First Day of School

Here she is eating her breakfast. I was so concerned that she might get hungry before snack time. I made her a big breakfast and kept telling her to eat, eat, eat.










She was so excited for that backpack. It is ridiculously huge on her and more then enough to carry her folder and lunch, but what can ya do?

(In case you're wondering, that's Madi, who I babysit. She just loves being in pictures.)

Off she goes. I'm not going to lie, I closed the door and cried.
I cant believe she's going to school. I love having her home.

She really is enjoying herself. And learning so much. She always has fun songs to sing and interesting facts to tell me.

I am grateful we chose the school we did. She has a small class (18 students) and a really great teacher.

Grandma Tu-Tu

Lately I've been thinking about my Grandma. She's an amazing woman. She's always been my friend. She's always kind and playful and wise. She was really good with children. She always had some activity for them to do - painting, or sewing on plastic canvas. Below is a picture of her teaching and RaRa how to color. I'm so grateful my two oldest girls had a chance to know her in this life.
They always talk about her. They usually say something like, "I love Grandma TuTu. And she died." I wonder if it ever takes anyone off guard when they say that so casually.... It doesn't bother me, not that I don't miss her. I do. But I know that she is happy in the spirit world and is spending time with her family there who missed her for several years while we got to enjoy her here.
Every time a child does something to test their limits (and my patience) I here her voice in my mind "Testing, Testing, 1,2,3,4." She always said that when kids were deliberately being naughty.
She was a very resourceful woman. She loved to paint (it helped her when she was worried or stressed, or couldn't sleep in the middle of the night) but she didn't always have frames for her pictures. She made do with what she had. Which was usually plastic canvas, or cardboard.

I could write more and more about this wonderful woman but for now I'll just have to leave you with this and a few pictures of her.

Car Pool

The thing about sending you kids to a charter school is you have to drive them there. Which is a bit of a chore. Gratefully we have some friends in the neighborhood that are sending their children to the same school, so we get to spread the chore of driving among three families.

One of the great things about carpooling is getting to hear the kids conversations in the car.

I'll give you a glimps:
"One time we went to Sedona and stayed in a cabin."
"What is 'Se-Donut'?"
which lead to a barrage of "Se-whatever word I can think of" i.e. Se-hotdog, se-pickle, se-palmtree.

I couldn't keep from laughing.
These kids are great!!

First Day of School

So... tomorrow is the big day! My little girl is off to school. She is so proud and excited. I wish I had a video to record her while she made her lunch this evening. She wanted to do it herself, and she wanted to make sure she'd have extra graham crackers to share with her friends {because of course she'd have friends on her first day of school}
I'm doing much better about it today then I was yesterday. Which means I can think about it with out crying. I'm so grateful for friends who've listened to me and have assured me it will all be OK.
I'll let you know how it goes. (for both of us)

I wish, I wish....

I wish I had a better camera - maybe then I'd put more posts on my blog. It seems to be standard procedure to put a picture in your posts.
I wish I didn't have to rely on spell check so much.
I wish I had spell check on my pencils and pens.
I wish I have a van to transport my kiddos around when Mike is at work.
I wish I always remembered how important everyone is.
I wish I always remembered my own nothingness.
I wish I could speed read so I could get things into my brain faster.
I wish I houses cleaned themselves and my abs would get rock hard by me eating cake.

What do you wish for???

Every time I think about blogging on my blog I remember this tee-shirt from Despair.com

I just wonder if it will be worth the energy to share my experiences and exciting events of my life. Let alone spill my emotional guts online because who really cares. That and it is so much easier to just update my status on Facebook.

Not that I think blogging isn't fun, I love to read other peoples blogs. And not that I don't constantly think of things to blog about. But I don't think I'm as good at telling stories like others are. (i.e. Emily)

Any ways. I really just thought this was a funny shirt and wanted to tell you all about it. Well, all 2 of you that actually read my blog. HAHAHAH
Make sure to check out the other funny (in a cynical way) t-shirts at Despair.com.

Little Things That Make a Big Difference.

Today my oldest daughter, who is always thinking about meaningful things started sharing her fears about love and marriage. {she's 5!}
I tried to assuage her fears by telling her she doesn't have to worry about marriage for at least 20 years or so. (I know, wishful thinking. She'll probably come to me the day she graduates from High School with a ring on her finger)
It didn't help. She was concerned that when she is older she won't "fall in love" with the boy she is in love with now. {smile} I told her not to worry, if she isn't still in love with that boy she will find another who will be right for her.
And then...........She then asked the age old question:

"How will I know who is the Right One?"

Fortunately, I was able to answer that question having had searched out found the answer.

I found it in this book.

To this day {and probably till the day I die} I whole heartily maintain

this book changed my life!

I was given this book by a dear friend after I had ended a relationship and looking for answers.
As I read this book I kept saying to myself, "Oh, that's what I've been doing wrong!" and "Why didn't I know this?"
The answer I learned from this book and gave my daughter today is this -

When it comes to marriage, the most important thing is finding out who is the one God wants you to marry.
She, in her characteristic way, then asked the obvious question:

How do I do that?

The answer, of course, is prayer. My heart swelled with joy as she ran off to her room and I heard her sweet voice praying,

"Heavenly Father,
when the time comes for me to marry,
please,
help me to know who is the man you want me to marry.
In Jesus name, Amen"