1st day of school...

The 1st day of school has come and gone. Actually, by now we have already accomplished 2 days so only 179 more to go!

The kids were so excited for school. Well, The Ringleader was more than excited...he was incredibly exuberant! He got everything ready the night before with great ambition. He even packs his own lunch!

So the morning was not filled with as much chaos as I expected because the kids awoke easily and we had plenty of time to kill. Of course we still had to run for the bus because my photo session took too long.

Everyone was very excited for school to begin...even Lil'Rocker and Yao Yao. They couldn't wait to see the bus. Here is the happy crew. I do not strive for photo perfection with the 4 of them...just their presence in the photo. By the way, don't you love Lil' Rocker's hair??

Sha Sha did not seem anxious at all. She has ridden a bus to preschool for 2 years so it didn't feel too much different to her.

The Ringleader insisted I take this walking to the bus stop photo.

Sha Sha and The Ringleader both had wonderful 1st days. The Ringleader's day was filled with tales of recess and Sha Sha does not remember anything that she did except that there is a water fountain in her room :) lol

As I was tucking The Ringleader in after the 1st night of school he said, "mom, I just looove school! I sure can't wait to go back."

Wow...that place must be Disneyland or something.

The Rockstar Nurse and I are casting lots for when this excitement will end. I think we are both wrong because it looks like day 2, it's already fading. Apparently 2nd grade includes learning and school work. I do not think this message was given to The Ringleader ahead of time:)

Sha Sha hasn't complained about the long days yet...simply because the Ringleader has the same hours. And in typical style whatever the Ringleader does is what Sha Sha does:)

I have to admit, I was ready for them to go back to school the final week. I'm loving having time with the youngest 2 alone. But I do miss them when they are gone.

And I think they miss each other too. As Sha Sha watched The Ringleader get on the bus, she said, "mommy. I miss my Ringleader."

I know you do precious Sha Sha...and so do I.

Spewing some thoughts....

The last time I posted I asked what you wanted to hear and my conclusion is that the mixed review means I should just spew. Spew whats on my mind and in my life.

So, that's what I'm going to do...just spew:)

Without a doubt what is on my mind tonight is school. We are only 1.5 days away from the beginning of school! AAAGGGH!

I will admit, I'm actually getting excited. I'm excited because the kids are excited. No one is dreading it and no one seems to be full of fears. Plus it is a change. Did I tell you how much I love change? I love change!!

Now, you may not realize this because quite frankly I have not majorally redecorated my home since we moved in 4 years ago and my facebook profile hasn't changed in quite awhile and my blog page is still the same annoying design. BUUUT that is because it is reality limiting me to the same visual humdrum. I'm tickled pink to not have ants feeding off my floor at the end of the day...could really care less that my walls are still the same color:)

But the start of the school year means a change in routine and a change in seasons.

HOWEVER, that is where the excitement ends. Within 1 month I will be complaining about the school routine....because it is just that...routine. Thoughts of hasseling out the door everyday with 2 3 year olds in tow gives me the heebie jeebies.

And this year I have 2 buses to catch. 2 schools to deal with activities. 2 PTO's to avoid:0 We made the difficult decision to send Sha Sha to a different school this year. The decision did not come with MANY tears on my end. I've cried for 1.5 years over this decision and if you talk to me about it, I will cry again:) Sha Sha learns uniquely, so this is the best educational decision we could make for her right now.

BUUUUT, I am at peace because the decision has involved much prayer and I know that for this year, we are to go forth with the 2 school plan.

However, that is not to say we won't change plans midstream or next year. I'm not a planner, but I'm a big picture thinker. That's odd isn't it? Actually it's not because I basically hate being detailed but I like to envision:) So, it's hard for me to not know what the future holds for schooling. I just have to continue praying and be open to whatever direction He leads me.

And that statement being uttered, I would be an idiot to not know that is exactly God's point in the whole deal.

Real, but maybe not deep

I always laugh when I see I have someone new "following" my blog. It makes me laugh because I wonder why anyone would follow me these days considering I'm posting only like twice a month. The funny things is I lay in bed at night and think of things that I would love to get out of bed and write about....but I don't. Yes, there is some sense of discipline in my life now when it comes to blogging.

On a complete side note, I find that if I'm on my computer before bed, I can't sleep! Someone shared with me that you secrete some kind of brain chemical from the lights of the computer screen that prevents you from sleeping. I believe it is quite true.

Now that I started this post, I'm realizing that I have no idea where I want it to go. There are plenty of subjects that I could write about right now. But, I don't know how deep I feel like being at 11pm.

The other fact is that I have no idea what you enjoy reading. I've done this before and it takes me months to finish, but I'm feeling adventurous, so I will do it again. What do you want to hear about? Any "burning" questions? Do you want family life stuff, adoption stuff, or deep stuff...like my thoughts? That alone comes with a word of caution.

Seriously, I've struggled with determing if I should blog about my everyday family life or posting a devotional....I have SOOO many ideas for a devotional from my life:)

Deep or not so deep...it doesn't matter. Whatever I write on will be real...I always promise you that.

Summer 09 so far....

August 1st....it is August 1st!!! Where did this summer go?? There are only 25 days left until the school drum starts beating again. Yes, some days I'm ready to hit that drum myself...but most days I'm not ready at all for the summer to end.

The Ringleader and Sha Sha are at a sleepover at their friend's house tonight...so it's just Yao Yao and Lil' Rocker. It is such a different dynamic without the oldest 2 here. It will feel so wierd to have them gone for 40 hours a week again!

I'm digressing from the point of the post....what in the world we have done this summer.

School. Yes, we have done school. A micro-version of homeschooling. I know I've loved it...not sure about my students:) I love to learn and I love to read so I hope my kiddos will do the same. So, I've loved trying to find ways to get my oldest son to enjoy reading...he loves to be read to, but struggles with reading himself.

Sha Sha is learning abled, but has a lot of challenges. I've actually thrived on finding ways that she will learn easier. Appaloosa. Sha Sha is wants to learn how to spell the world Appaloosa...so that is what we are working towards:)

So, there is a point in my kids doing school with me this summer..it was not to fulfil me, but to avoid physically going to summer school which I'm not a fan of:)

One thing that I found that are pretty good are Summer Bridge Activity books. They have workbooks for each grade....it reviews what they did the previous year and introduces new stuff for the next year.

However, I love, love Time4learning. Goodness, I promote it to everyone! The computer program was completely above my expectations..it is excellent! My non reading son, is reading withou complaint and Sha Sha loves it too! My kids sometimes beg me to do computer school. The great thing with this program is that it has a full teaching curriculum with it and tracks and monitors their progress. So, if you are still looking for ways to maintain your kids learning this summer...try it out.

OK...did I just write 3 paragraphs on summer time learning? Sorry...I tend to get excited about this stuff.

But I'm really not the learning nazi...we've had more fun than not:)

We enjoyed a vacation in the mountains with family.

We went tubing down the river.

There was fishing....

And more fishing.

Aaah. Serenity.

Goofy times.

Water times.

We visited a local amusement park for the day. Everyone had a blast. Even Lil' Rocker was an angel.

And Yao Yao was not overwhelmed in the least. She LOVED it! Go figure. So much for sensory overload.

The Ringleader gets a little bored on the kiddie rides now.

Sha Sha loves our annual day at the park.

Of course, we celebrated Sha Sha' 6th birthday. Of course it was a horse theme.

Pool time! Finally, finally The Ringleader swims! And underwater! Him and Sha Sha have somewhat of a water fear. The Ringleader even hated water in his face. But one day it clicked and the fear was gone and now I have a waterbug:)

Of course there is NO fear of water with this lil' guy...does that suprise you?

And Yao Yao loved the water too! She also has no fears and doesn't want to stop swimming.

Sha loves the pool, but still enjoys the snacks mom packs the most:)

And lil' Sha Sha started horse riding lessons! She loves it so much.

It is incredible therapy and what a confidence builder. If only it wasn't so darn expensive:)

Of course there was some hanging out with friends.... Yao Yao was excited to show SuSu her new home!

And we've had fun times as a family. Our newest family night event....Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero and Singstar. I think The Rockstar Nurse and I had too much fun with Dance Revolution.

The Rockstar Nurse was muttering to me under his breath that I better not blog this picture...so of course I will. There are even better videos. But I will admit...he's good. And yes, he beat my score. (what in the world? He hates to dance...i love to dance!)

Yao Yao sang her heart out with unknown words:)

And of course, lil' Rocker rocked out.

I have no other photos of our summer time excursions. We visited the lake and creeks. All 4 kiddos attended Vacation Bible School with enthusiasm! And guess what...I had 12 hours to myself in one week!! That was quite the highlight:) I have no desire to dwell on negative things like potty training or lack there of. So, that will be a different post. And trust me, that will be a long one. sigh

So I hope you are enjoying your summer. We still are. And we look forward to celebrating next week with my brother, sis in law and nephew! They are visiting from Oklahoma and we are all so excited! So I will once again be gone from bloggerville.

just wanted to post this photo because it's so darn cute:)