Lately...

I have been spending all my time here...

to take care of my sweet Mama.

Last Thursday I met my dad at the ER because we thought my Mama had had a stroke. After performing some tests, they diagnosed her with brain cancer. The outlook is not so good. She has about 4-6 weeks to live. We have had to move her to a nursing home because she needs constant care and supervision.

I still can't comprehend it all!!

Please pray for my family.

What Happened at Our House Last Night

We had finished supper last night, and I was cleaning the kitchen when I heard a terrible, horrible, awful sound from our closet.
Look what I found....

Yes, that is the long clothes rack that fell off the wall. And yes, those are all my clothes now in a huge heap on the closet floor on top of my shoes. And yes, my dear, sweet husband is back at Lowe's for a second time tonight getting parts to fix it.
And no, our life is NeVer dull around here!

Harrison Said

There are a few things Harrison has said this first week of First Grade that I really, really want to remember!

• When we got to his classroom on Monday morning, and he sat down in his desk, we realized it was a little bit wobbly. Harrison said to me, "Mommy this desk wobbles. Will you bring me a new one from your class?"



• After he came running down the bus steps on the first day of school, I was asking all the typical questions then I asked him to rank his first day. He said, "Well at first it was a 10, but then I got in trouble for talking in the bathroom, so it's a 9!"



• Monday night his big sister, Caitlin, was telling us that they didn't get to Science on the first day because they had so much to go over like the rules and such. Harrison said, "Well we didn't get to nap today. Can you believe it?"



• His teacher is named Mrs. Large, and he thought that was hilarious the first time he heard her name. He then asked me, "Is there a Mrs. Small too?"
  
  

I am so very thankful that we have had such a great beginning to our new school year! I only hope the rest of the year runs this smoothly!!

Currently I Am...

listening to: one little boy snoring soundly in his bed

loving: my nice, clean, organized classroom

thinking: that I have to stop by Lowe's tomorrow to pick up supplies for a project

wanting: 2 more weeks of summer vacation!

needing: to start cutting out today's laminating and make lunches for tomorrow

stalking: firstgradefactory.blogspot.com
flipflopteacher.blogspot.com
various friends' blogs

Happy First Day of School!

When I got up bright and early this morning, I jumped in the shower eager to start Caitlin and Harrison's first day of school at their new school! After much prayer, we transferred them to our neighborhood school from them going to school with us where we teach. It was a big decision which did not come lightly AT ALL!
Well all summer long, they have been super excited about going. Especially when buying school supplies and new school clothes!

I packed their backpacks and lunchboxes for them and placed them by the front door so they would see them as they came down the stairs.
Little did I know that as I proceeded to wake up both kids what I would find!
Harrison pretty much jumped out of bed ready to go, but Caitlin was a total different story. First she had set her alarm clock wrong and woke up an hour early. So she met me at the top of the stairs after she had gotten out of the shower. Unfortunately that gave her ample time for the nerves to settle into her stomach! She stayed in the bathroom for about 30 minutes, ate 4 Tums, and swore that she was going to throw up. (Luckily she didn't!) After rubbing her back and trying my best to calm her down, she was FiNaLlY and reluctantly ready to go.

But she was not near as excited as her little brother! He said he couldn't wait to meet some new friends.

This is the best picture I got of her with her new backpack and lunchbox. See the forced smile? She had already told her Daddy and me that she did NOT want us to walk her to her new 6th grade classroom. She only wanted us to walk her up the stairs. That quickly changed as we entered the school building, and she realized that the other Sixth Graders were walking by themselves WITHOUT parents! So she turned around to us at the staircase and said "Good-bye. You can go now." Talk about tears for this Mama!!!!

But not Harrison! He kept asking if both Mommy and Daddy were going to walk him to his classroom. He was soooooo excited!!!!

We walked into Mrs. Large's classroom, and...

he found his seat immediately and said "I'm good. Love you. Good-bye." Tears again! (But these tears were happy tears because he is so well-adjusted and absolutely loves school. For this, I am one happy Mama.)
So Daddy and I left that school to go to our own In-Service for the day. I got home in time to meet the bus carrying my sweet babies.

And these are my two drenched babies with smiles on their faces! (A thunderstorm came up about 5 minutes before they were dropped off--just great!)
After they told me ALL about their day at school, I asked what they would rank their day if 10 was the absolute best and 0 was the absolute worst. They both shocked me with their answer---9!

So even though Caitlin had all kinds of butterflies in her stomach this morning, her day ended up being great. And I was pleasantly surprised that Harrison's was the same. And they both met new friends just like Harrison wanted!

A great beginning to our school year!