it's the last day of September

The leaves are changing color

and we might be going a little bit crazy!

(at breakfast)

I cannot believe tomorrow is October.

Matt's Grandma Ruth died last week.  It was expected, and blessed, and we rejoice that she is with Jesus.  But it is hard to be away from family during times like this.  The weddings, the funerals, the new babies, the birthdays, the holidays.... they all pile up and then you realize that after 15 years overseas ..... it can feel like you've missed it all.

But we haven't.  For now our hearts live on both sides of the globe, and no matter where we are we won't be missing it "all".  This week it just feels like a lot of missing the America side of the ocean.

(our last visit with Grandma Ruth, May 2014.)

biking the weekend

These weekend bike rides are becoming a habit :)  I sometimes can't believe that we are 'old enough' for outings like this!  It wasn't that long ago that a family bike ride involved multiple sets of training wheels and was slow enough that I could walk alongside pushing Luke (or at times, Luke and JP!) in the stroller.

The biggest news of the past three months is that John Paul (after months of ignoring his bike)  hopped on, decided he really liked it, and took off riding, never looking back.  He got good, fast.  And he's such a grown-up little man these days, seeming more like a 5 year old than 4 (and he is only three months from his 5th birthday!).  He's definitely ready for rides like this - not just physically, but maturity wise too.

So he's on his own bike, and Luke graduated to Matt's, and I'm riding solo.  We have a 7 mile loop that we really enjoy, only a few road crossings and 95% of it is greenway riding.  It's perfect - Isaac can race to the front, John Paul can bring up the rear, Matt and I even get in some nice conversation riding side by side, and there's space for everyone to enjoy the ride in their own way.

Our 7 mile loop skirts right along the edge of the river and crosses 4 different bridges!

Thankful for this greenway that passes our apartment complex, for rivers to ride along, and for healthy bodies to do it.  Oh, and for a Daddy who is faithfully training up a generation of bike lovers :)

goodbye Anna

Monday afternoon we threw together a picnic, picked up the big three from local school and headed to a park for some fun.

These huge letters are fun to climb in, and photo-taking opportunities abounded.  And it was a good beginning of the goodbye-Anna week.

Our best photo of the week is definitely this one!  Everyone worked hard to personalize the mat and I'm thinking this one is a keeper for Anna :)  [I'm also wishing I had done more photos like this over the years... for me ... to keep.  It's a fun way to capture a moment, and the signatures are priceless.]

Luke can't write his own name but he has mastered the 3.  And if I hold my hand lightly on top of his he mostly gets the letters, some of the time.  ha.  John Paul is a name-writing fool, the J is hit or miss and the N a bit of a train wreck, but he's a proud do-it-yourself-er on this activity and I'm not going to rain on his parade.

I know in a few months even those two and their skill levels will change, so it's good to mark this moment in time.  For so many reasons.  Our kids experience so many goodbyes, so much transition, so much relational change.  Their grief is real, and their life experiences intense.  I'm grateful that we worked hard to commemorate these special weeks with Anna.

We all miss her.  She became a dear friend to all of us in a very short time.  I'm really going to miss her, and we are anxious to keep up our friendship.  I expected that our time would be blessed in many ways, but I did not expect to enjoy such deep friendship with Anna... our age difference is significant (ahem!) but not an obstacle.  I'm blessed to count her as a friend.  And so are my children!

The week marched on, Matt returned home from a trip (perfect timing as the rocking of the family emotional boat was needing his steady presence) and we transitioned towards the weekend.  Next week is a big holiday here which throws the local school schedule for a loop, but we will carry on with home school and hopefully squeeze in a camping trip?  I'm reminding Matt that this is the big year that he can take ALL FIVE kids and he's thinking that means I'm camping too.  Typically its a dads and kids trip (Moms home with the little ones) but I'm not sure what to do if there are no little ones to stay home with?!?!?  This October camping trip is a tradition dating back to the year he took Julianna - at 21 months old!  and left me home with 2 month old Lydia!  I'll have to pull out some old photos.

books and games

So here we are Sunday morning... needing to buy a bigger bed, obviously!  ha!  As the older kids woke up they found me in bed reading and each grabbed a book so they could join me.  [I was reading The Rest of God (kindle app on my phone), Lydia reading Babysitters Club, Julianna reading Mary on Horseback, Isaac reading Paddington.]

We are in a great Sunday morning group that is a tremendous blessing to our whole family.  Sunday I had little kid duty and I love being with a group of kids that I know so well.  Later in the day Lydia (who's in the older class) declared that "sunday school" was her third favorite part of the day.   It's just a good Sunday experience for everybody.

After lunch together with our Sunday morning people we all wandered outside and never got much further.  It was another gorgeous day and we stayed out until 5, when a brief rain shower drove us indoors (plus I needed to get started on dinner!).

The girls were on roller blades again for the first time in almost a month (it's just been too rainy to be outdoors).

The "biking with roller blades" challenge was fun, but it's apparently almost impossible to get off your bike without falling :)

John Paul's hat from our summer trip plus my sunglasses make for a pretty sassy look, huh?

Matt brought out some tools and started a little bike repair stop.  With a fleet of bikes and other friends in the neighborhood... somebody always needs a seat raised, a chain repaired, air in the tires.  John Paul LOVES the tools, so this is a fun way to pass the time for everybody.

Lydia isn't the only one who will be missing Anna.

We attempted a family picture but the rain was starting to fall and the boys were distracted.  But here's proof that we all spent the afternoon together :)

And then today, Matt came by the house at noon (on the way to the airport) and had time for a short game of Skip-Bo and walked the big three to school.

John Paul loves to think of himself as old enough for this game but he needs plenty of help.  Luke is a solid team player, who tends to defect to the role of card-sorter.

The older kids are all on a Skip-Bo kick but these little two can't get enough of Too Many Monkeys.  If it's conceivable that a child could be addicted to a card game then these two are diagnosable addicts.  Their excitement is contagious, and I'm actually still enjoying the occasional game with them, mostly because Anna has taken a lot of the hours with Too Many Monkeys, meaning I'm not tired of it yet!

I'm making lists of Christmas ideas - some new card games will definitely be near the top!

saturday

The rain dissipated and the sun came out and the sidewalks dried (first time in how long?) and we needed some sunshine :)

Off to a favorite stop of ours - a business park that is teeming with businessmen during the week and practically deserted on the weekends.  Oh, and it has a McDonalds for easy lunch-feeding.

Julianna cannot resist this little baby Addie, neither of my girls can!  She's pretty perfect for cuddling.

Pre-lunch pick up soccer game, post-lunch frisbee, everyone was needing some ice cream.

Julianna carried my phone around taking pictures :)

She loves the selfie :)  ha ha.  child of her generation, I guess.

And I'm starting to take lots of pictures of Anna - these final days are going to fly by :(

It'll be a difficult transition for all of us when she leaves.

Matt and I spent Saturday night at a friend's birthday party - getting out of the house when Anna is here is a breeze!  Easy date nights is one of the many many things I'll miss when she is gone.

[one last pic of Luke painting while Anna made dinner.   For no other reason than because he's super cute and I don't have any other pictures of him in this post :)

the rest of the week

Wednesday morning I trudged through the rain (again!) to the train station and caught my 8:43 train to a nearby city.  These bullet trains are fast, and punctual.  It's a restful ride for me and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there immensely.   It was easy - I love the people there, and I was resting easy about my people at home!

Anna got the little two off to preschool, and then spear-headed the painting and assembly of this model of the solar system.  Science is a bit of a lightweight in our home school but we are thoroughly enjoying our Apologia Astronomy.  Mostly we just read and then take some notes in our notebooks and occasionally enjoy a little extra project.  Tonight we watched Louie Giglio's Indescribable video on youtube.  [If you haven't seen it and enjoy astronomy, I highly recommend!]

The big kids aren't the only ones who enjoy time with Anna.  She reads to the little boys almost every afternoon.  Piles and piles and piles of books.

Thursday flew by and we capped the week with a girl party :)  Our dear friends sent three of "their" girls - two daughters and a college aged friend - to spend the night.  It was so super fun!  Matt took our boys out to dinner and the girls ruled the house for a while.  There was a little line dancing session and mucho giggling and so much delight everywhere.  I tried not to notice that I was the oldest person by about, oh, ..... too many years :)  ha!

We woke to more rain Saturday (boo! cancelled soccer practice!) but by mid morning it was obvious that we were headed towards what might be the prettiest day this month.  So we decided it was time to load up the troops (at this point there were 11 of us in the house) and get to some green space.

More on that next time, I must be off to bed.  Mondays take a lot of energy around here :)

Last minute photo-addition (fun pic from Matt's camera of the boys with Daddy while the girls line-danced!)

fun Sunday

This is one of my favorite times of year... I just love the change in seasons, a new crispness to the air, a bit of cool breeze, an occasional long-sleeve tee, no more streams of sweat running down your back :)  

Bonus if the sky is actually blue!

Sunday afternoon we had some extra energy to burn.  A long walk (across our favorite bridge and down the greenway to a new playground) was just the ticket.

The traffic on the highway below was moving at the perfect speed for 'racing' - i.e. traffic was just heavy enough to slow the vehicles but not bring them to a complete standstill.

Matt and I stood here and watched the kids 'race' cars and trucks and buses!  Sooooo fun, especially if you manage to 'beat' the vehicle (meaning you start running when the vehicle disappears under the bridge and the you get to the other side before the vehicle reappears).

This game brings ridiculous amounts of joy and happy shouts of "I won!"

We returned home for homemade pizza and much needed showers.  Tonight the kids are laughing at Prince Caspian (Matt reading).  We've had lots of funny read-alouds recently and I love the giggles.  All three big kids laughed so hard at Best Christmas Pageant Ever (read by Anna) that they could hardly breathe.  I'm now reading Isaac an abridged version of Dr. Dolittle which always tickles his funny bone.  And Anna is about halfway through Trumpet of the Swan with the girls ..... plenty of laughter from that one too :)

Tomorrow morning I'm off for a day trip while Anna manages the fort.  So thankful she is here (not much longer... sniff!) and so looking forward to the time with friends tomorrow.

9-10

September 10th

Ninth month, tenth day

Makes sense that a country that loves to pull symbolism out of numbers would choose the day that sounds most like counting (nine, ten) to honor their teachers.

Usually this day creeps up on me and I feel woefully under prepared and last year I bought two big youzis (think giant grapefruit) on the way to school for the girls to gift their teachers.  [Bonus that the half mile walk to school passes several bike cart fruit sellers so picking up fruit is about as tricky as walking a straight line.]

But this year I was remembered a few days before and yay! we were ready - colored paper, scissors, glue, stickers... we churned out some home made cards.  Of course Julianna's was beautiful - she wove colored strips of paper and created a masterpiece.  And Lydia made her teacher a rainbow loom bracelet :)

and Luke, well, don't tell me this face and these cards wouldn't charm your socks off!

Oh, and I did declare myself everyone's favorite teacher :)  ha!

hair cut!

Julianna finally did it.  

She decided to cut her hair!  She talked about it off and on for a few weeks and then last Saturday morning said, "Let's just do it now."

About three minutes into the hair cut (courtesy of yours truly!) she burst into tears.  It is sad to part with long hair, and she wasn't sure she made the right choice.

But now, almost a week later, she's convinced.

It looks so great!  She gets tons of compliments!  She's not fighting nearly as many tangles, and after a summer of pool and sweat and roller blades taking off almost six inches made it so much healthier!

It's been a few years since her hair was this length and she's enjoying it - for now!  But I won't be surprised if she's motivated to grow it long again :)

views from the day (with lots of Lydia)

It rained and rained hard, all day Tuesday and Wednesday.  I mean, all. day. long.

Rain rain rain rain rain rain rain.

So this morning when I looked out the window and realized the ground was still wet but it was not raining that very minute, my spirits soared.  Oh, a day we might actually get outside!

But it was not meant to be.  Luke threw up within the first hour and the day was not terribly difficult (he bounced back admirably and took a monster nap) but it was all indoors.  Again [sigh].

Tomorrow, surely, I will get outside!

Even stuck inside, I took a few pictures.  Scenes that are so so common, but barely make picture-worthy status.

Lydia's abandoned school desk.  The roll paper taped to the window is the rough draft of her writing assignment.  The desktop clutter is just Lydia - she likes a nice cluttered desk :)

What Lydia was working on while she wasn't at her desk..... joining forces with John Paul to create a monster mess (aka fort) in the boys room.

This scene is all-too-common, and at noon when I'm sitting in the hallway holding a white-faced Luke next to a plastic throw-up basin and encouraging the kiddos to at least pick up something before we try to figure out what to eat for lunch, well, I'm thankful that not every day is like this one :)  ha!

But the room got picked up in a jiffy and we found bugs in the rice (argh) but we washed it clean and ate it anyways, and while waiting for it to finish cooking Lydia sat next to me at the kitchen table and read books to Luke.  Preciousness.

And here's the rest of my view, Luke in my lap, Lydia reading beside me, and the two boys waiting for lunch.  [Can't remember what Julianna was up to.]

The afternoon passed quickly with an unexpected visit from a friend.  And tomorrow I will find my way outside!

best walk-pooling gig ever!

Here's my new view as I drop off the elementary kids - all 4 of them!  My two girls, starting their THIRD (!!!) year in public school and the first grade boys - Isaac, and our neighbor Grady.

I'm thankful to have another neighborhood kiddo on the afternoon school schedule since it means I can start walk-pooling to/from school!  I love the walking (about a mile, round trip) and I enjoy the time with the kids, but it will be a nice change of pace to not be responsible for every drop off and every pick up every day of the week.

We are now full steam into week four home school, week two public school, and this week added their language tutor.  This is about as full as our schedule is going to get (schooling-wise, at least!).  Whew.

two final breakfast dates

John Paul and Luke were Matt's final "dates" of the summer.

Happy boys with their Daddy at McDonalds breakfast :)

[John Paul in early August, Luke this past Wednesday]

And with that, summer feels very officially over.  The pool?  Closed.  Public school?  In session.  Summer breakfast dates?  Check.  Heavy travel on the horizon?  For Matt (but not the rest of us, whew!)

first day of school pictures

Here they are... love love love these kiddos and I am so proud of them!

First day Julianna.

First day Lydia.

First day Isaac.

first day!

It's that time of year again!  Local school is starting.  Many mixed emotions for me - and the kiddos!  I love so many things about local school but it's a big commitment that is not easy to navigate and adds to my stress level.  Argh.

Sunday morning (August 30th) was registration and orientation.  The big three headed off with big smiles and empty backpacks.

Isaac's smile was starting to fade as the big moment approached.  There is nothing easy about starting first grade and the school system here is decidedly lacking in the warm fuzzy department.

But he did so well!  He's assigned to the same classroom that Julianna used as both a first and second grader!

So Matt dropped him off and the girls found their new classrooms (north building, fifth floor!) and we picked them up again at lunch.  Orientation day success :) [And the girls got 14 books each, with more to come!  Ack!  The academic load here is incredible!]

Then today, Tuesday September 1, was the big first day!  So proud of these three!

Sweet big sisters escorted Isaac to his classroom door and then turned to head off to their classrooms. [The grounds look empty .... my kids only attend in the afternoons so most everyone is in their classroom when they walk onto the school grounds.]

And here he is at pickup!  The big first grader!  I love his huge grin!  He had a great day and is ready to head back tomorrow!

It's been a crazy few days here though, after a tough end to last week and then Sunday registration, then the start of our school week.  I'm realizing I need to compensate for these challenges and relax some of my home school expectations but I pretty much totally failed in that area these past few days.

good thing tomorrow is a new day.  second day of school!

[i got some really great first day pictures that I'll post soon!]