From a readers perspective, I often wonder what information I would be interested in reading. But since it's my life journey, it is all interesting from my perspective!
Aunt Jen arrived last Wednesday, June 29, and we had a great time. A friend from Roger's work was able to get our family tickets to a rope obstacle course, so we did that on Thursday. Emma did a great job with Roger's help and she seemed to enjoy it. The boys couldn't get enough of the climbing and zip lines, and they would've stayed for a much longer time. I'm thankful that we were able to get free passes, and it was a fun time.
Roger stayed home with the kids on Thursday night so I could spend some time with my sisters. We enjoyed a night out together with dinner and shopping...which was not very much shopping as everything closes around nine pm. We enjoyed a lot of laughter and discussion, and I am very thankful for my family.
Our good friends, Gretchen and Sean, along with their four children, arrived very early on Sunday morning. It was about 1 am., and I was so excited to see them! I had known that they were coming for about two weeks, but I had managed to keep it a surprise from the kids. The kids were amazed when they woke up on Sunday morning that their friends from Wisconsin were at their house! It was a fun surprise!
The week flew by entirely too quickly with many memories many, new experiences, and fun times with friends. Monday was the Fourth of July, and the town near us was hosting a kids fun run as well as a 5k race. Gretchen offered to keep the kids that were still sleeping so that I could go do the 5k race. Roger had to work, and I wasn't even sure if I could run a 5k race...it's been a long time since I've gotten in a longer run! It ended up that only Garett and Chandler were up early enough to participate in the fun run. They both received free t-shirts for running, and they had a great time. Chandler ran a mile in about 7:18 and Garett ran it in about 8:10. The official results were published in the paper, but I have no idea what paper that is going to be! Oh well, it was a great memory for them and they are already looking forward to next year. The boys waited for me while I ran in the 5k race. I may not have trained as well as I should, but I can certainly still do my very best and push myself hard (leftover memories from my college days!) I ran it in 25:17 and I placed third in my age division. I was pretty happy with that, but I'd love to actually train for it and run next year. So, I guess we all have things to look forward to for next year!
We watched the parade with the Schilders, and it was an experience for all of us. We saw a huge Democratic Party, a small vehicle representing the Republican Party, the Lobster queen, the wild blueberry princess and Queen, and a re-enactment of the revolutionary war period during the parade. I was amazed at all the people that were there, and apparently it's a very popular parade.
My sisters came up in the afternoon for a cook out, so that was fun. Roger did not get done with work until about 7:30pm, but he was able to watch the fireworks with us. Wow! What a firework display! It went on and on and on. It was about a forty-five minute firework display, and it was quite impressive. I guess we know where to go for fireworks in the upcoming years!
Towards the end of last week, before Jen came to visit, Emma decided to potty train herself. I knew that she was getting ready to be potty trained, but with moving to Maine, and all our transitions, I wanted to wait. A friend had given her some pink underwear, and she was excited about those. She woke up one morning last week, put on underwear, had one accident, and she's potty trained! It's really quite wonderful when a child does that, and she has been accident free for over a week. That definitely has not been the case with all of our children, but she did it. It's just another reminder that our children are growing up quickly. Gretchen asked me how I was doing with not having any children in diapers, and it's a first in almost ten years. I'm not sure how I'm doing with it, so I'll have to think about it!
The Schidlers had to leave on Thursday morning, which was way too soon in my opinion! We stayed up late talking, drank lots of coffee, and supervised nine children. My heart is full with blessings and gratitude at the friendships we share.
We also toured a Christian school on Thursday. There is a Christian school about twenty minutes from our house, and Jen, my sister, decided to see if she could set up a tour. It worked out for Thursday. Roger had to work, but he was able to get off to tour the school with us. We took our kids, Jen and Hannah, so it was a family affair! We were very impressed with the school. Although they only have about 25 students, each of their teachers are Maine state certified teachers. They also have art classes, Spanish classes, music, and they get special classes in tennis and ice skating from the local YMCA. Of course, the big factor is the cost of the school. The first child is full price at $3,200, the second child receives a 25% discount, and the consecutive children are free. Yes, you read that right. I had to hear it a few times myself to believe it. Apparently, it's their policy and they believe strongly in Christian education. We aren't sure if we will be able to afford it this year, but we will see what God will do. I can certainly homeschool them, and I will if that's what God wants, but it is definitely not my cup of tea! I appreciate the fact that the school has only half day kindergarten, so Travis wouldn't have to be in school all day. Of course, that also means that I need to pick him up at 11:15. Oh, the decisions to be made are quite overwhelming, but I know that God will give us clear direction.
Our friends have gone home, Aunt Jen has flown out, and we are back to life as normal. Since I'm not exactly sure what "normal" looks like yet, I'll just say that we are all struggling a bit with depression at missing friends and family. However, we have many things to get done in the next few days, and Roger has off for three days. We are needing to get Maine drivers licenses, vehicles registered, and a whole host of other paperwork...ugh! But, I won't be bored!
We appreciate your prayers as we seek God's clear direction for schooling decisions, vehicles, and other choices to be made. God is so good, and I am so thankful for His timely interventions in my life.
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