oh, my lands! {blog silence}

I've been so remiss in getting any posts up!  I'm sorry!  Mea culpa.

School's start has been wonderful.  We are so pleased with the transition of Cooper, Luke, Anna and Emma Kate to their new school.  It so far is everything we hoped it would be...and possibly more.

Anna is now sporting a sling.

Mercy.

She broke her collarbone {aka clavicle} doing a handstand on the playground.  She's such a sport about the injury and is bearing up beautifully.  I think she secretly finds the sling a lovely accessory- so far.  Six weeks of it, and she may be over it all!

Homework: wow.  W.O.W.  As in 3-4 hours a night for Anna and Luke.  They warned us this would be the case, especially at first.  I already see it getting better, in terms of how fast they can navigate it.  But wow.  It is a huge shift for us.

I do want to kiss that boring Shurley English textbook nightly, however.

Their homework is excellent!  We are so pleased.  I already said that, I know!

Anna came home to tell us she had a song she thought we would like.  She then burst into "America" {also called, "My Country Tis of Thee"}.  Jim and I were grinning, and she said, "See?  You like the songs from here!"

Yes, indeed.  A far cry from the new age goodie, "Child of the Universe".

Mercy, indeed.

I'm sure the children still recall my rant about that song selection.

Onward...

Everyone is doing well.

Emma Kate misses me, she says, at school, even though she loves her teacher, Mrs. Gillitzer.  Adores her, really!  That is a good feeling, the missing, I tell her, because it means we love each other so much!  So missing and enjoying school can indeed go hand in hand.  Just ask Mrs. Schroedel, my first grade teacher.  I was a star student at missing my mom at school, even while I liked school.  Cried every day for a year.  True, indeed.  Now that's loyalty and love for you!

Anna is making some sweet new friends.  We hear the same names at dinner, which is fun.  She loves her science class and is working away at spelling.  Spelling might just be the bane of her existence, but our girl perseveres!  So far, she likes every single thing about school.  And my guess?  School likes every single thing about Anna, the eager, joyful, sweet student she is.

Luke misses his friends, and got to see God answer a prayer to help him stay connected with some of them when one of his pals showed up at Wednesday night church last week!  Jim and I had just prayed together that morning for that exact thing, and Luke had prayed the night before.  I think Luke was pretty "wowed" to see God show up in that way.  He is making new friends at school and I've met a mom or two.  He is doing well working his iPad into school life.  I do see it making a significant difference for him with his dyspraxia.  It really is stunning to see how easy it is for him to get his thoughts out typing, but when writing it is laborious and laborious.  We are grateful for the technology to make such a significant difference in his school days!

Jeb loves school, cross country, his friends, church, his guitar and life in general right now!  Not sure he'd order things in that way, but he is in a great place and quite chipper about his days.  He is spending quite a bit of time in his room playing guitar after school when his homework is finished.  I'm quite sure he is in hiding for fear that we will use the lack thereof of work to shift him to the new school, too.  He is hilarious.  And I love, love the sound of his guitar strumming away upstairs.  Mickey Stone gives great lessons!  {That's a shout out!}.  Jeb's making great times in Cross Country, which is fun.  And seeing him spark to the sport is also a joy.

Cooper has a big year.  His academic load is full, and his Humanities focus this year is on the Ancient World.  He is competing the Iliad this week {yes, the entire thing} and moves on to the Odyssey.  The reading list is incredible, and the instruction is also of high caliber.  We are thrilled at the things he is learning, what he is able to articulate, the amount of writing he is doing, and the Socratic Dialogue/Seminar format in Humanities is challenging him in some great ways!  He has new friends, and even attended an event at a friends church this Saturday.  He invited an Edina friend, Jack, to go with him, and I loved watching Cooper integrate his friends old and new.  I know he really misses Cross Country.  That is hard right now, but we will forge on and slowly get it all sorted.  He's going to do some races on his own this fall, just to keep running and enjoying the sport.

Me?  I'm home during the day, and really loving it.  The days fly by, and I am always amazed it is time to go pick the kids up.  In many ways I feel busier, but I think that is simply because I am getting so much done during the day and can focus on whatever I want to until it is completed.  It is a luxury to be home like this, and I am treasuring the gift of being able to focus on family life fully in this season.  My "free time" I am spending as a volunteer with Love Without Boundaries, and I adore the work.

Here is an example of my days:  today by 10:30 I had completed three loads of laundry, touched up all the paint in the kids' bathroom {we are almost done with construction in there!}, walked with neighbors for a few miles and mowed the lawn.  How's that for staying busy?  I do feel a tug to now have such an urgency to my days, in terms of productivity.  But I am also thoroughly enjoying getting so much done!  Getting into a rhythm of the week will come soon, I know.  I'm already pondering a routine of sorts with some home days and a day for errands, etc.  It is all good.  I am doing a Bible Study on Fridays, and was just truly exultant sitting there the first day.  I dearly missed my study last year with Emma newly home.  I didn't do anything without her for a long span of time {for her sake}, and while wonderful, it is also so nice to be here in this season, too!

Jim is busy, busy at work.  He is trying to enjoy the last months of biking before snow flies.  And he's been a weekend warrior on that bathroom.  He has done an amazing job, and I"m so proud of him and amazed by all the things he has done.  I know he is as ready as I am to be done with it, though.  There just isn't the margin for projects like this in our current season of life.  He is getting ready to take Luke to Virginia for a father's on weekend away.  He's done this with all the boys as they enter late elementary years.  It is as much guy time outside and fishing as it is speaking into the time of life they are in where becoming responsible and thoughtful young men is top of mind {for us!}.  Character formation plus fish.  How's that for a trip?!  Nana and Papa are coming to stay with us in a few weeks, and we can't wait to see them {Jim's parents}!  It is going to be so fun.  We have some neat things planned, and I cannot wait for them to arrive.

That is it from our house!  I hope I'm better at blogging now that we are in the rhythm and routine of school.

Happy September to you!
Love,
Sara