so... i got a new baby :)

meet ambo
she is about 10 weeks old...
and we love her

so, so sweet

my baby is gone...

first day!

isaiah, 7th grade
emily, FRESHMAN



micah, 2nd grade
brody, kindergarten
hannah 5th grade
bosena 1st grade

back 2 school night

last night was back to school night at the elementary and high school (although emily didn't allow me to follow her around with the camera)

we have 4 kids at the elementary school this year...
all day bosena was telling me that she didn't want to go to school.
the time came to leave, and she reluctantly got her things together.



once we were there, however, she LOVED it...
and running into great friends helped too.



we are so blessed to live in a community where we KNOW people,
not just see them around.



brody was brave, and happy to find his cubbie... he will do so well to have some independence, from me.. AND from his siblings :)
micah was cracking jokes with his teacher,
and hannah was SOOO excited to find that her best friend would be in her class again




when we got into the car to leave,
bosena asked me if she was going to school tomorrow..
i said yes.
she said,
"good mom, i love school."

so behind.

i feel like i am so behind.
school begins wednesday.

supplies have been purchased,
outfits picked out,
new shoes ready...

but for some reason i don't feel ready.

aha!

i think it is not so much me feeling like i can't "get" ready,
as the fact that i am not ready.

i am sending all of my babies to school this year,
all day.

all six of them.

this will be the first time in 15 years i have not had little people under foot all day.

i kinda thought i would be thrilled.

but for some reason, i keep feeling behind, not ready.

physically i am there.
mentally, not so much.

progress and worry

today was a good day in the progress department.

first, emily passed the written portion of the driving test...
and now has a permit.

ugh.

well, not really... i am actually super excited about her driving. :)



when we returned from the test,
the other children proceeded to tell me how horrible bosena was while we were gone.
that she was mad when her turn was up on the laptop,
and pouted and whined the rest of the time.
and,
it was true... she was pouting.

so i asked her to go to her room.

a couple minutes later, i went back there, sat beside her, and asked her what the problem was.
thru tears she explained that she felt like she didn't get as long a turn as everyone else, and they just took it from her.
i let her know that everyone gets the same amount of time, and she would get another turn... i asked her if she understood, she nodded.
then i asked if she needed a hug, and she nodded, climbed in my lap, and let me hug her for a bit.

for us, this is huge.
she is NOT very affectionate at all... so progress. :)



school begins next week,
and while i know she will do fine...
i worry.

i worry that she will be coddled, and babied...
which you would think i would want, but i SO don't.

she craves to be treated like everyone else,
needs to be.
and i don't want the last two months of work we have done to be in vain.

she needs the independence,
but she also needs to know who the boss is.
it's complicated.
and new.
and i hate those things.

we will figure it out... and she will be fine...
but ugh.

just like her papa

we love my dad,
but he hikes his pants up way too high.

clearly, she is just like her papa.

 

 

and look who we ran into!

clearly all the cool people were hiking today...

 

 

 

 

a hike.

today the weather was absolutely perfect, so i packed up some provisions, and took the kids on a hike.

 

bosena DID begin the hike by asking me if there were lions sleeping in the woods.
and when i said no, she said, tigers?
and when i said no, she said, monkeys?
and when i said no, she relaxed a bit. :)

 

 

yep. they love me.

 

and, now she holds frogs.

 

me and a couple of my faves

 

 

she DOES love the water!

 

 

 

 

a good day for sure!

 

 

 

more picnic

 

 

 

 

HNI picnic