At Considerable Cost

The sweetness as the boy looks up at one big sister and holds hands with the other! Though this post is dated August, it is actually being typed in December.   I didn't want to post at the time because sending my baby off to kindergarten has been an adjustment for me.   He is so happy, though and he LOVES school.   He LOVES his teacher.   He LOVES learning.   And he LOVES his mama when I pick him up at the end of the day!   Some days, he's dressed with his backpack on, waiting for everyone else to get ready because he can't wait to get to school.    It helps with this transition to know how happy he is, and how well-cared for he is by his excellent teacher.   He also gets to see her in mass on Sunday mornings, where she is a Eucharistic minister. He fell asleep in the car line as we waited to pick up Emmeline. As if that wasn't enough, this is also the ye...

Emmeline finished fourth grade and I will have my first experience as an intermediate school parent next year.   I am longing for the set-up of schools who have a K-6 organization.   K-8 would be nice right about now, too.   Deep breathing: inhale, exhale.   Everything will be okay... She loved her teachers this year and made some great memories.   She missed fewer days due to illness.  YEA & thanks be to God!   She did not plan to wear the same top!   Clare finished first grade and is already looking forward to second grade.   I love seeing how they grow during the year! And next school year...I'm trying not to think about it... He is very excited, though!

This was my last-minute, night-before outfit for dress-up day at school.   I bought a cute pink sundress, an iron-on poodle, a white sweater cardigan and scarf at Wal-Mart.   White cardigans are the best piece of clothing for a little girl's wardrobe.   I always buy them when they go on sale so the girls have them in every size.   You can stretch more time out of a summer dress by pairing it with a cardigan in the fall and sometimes, winter.  

Emmeline had a piece displayed in the district art show this year. Hers is the "E," top center:

At a time when I am keenly aware of the growth of my children, when I find myself unable to donate baby clothes because I don't want to face the reality that I'm probably not going to have another child, I also find myself looking back at a period of nine months, with its growth, labors, and fruits.   So, here I sit, at nearly midnight on my back porch, as I wait for an apple pie to cool, and I try to put down my thoughts about our first year of public school. Nine months ago, I wrote of my feelings on the first day of school for my daughters.   After attempting to home school for several years, I had to admit defeat and send my children to school.   Even though I was optimistic, I still managed to feel a bit like a failure.   I was a pretty darn good teacher back in my classroom days and we had arranged our lives--even purchased our current home--around home schooling.   I missed them and looked forward to picking them up each af...