A regular ‘ol school year.

I’m the first to admit that I’ve never really fallen into the *pro-grow* camp when my kids are concerned.  Not because I’m not looking forward to what the future holds, but because I’m always wishing time would slow down so that I can soak it all in.  To really appreciate who my beautiful babies are growing up to be, and who they are right now.  Without all of the rush and the duties of life.  Because obviously it all goes so fast and sometimes I feel like I’ve missed it while buried underneath a pile of laundry.

This year is different.  We’ve turned a corner and voila!  We have big kids!  Well maybe not BIG kids, but at least they all use the potty, so yes, bigger kids.  And each kiddo is thriving and growing and right where they need to be.

Henry has happily settled into our neighborhood elementary school as a second grader.  {Second Grade!!}  He has grown leaps and bounds since this time last year.   {In heart, mind, and yes, shoe size.}  We are constantly blown away by his independence, his strong work ethic and determination.  And each of these traits is nicely balanced by a heart overflowing with love and concern for others.

He’s obviously not a little boy anymore. He is a big kid and he’s got it handled.  He makes it easy to simply love him as he grows.  For this I am so thankful.

Charlie cutie.

We truly understand and appreciate the gift that a regular ‘ol school year is.  {Who would have ever thought it?}  And so we are basking in the goodness of knowing that each kiddo is thriving.

This picture is deceiving because William really does love school.  He however, does not like picture day at school.  Obviously.

I’m so proud of our little guy.  He’s learning new things.  He’s making real friends.  And I love catching him in his steady stream of talk – singing songs he’s learned during circle time, rattling off the days of the week, or pretending to be the teacher.  He’s been busy creating his own little slice of life that I don’t know about.  It’s kind of killing me a little bit.  In a good way.  I’m so proud of him.  And let’s be honest, I’m proud of me too.

The county fair.

We channeled our inner country as Henry insisted that we all wear some form of cowboy attire.

We ate.  We played.

We saw all kinds of animals.

The boys soaked up every single minute.

Guess who loved riding the ponies?  This was especially exciting as Charlie starts his hippo-therapy lessons this Thursday!

Guess who might be a little too big for the ponies?

I even got to join in the fun and ride the caterpillar roller coaster.  Wheee!

We’re pretty sure William only met the height requirement thanks to his big hair.

We *may* have made a questionable parenting decision.

At least we left with everyone alive and in one piece.  That was a relief.  {For the record Henry had a blast but Alex and I might have suffered minor heart attacks from the sidelines.}

Whew.

Later that night Alex and I went back to the fair for a hot date at the Craig Morgan country concert.  You know International Harvester right?  No?  Anyway, I wore my best flannel shirt and cowboy boots.  My real cowboy boots.  Have I ever shared that story?  Last summer {2011} on our tenth wedding anniversary Alex and I decided to treat ourselves to custom Lucchese cowboy boots.  I knew that this spoke directly to Alex’s country-loving side and heck, if anything they would be a cute addition to my closet.  So we picked out our boots and had a good laugh while our our long and skinny feet were measured.  Five months later they finally arrived.  My boots fit like a glove.  Alex’s not so much.  Oh boy.  Not knowing what to do, he called the store and asked them what his options were.  The store {one of our faves} didn’t hesitate to take them back and offered my hubby store credit.  And what did my darling husband purchase to commemorate our ten years together?  A shotgun.  A camo shotgun.  So ten years in and we have a pair of cowboy boots for me and a shotgun for him.

Second Grade

Today was Henry’s first day of second grade.  Second grade seems so grown-up, but really he’s ready and we love his school and are thrilled with his teacher.

And no, contrary to what I believed, it does not get easier to sent them off to school as they get older, for me it is much harder.

I think its safe to say that we were both equal parts excited, nervous and a little sad to say goodbye to summer.  We were finally settling into our summer routine {or lack of} when it was time to trade in our lazy days for school dictated schedules.  In years past, I’ve been so physically exhausted by the end of summer that the school year was a welcome break, but this year we’ve finally caught our groove.

It wasn’t intentional, but this summer we really circled the wagons and held our little family tight no matter where our adventures took us.  We talked a lot. Big surprise right?  We covered heavy topics and silly subjects.  We played together and we were bored together.  We traveled and we stayed home.  But no matter what, we were together.  Perhaps this is why I’m so nostalgic today, missing my Henry.

And despite being so grown up and all, my sweet boy {bless his heart} gave me an unsolicited hug and kiss and an I love you mom before the morning bell rang.  There is no doubt that our firstborn was born a big-kid, but his is also a wonderful big brother, always willing to laugh and play and help with the little ones.  He is responsible, always eager to work hard and without prompting or need for praise.  I love that knows who he is and isn’t afraid to say no in a situation or activity that doesn’t line up with our beliefs.  He is always quick to share a story with me {and whoever else will listen} and has a heart of gold.

We had the best conversations this summer.  Henry has a heart of gold and without any prompting or leading he has brought up topics covering Charlie, where will he live when he is older, will he marry or have children?  {Don’t worry mom, I will always take care of him.  And on the subject of Charlie not having children; Charlie will be the best uncle mom, don’t you think?  On marriage, and what kind of man he wants to grow up to be;  Mom it’s really important that I protect what I see and what I hear.  I want to grow-up to be a strong and good man.}

To be fair we should also keep things real, because he is also stubborn {so am I}, impatient {so am I} and sometimes needs reminders about self-control {so do I}…you know what they say about apples and trees… But I can’t begin to tell you how much it makes my mama heart sing to see your child bearing fruit, real fruit, growing from years of love and labor and sweat and tears.  It is hard work raising little ones and sometimes the seasons are long, but when harvest comes {and thankfully there are many} it is heart-breakingly beautiful.

Lemonade stand

Every summer Henry is drawn to the idea of setting up a lemonade stand.  One year he helped another friend manage a stand.  “I was in charge of the money and talking with the people.”  Last year he and a neighbor boy took their show on the road and went door to door selling the sweet stuff.  “It just made sense, this way we don’t have to wait for people to come to us, we bring the lemonade to them!”

Last week we finally set up the real deal in our own front yard.  I took all three boys to our local grocery store where Henry compared prices on red solo cups and lemonade.  We made a couple of signs, mixed up our lemonade and Henry was officially in business.

For two days Henry manned his stand, sometimes alone or with brothers, cousins and friends; really whoever stopped by.  Much lemonade was sold and spilled and little boys laughed and counted quarters, all of which I’m pretty sure are signs of a successful lemonade stand.

Baseball Superstar

Henry’s hung up his baseball cleats for the season, but I’m certain there will be plenty more baseball in our future.  As a special treat, his team got to play one of their last games on the girls softball field up at the high school.  {It’s the same high school my brothers and I went to, and the school all three boys will attend, although they get the perk of a brand-new building.}

It was a treat to watch the boys step wide-eyed onto a *professional* field.  I also realize that in a blink of an eye we’ll be back up here cheering Henry on as a high-school baseball player.

But let’s not rush things.  Even if he is growing up so darn fast.

It has been a blast this season to watch our little guy turn into a real baseball player.  Not surprisingly Henry’s pretty darn good.  He is a tenacious player {he gets that from his mom} as well as a social player {from his dad.}  Somehow this all translates into a darling boy who can catch pop-flies, hits doubles, fields well, cheers on his team and leads the pack.  I suppose it sounds like I’m bragging {Ok, just a little} but it’s just so darn amazing to watch your little ones grow and thrive and become the most amazing people.

Next year will bring with it real pitchers, much older kids and serious coaches.  I think Henry will be just fine.

And just like that Henry is 7

Geoff and Amy this was a big birthday highlight…

Seven?!  Could time please slow down?

The thing is, Henry is all seven year-old boy.  He is reading like a champ, soaking up everything school has to offer.  He can’t get enough baseball, his glove and ball always at the ready.  You can often find him down the street shooting hoops at the neighbor’s house.  And while I know he is ready to move away from some of the *little kid* games his brothers love he still happily plays right alongside them.  Of course the best part is that he still loves to snuggle with his mom.  He always says good-bye and I love you at drop-off and at pick-up runs to give me a hug and willingly holds my hand.  I find myself often taking mental snapshots during the day with Henry, willing myself to remember and hold on to each precious memory as he grows into a wonderfully strong boy.  He is a blessing in every way.

We celebrated our boy for a good majority of the month of May.  It was never over the top, instead it was the perfect combination of little family events and his first celebration with *friends.*

During his party I, of course, was running around refereeing water-gunfights and ensuring that each child was eating the right food {there were four kiddos with food allergies} Thanks to my sister-in-law Corey for taking on the roll of photographer.

so this picture is notable for two reasons: ::one:: the m & m’s came in snack size bags, but one broke open.  william made it his personal goal to pick up and each m & m left on the ground foregoing the mad dash for the rest of the pinata candy…and ::two:: apparently our grass is thirsty…

Rookie League.

We are smack dab in the middle of little league season. Between a practice or two a week, along with two to three games also tossed into the mix, you will most likely find us at the little league fields cheering for Henry.  I’d like to say we actually sit and watch the games but with fans Charlie and William also in attendance it isn’t much of a spectator sport for us just yet.

Henry and his buddy Mark the first baseman.

Henry’s favorite position to play is catcher. 

Spell it out for me.

It’s funny, the more I do this – writing about our life – the more I find myself spending time on the little things.  Birthday parties and big moments all get their time in the spotlight, but there is brilliance in the ordinary.  Sometimes I forget to look for the simple beauty in this life, but lately its all I can see.  I’m quite certain that God has been intentional about stopping me in my tracks and making sure that I see the beauty all around me, right in the middle of my ordinary day.

I’m also certain that He has given me this gift because there have been some pretty big milestones thrown into our days for good measure.  He knows me well.

Ready for a good story?  So…about a month ago I decided to try something novel.  Instead of laying out my laundry list of requests for God, I simply told Him my need.  Of course I pointed out that He would probably need to spell out every single detail of His plan, otherwise I’d most certainly default to my own plans.  I also explained that I might resist His calling {especially if it required change} so He was going to have to make each and every step obvious.  Trust is hard.

Nervously we took the first step, looking ahead to second-grade and called our local elementary school to set up an appointment.  Surprising ourselves, Alex and I fell in love easily pictured our son Henry there as a student.  The very same school that my brothers and I also went to.  A school that is literally three blocks from our house.

One morning, out of the blue Henry announced: Mom, I want to go to a school where I sit at my own desk and the teacher tells me what to do.  I want to go to Apple Valley now.
Here sat my son, my sweet baby, who had struggled all school year-long; had lost his enthusiasm for learning and he was basically spelling things out for his poor mother.  I know, it seems obvious right?  My son instinctively knew what was best for him and I was still hesitant?

Yet change is hard and tricky, and while I tried to rationalize our current situation, I simply knew it wasn’t for Henry.  I felt justified in my feet dragging, because who actually switches schools for their first-grader mid-year? Crazy people that’s who.  But He was persistent.

The next thing I knew we were all sick.  Remember the whole strep/hospital fiasco?  Surely this was a sign, a big red *do not move forward* stop sign.  Right?  Or perhaps, this was the Lord working in a rather unusual situation?  I can’t even begin to explain the phone call I received from the elementary principal the week after Henry was sick, but still home recovering.  Were we going to make the switch? she asked.  Yes, I replied, all loose ends had been tied up at the old school, but I was still a nervous nelly.  And right when I needed reassurance the most, every little detail was covered and provisions were made, right down to Henry’s new teacher.  The very same woman who taught my brother Andy first-grade.  And her mother, was my preschool teacher.  Call me crazy, but it felt like the Lord was taking our tough situation – a rough school year and Henry being sick and missing over a week of school – and providing us with an unusual yes, but seemless transitional time and opportunity.  So we made the move.

Charlie, William and I walk to school everyday to pick-up up Henry. 

Henry literally floats to school everyday.  His zeal and sparkle for life are back and better than ever.  His enthusiasm and desire to learn have grown exponentially.  He is in love with reading, which he previously fought us tooth and nail over.  I could go on and on.  And of course he loves his three recesses a day and has discovered the joy of a cheese zombie hot lunch.

As these big life changes seem to go, the process was difficult for me.  I didn’t know the plan, or what He was going to ask of us.  Yet had I followed my own plan I’m pretty sure I’d still be stuck in the I have a problem and I’m just going to sit and worry about it stage.  Looking back I wouldn’t change a thing.  Trusting Him is a tall order, but I’m learning that if we openly present Him with our needs {not our requests} great things can happen in His time.