most-wonderful-time-of-the-year is going to look like. in short, it will look completely different for my family from past falls. this is what we have going on:

rachel: kindergarten kindergarten kindergarten. she likes her teacher, has new friends, and gets really excited about library day, but she expresses daily that she misses being home with me. and since i'm still missing her a lot, it's just enough to make a mommy's heart break. i really miss homeschooling like we did last year, but we're confident that this is what the Lord has for her (and us) this year. since there is a distinct possibility we'll be back overseas next fall, we'll be reevaluating school options again! with a life like ours, we'll definitely be taking education one year at a time for both children. (i'm already looking forward to more homeschooling years in the future.) rachel is also going to be starting up a new ballet and tap class at a studio just down the street from us. this girl likes to dance. AND she's participating in the awana program at our church on sunday nights. i have one busy 5 (almost 6???) year old.

lucas: this little man is going to be hitting up preschool 4 mornings a week, also at our church. this will actually be his second preschool experience, but since the first time was in a non-english speaking school overseas that he was technically too young for and the teachers carried him around all day because they loved his blonde hair (he came home smelling like perfume every day), the two experiences won't resemble each other in any way! he's also starting up awana this year. hooray for my little cubbie! he can't wait to say his first verse on sunday (i didn't think he would be into saying verses for his leader each week, but man, this kid wants badges on his vest!)

hubby: will be working super hard for his family, as always. his weekday job involves him being outside. all. the. time. which, as you can imagine, wasn't so fun all throughout the summer. he's really looking forward to a job that will let him be outside for all the fall weather, though. he's also excited about helping out some with our church's youth ministry this year. and he might get an opportunity to teach a class on sunday nights. i sure do like that guy.

me, myself, and i: i have a real-live job being a real-live preschool teacher, the same preschool lucas will be attending, but i'll be working with a class full of 4-year-olds and also doing music and movement once a week. we had open house last night and finally got a chance to meet the kids we've been preparing for all this time. it was a lot of fun and i'm really excited about the opportunity to be an "official" teacher :). (just so you know, decorating bulletin boards isn't for the faint of heart. i have a brand new respect for all you teachers out there with just the amount of work that goes into preparing a classroom before the kiddos come and tear it up.) i haven't had a job outside of my house since before lucas was born, so it's been a pretty big adjustment for me, mainly with my time management. i've also picked up a little violin student along the way. even though we're not technically "homeschooling" this year, i sure am doing a lot of teaching still!

i think the biggest adjustment i'm having to make with this year is that, with officially being out of the baby stage, our 4-person family seems to be going in 4 different directions each day. i know many families do this all the time, but it's really different for us. i've been home with my kids for a while and when we were overseas our whole family was together a majority of the time. that would probably drive some families crazy, but we loved it. every minute of it. don't get me wrong, i'm excited about this year and all the busy-ness that will come with it, but i miss my family. weekends are all the more glorious since that's when we all get to be home together. but now it's time for another week!

for my big girl

as i was shopping for some last minute school supplies sunday night (the night before my daughter's first full week of kindergarten) i had an idea. i wanted to get her something special. something for a real big girl. a necklace. and not your little-girl-dress-up variety. a real grown-up necklace. i found this at target.

it felt so bittersweet to give her something special as i sent her off to a new part of her life that i won't get to experience with her. 

her mommy and brother are missing her a lot these days as we all adjust!

today

with the transient and semi-unstable lifestyle that we've chosen for ourselves (currently being split between two continents), we're taking school year by year. there will be years of homeschooling. other years the kids will be sent to a big, red schoolhouse. today marked our first day of big, red schoolhouse adventures. i'm looking forward to sharing them with you throughout the year!

rachel helped me pack her lunch up last night in her brand, new tinkerbell lunchbox. 

she was pretty bummed when i told her we were going to have to wake up pretty early to get ready for school. i was planning on getting up before the kids (which had me a little bummed, too) so i could get their breakfasts ready while they snoozed a little extra. but it turns out rachel was already awake and ready to go when i got up. so i let the little man snooze a little extra. he was pretty un-enthused to get up early to walk his sister to school.

bookbag: check. lunch: check. rest mat: check. precious paper with room number: check. 

here she is walking across the parking lot to school. oh, how i had to fight for this walk! this was my first big frustration with the public school system: the fact that we lived next door to an elementary school, but weren't zoned for it. i requested a transfer, got denied, had to appeal, and finally was granted permission for my daughter to walk next door. (there were other factors going into my transfer request other than our proximity to the school, but come on. their teachers park in my front yard.)

i expected to be all weepy and huggy when i dropped my daughter off and watched her walk into the school like such a big girl, but after the events of last week with my precious boy, a first day of kindergarten isn't nearly as big of a deal and slightly anti-climactic.  lucas and i got to chase a rabbit on the walk back home and he admired the school buses. it's just you and me now, bubbs!

actually this is rachel's only real school day this week. today is assessment day, thursday i'll get news of who her teacher is and where her classroom is, and we'll go meet her teacher on friday. next monday will start her first full big, red schoolhouse school week!