#trueconfessions

 Honest truth, I have scrolled through our family fall pictures approximately 87 ga-llion times, because they make my heart soar! Though if we were to be truly forthcoming with our adventure in family picturing we would not be able to withhold the following gems from you, our people! So as promised, the blooper-reel 20-14!

This is how it all started and it is a divine wonder that we were able to capture as many sweet pictures as we did. Our boy is far less emotionally transparent as our girl but his defiant-try-hard faces are of the plenty! Ma-lass, well, I just laugh every time I look at her face. I mean for the love of all things pouty face, if there were an award to be given for such things... Ding-ding-ding we have winner!

Clearly I did not get the memo to express either "shock-and-awe" or "torqued-off." Who are these people?

I will let you assign the aforementioned expressions as you see fit.

M: Good one, Mom... good one!

Photo documentation of the process of wisdom imparting.

Dad: The camera is this direction. Please look there and smile! For the love, SMILE...naturally!

Mom: Girl, be happy, look happy!

Are there prizes for second place pouty face?

Oh MERCY! Bless her little heart and his silly try hard antics!

Just BLESS!

Fall Pausings

We are to that point, where we can neatly fold up and tuck away the first quarter of the school year. Though in my case it would be more like gather up the pieces of the first quarter and mush them all together into an attempt at a single cohesive mass, and then shove it into a deep, dark space to hopefully never surface again. Either way it is past tense, which in and of itself is magical!
Thankfully, for my girl, she associates with the former description of the school year. Actually she may rather not tuck away the first quarter, she may more likely take all the pieces of her time in kindergarten and turn them into glitter and have it rain down on her each and everyday–and true to glitter's reputation, it would never leave. She would be able to find remnants of it everywhere, and for always!

Our girl is living the dream of kindergarten. She loves her school. She loves her teacher. She loves her friends. She loves maps and continents. She loves writing her whole name and her spanish numbers (yeah, I know numbers are numbers in english or spanish... just go with it). As parents, we are beaming with joy at the love of learning that is flourishing in our wee lass.

In case that was not enough awesomeness for you, let us delve deeper into the amazingness of girlfriend's teacher. She has a serious case of the magics!!! She has got girlfriend's number for sure, and that, folks, is something this parental unit has hoped and prayed for! MAK needed a place where she was not the queen/ruler/center/judge/jury/alpha/omega of all things. This task seems insurmountable due to her wiles of immense cuteness and wit, but fear ye not, her personal Mistress of Ceremonies has brewed up the perfect blend of showcasing our girl's strengths and mixing them with a heavy does of equality in the classroom, which is a magical recipe we once feared may not exist. I was not so much worried about it, just doubted it to be a reality. Shameful behavior, I know.

I knew that we had made the right choice of schools from the very first visit, but it was once again confirmed in the form of an average question with a typical magical response. The other day my sweet lady and I were having a discussion about favorites and when questioned about her favorite animal she responded with "unicorns, even though you can't see them!" Perfect, 10,000% PERFECT! Thank you to all those involved in my girl's education, thank you for preserving the magic!

Preschool + my boy = a lot of mixed feelings. That about sums it up. He never wants to go, though often is upset when we pick him up too early. He has also encountered a teacher with magics that specifically make sense to our boy and his tender, logical, analytical self. She gets him, he gets her, and they have a special bond!

The 2014-2015 school year for me doesn't contain many mixed feelings. The feelings have been assessed and reassessed (*groan*) and they come out unfortunate every time. My year can be summed up as a fractal leaf pattern. I am trying so hard to hold unto my chlorophyll but slowly and surely my mineral supply continues to dwindle and I can no longer maintain the supplies of growth and continue to be overrun by anthocyanins. Yeah, there is still some green and I will hold on as long as I can. Though my dad's words keep ringing in my ears, "attitude is a choice" and I need to make a different choice. My students (at least in one of my classes) and I had a heart-to-heart about attitude choices and we are now aware that our current attitudes are helping no one, so... I'll see about keeping you updated on that. If it is going well, I'll let you know, if it's not, I likely won't. #Truth!

Speaking of leaves and magics and this time of year I just could not look outside any longer, at all the amazing colors of fall without marching my family out there and capturing some of their magics! So I end this informative keep-you-up-to-date post. Though, attitude choices were... well... we'll post a blooper reel at a later time.  Here are some fall magics!

I find him so handsome!

Pausing for Magics!

First Day... It Happened!

Well, it happened! They woke at 6:20 in the a.m. (absolutely no good reason for such behavior) ready to put their backpacks on! We had such great cooperation in all things getting out the door. Fear not, I do not live a disillusioned fantasy thinking such blessing will continue every morning. Though this fact did not stop me from being awestruck thankful for it this morning!

Dropping MAK off at school, not a news flash, was harder for Mom and Dad than for her.

She was "redirected" within 5 seconds of being in the room, and within 7 seconds she had made a friend and was "reading" a book on the floor. Note that at no time during this ever so fleeting of moments did she bother to give a proper send off to the 'rents! Her eyes, from the carpet, said, "Peace-out, girlscout! Deuces!"

Then we were off across town to drop the son off. He indulged his mama and at least made an attempt at not wanting us to leave. It was brief, it was fleeting, but it was there!

After that, Daddy dropped Mama off at school as well. We both went about our days anxious to pick up our littles and hear all about school! The boy was first and he had little to say about it other than he wants to go back "none days!" This reaction was by no means a surprise. He will have to find his way through the structure of school... he will make it, and his teacher is a truly blessed woman with patience abounding. 

When we walked into MAK's classroom she broke out into tears, spotted me, and ran into my arms and for a millisecond, my heart soared... she missed me, she needed me, she... "didn't get to be the first to sing a song" (as announced by the teacher). Yeah, sounds more like it, anyway.

As it turns out, MAK is fully in love with kindergarten. Even though "there was no nap time," she was exhausted! I tried to snap a couple pictures after school and well, the tired is clear...

As we were driving home, we were asking a bajillion questions, and finally she just said, "my head is all out of minds!" To which her brother responded, "maybe you can fill it back up with minds later?" Well said little ones, well said!

This is going to be a GREAT year! We are so excited!

She ended the night with a request as she laid in bed, following a 15 minute non-stop purging of her day... "Mama, may I just relax, right here? Can I just tell myself a story? Or sing myself a song? Or maybe both?" For another 30 minutes she sang and told stories to herself... She's a crazy person! Also a very tired person!

2014-2015 School Year

There are so many emotions flying around these parts this evening, for this is the eve of all things babes and school! How did this happen? When did this happen? Is there some way that I could possibly convince the powers that be that I am not ready for my spawn to enter the world of the education?! I must admit that I seem to be the only one in this family of four that feels any sort of apprehension, at least to the degree that it is affecting my ability to accomplish any sort of task. I may or may not have had a conversation (with my concerned spouse) that involved some simple, yet very wrong, math and the near collision with a floor lamp on Armour Rd. For real, though... I am a mess!

My boy, my sweet boy, starts preschool this year. He is excited, yet indifferent, with a splash of "do I have to?" MY boy!

On the other extreme (which is where this family functions) there is this girl. She is STOKED! Beyond stoked, she is giddily over-the-moon about starting kindergarten! My prayer is that this feeling hangs with her every first day of school!

What-to-the-what-what-junk is this!? This year marks my 9th year of "educating" the youth of America. That may be 8 years too long! Lets just say, if there is an extreme opposite to MAK's idea of starting the school year, it would likely sum up my feelings on the subject. It doesn't help that my babies are leaving me, they have begun their 13 year quest to leaving me forever! Did I mention... messy... I am a MESS!

Then there is this guy... DONE! D-O-N-E, DONE! Rest my Love, rest!

After the ice cream had been eaten, the jams dawned, the teeth brushed, the stories read, the tears held back, the cuddles cuddled for this mama's benefit, the little man took his last look at the sky only to find a promise in the sky! There was a big, stormy, double rainbow in the sky the night MAK was born. Some of you sent us pictures of rainbows in the sky during our long hospital stay with our girl. And tonight, when emotions are high... a double rainbow in the sky... MAGIC!

And this was her response...

"It's incredible!"

Yes, Baby, it is incredible!

Happy Birthday, My Boy!

August is an emotional mess for me–a seasonal depression of sorts. I have dreaded the first day of school for the past 26 years, with a brief 4-year interruption in my autumnal-approaching sullenness known as the college years. There is one shining star–one bright nugget of greatness in all of August–and that is my boy! He is the greatest and the best in the history of ever! He is difficult to put into words, but one hug from him and you will experience what I am attempting to capture. My boy is a really good hugger.  It's like "starstuff" and dirt with a whiff of chlorine for good measure! He is outdoors and summertime wrapped up in the most handsome of packages!

Today my baby turns FOUR! Who-to-the-what just happened?! I frequently beg him to stop growing, but he wont listen. Thankfully with his growing up, he continues to cultivate more and more awesomeness! We had a birthday party for him this weekend and in the days and months leading up to the party he lived his life by the mantra, "The whole world can come to my party!" He proceeded to invite all those with whom he came in contact with: waitresses, kids at playgrounds, folks at grocery stores. My boy is a lover... not a Casanova, just a genuine lover of people.  He cares deeply in his core for people. Stranger or not, it seems he loves you just for the fact that you're breathing!

My little man is an natural sharer. He is quick to share with anyone (very occasionally excluding his sister, who likely deserved it), as exemplified by actions at his party this weekend. He received so many great and exciting gifts, all of which he allowed his friends to play with first, for he was just over-the-moon that "my best people were there and we had rice krispie treat cake!" You see, his innate desire to share goes beyond just "things"–he desires to share joy with people–to share "fun" with people. He revels in the smiles on peoples' faces (just don't laugh at him, he is not a fan of that)! This is why he is so apt to invite "the whole world" to his party, for all peoples deserve fun and happy times!

This thread runs deep into this boy I call mine. It was evident early on that he is a peculiar kind of child. He is a broken-heartedly joyful sort. His little heart will break in an instant for others and he will do anything within his powers to make it better! I pray a prayer of blessing over him most nights, "Lord, please keep him this way. I never love seeing my child's heart broken, but if it is breaking for the same reasons that Your heart breaks, then there is something absurdly comforting about it. Keep his heart soft and open."

My guy is adventurous and silly, brave and logical, analytical and abstract–he wrestles and he cuddles. For some unknown and blessed reason, I get to experience him daily. I get to watch him grow up. I get to call him my son! Jesus has so much to work with in him... I think we are both excited about that!

Happy Birthday, My Boy!