Regarding the 3:45 wake up....

Our day began with the alarm going off at the disturbingly early hour of 3:45AM.  

On purpose.  

 From that moment until 7:30AM  

a flat tire was discovered,

a quick solution for how Kevin was supposed to arrive in Iowa for an early morning meeting with said flat tire was found

  4 fast miles were run on the treadmill

a shower was had and clothes were thrown on

 a 6AM CoreGroup meeting was attended

the kids were fed breakfast(ok, ok so I just handed them bagels purchased at Panera while at CoreGroup) 

and 2/3 of the kids were dropped off at school.  

And now it's 6:30PM and dinner has been served and cleaned up. One child is at soccer practice while I wait to take another to volleyball to then pick up the first one at soccer so that I can then pick the other up from volleyball to return home by 8:30 so that I can then enthusiastically GO TO BED!  And start all over in the morning when my alarm will most decidedly NOT be set to go off at 3:45 AM.  

Thank goodness for iced water and coffee!  

12!!!

No words even come close to capturing how much I love that girl.  

She is AMAZING.  Strong and brilliant and so very, very curious! 

Thank you Jesus for blessing our family with this fiery, fun, full of life girl.

Weekend!!

Oh man, the weekend is already off to a great start!  

It was a long, hot week and it feels good to have a little break.

  Life around our house is busy and life outside of here is breaking my heart.  I'm trying to process through all the pain in the outside world while keeping my heart soft for the people in my inside circle.

I'm so grateful for a weekend to rest and enjoy the good things that surround us.

Have a great weekend!

Our UPS delivery girl is SO ADORABLE!!

Wow, just wow

The school year is off to a wonderful start and I'm so grateful.  But, WOW!  I feel like my head is barely bobbing above water.  I still don't have a good handle on our schedule because it keeps shifting ever so slightly.  Another practice here, an early morning drop off there.  I feel like there is just not enough time but THANK GOD we don't have any more hours in a day because I can barely make it through the ones we have without collapsing.  I'm bone tired but I know in a few weeks things will have settled and I'll just be regular tired.  I'm looking forward to being regular tired.

So far in school....

Emma loves middle school!  She was ready for the challenge of changing classes, multiple teachers, new friends, and more homework.  She leaves our house at 7:40 every morning and walks to school.  Every morning Eleanor and I stare at one another in amazement as Emma calmly walks out the door. We can't really believe the difference 3 months made.

Eleanor is enjoying 4th grade.  Her teacher is a great fit and makes school challenging but fun.  I think Eleanor is enjoying being on her own at school this year!

Lucy is adjusting.  I think she likes school much more than she's telling me.  The real problem is that she is still sleep deprived.  We're working on it.

Last Sunday we had a terrific family birthday celebration for Lucy and Emma.   We're busy but never too busy to celebrate...sometimes we just have to get creative and have a 2 for 1 party!  Teddy, who turned 3 in August did not get celebrated.  Sorry, buddy! 

Back at it

School Year 2015-16 is off to a great start.  I won't say too much, better to let the dust settle a bit.  But so far we're off to an A plus start.  Even for Lucy.  She loves school but she is a strong willed person. Having to get back on a routine after gloriously late nights and lazy mornings had to be protested just a little

Yes, school pleases her!

A birthday!

5! 

We had such a fun day celebrating Lucy! 

Above all else Lucy loves animals so we took her to Purina Farms where she was in heaven!  In the afternoon Grandpa Bill stopped by for a quick visit on his way to the airport and afterwards Lucy's good friend Natalie, who lives next door came over and the girls played and played.  Lucy's dinner request was tuna helper (Grandpa Gordon introduced her to this delicacy earlier in the summer and it is now her favorite food!), broccoli and fruit.  Lucy received phone calls and special packages and felt like the precious little girl she is!

Forms to fill out and other things

The pile of forms and important information that have flooded our mailbox this week is evidence that August has arrived.  I have written the contact information for our pediatrician no less than 9 times and I still can't tell you by memory what it is.  My brain is full of too much other information about what time this child needs to be at school and what days that kiddo need to be picked up early-and early means something different at each school, and how much money the PTO at this school needs and what night open house is at that school.

This year 3 kids = 3 schools.  

Yow!

2015-16 is going to be a great year!