Changes and Challenges, but Praises along the Way!

                                         Fun Moments

I blog so that I can try to grasp some of these fleeting memories, and I still feel like I'm failing half the time at keeping a journal of our lives!! Truth is that I thought I would have a bunch of spare time once the boys were in school, but the truth of the matter is that I do not have a bunch of spare time! I also thought that three weeks into the school year, I'd have a routine down pat. However, I find that a lot of the days I'm still coordinating my days schedule on the fly. A lot depends on Roger's work schedule, what I happening at school, grocery shopping, or if I get invited to visit with a mom after morning school drop off (that one is my favorite!). 

The boys are adjusting to school life, but we are still in transition mode! It's a new curriculum, a long school day, different teachers, and a whole new world. The older boys completely bombed (majorly failed) their first spelling test. One of the boys told me he only missed two words on the whole test, until I realized that actually he had only gotten two right! (That was a big disappointment for the child!) Needless to say, spelling is something we are working on more faithfully in the evenings. Garett did tell me, "Mom, we've been going to school for three weeks. I haven't had to go with you to Wal-mart or the grocery store yet. That's awesome!" Garett does not enjoy any type of shopping so that is one big benefit in his eyes that he has not had to come along on any  of those excursions. 

We had a family from the church over for dinner a little over a week ago. It was a good opportunity to get to know this family better and their kids also attend the Christian school. They have four kids and we have five, so we always have a crowd of kids when we are together! Also along those lines, Roger and I have committed to staying with the church associated with the school. We feel that this is the best choice for our family right now, and God has provided peace to go along with that decision. It's not a perfect church by any means, but since we are imperfect people, it's a good match. It's a body of believers committed to serving Christ, mentoring new believers, encouraging kids to follow Christ, and loving the Lord...it's a good fit for us. 

Also a little over a week ago, I was able to meet up with a college friend and her family. This was a special treat as I haven't seen Helaine in over ten years,  but the conversation was smooth and enjoyable. She and her husband, Phil, are on deputation to raise support for their journey to France as missionaries. God worked it out that they could come and spend an afternoon with us. Roger was able to take their family on a flight, they stayed for supper, and I'm hoping they will be back to Maine again sometime! 

This past week was the first meeting of the parents group for the school. Since the meeting takes place in the morning after school drop-off, it's mostly mamas and young ones. Emma is glad that the meeting takes place in the church nursery! Even though this was my first time attending the parents group, I can appreciate this group. They work hard at praying for the teachers and the school, doing various fund raisers, and helping strengthen the parent/teacher relationship. I'm excited about being involved with this group. I volunteered for several things that they needed help with even though I have no idea what I am doing! I will be helping out with Tuesday's lunch room and recess coverage. I am also a "room parent", which basically means that I just check in with the teachers from time to time to see if they have any classroom needs, I think. I am also helping with the auction in November. Apparently it's a really big fundraiser for the school, and they need an extra set of hands. Well, okay, I guess I can do that too! 😊 The parent group is another way that I can be involved with the school, meeting simple needs, and keeping my ear to the ground for my kids. I'm looking forward to it. 

Also this past week, Emma and I were invited to go on a walk with some other moms. Due to scheduling conflicts, it ended up just being myself and two other moms. Personally though, that's probably my favorite way right now. I don't really know anyone very well, so a smaller group gives me more of an opportunity to get to know someone. It was a beautiful day for a walk out to the lighthouse, and it provided an unexpected opportunity for fun in the middle of the week. I am thankful. 

Hannah and Josh took the kids for the day on Saturday so that Roger and I could celebrate our anniversary. The kids were thrilled to spend the day with Josh and Hannah, and I was glad to see them so excited to go. Roger and I had a good day together. A few mistakes along the way as we tried to combine business with pleasure, but it was a good day. We had decided to take out suburban and trailer to Portland as there was a  couch that we wanted to look at there. It was a couch off of Craigslist, and we ended up buying it for our house. The disadvantage was that we then decided to go visit downtown Portland. It's kinda a cute section down there by the water, but it was also Saturday, which meant not a lot of parking was available. We ended up not being able to find a parking space anywhere near the area, so we decided to forgo that idea. We decided that maybe we could stop at one of the other towns on our way back and do some window shopping and walking. Well, apparently, everyone else had the same idea...and parking for a suburban with a trailer was not happening. We ended up coming home to drop off the trailer, and then we headed back out. However, by that time, a good chunk of the day was already gone. Oh well, you live and learn! We did use a gift card to a nice restaurant in the area, and we spent lots of time talking. The day was not a complete disaster, just should the opportunity arise, we will plan differently! 

All things considered, we are doing well. The loneliness and homesickness is starting to wane a bit, but at other moments the intensity of it threatens to overwhelm me. I'm enjoying my moments with Emma, but we both need to find some type of routines to our mornings. I want to use this time wisely, but at the same time I'm distracted by all the other things that are easier to do with only one child versus five! Roger is still working extremely long days; truthfully, I thought he would be slowing down a bit faster. It's okay though as these days ARE getting shorter! Fall is going to be beautiful here. The leaves are starting to change, and the mornings can be cool. I'm looking forward to fall, and exploring new adventures with the kids. I would like to take them to the apple farm, and there are several festivals coming up. Change can be hard, but it's necessary. It forces us out of our comfort zones. It causes me to depend more on my Saviour, and provided opportunities for me to point our children to Christ. 

Have a blessed day! 

                  Before and After Photo of the Kitchen...top is before :) 

Our First Week of School!

Since I last wrote, we attended the open house for the school, started and completed our first week, celebrated our second holiday in Maine, went to a country fair, and enjoyed a picnic with another family! 

                     

                            First day of school.                            Garett is ten!!! 

I really wanted to keep up with all the new experiences of last week, but Roger worked for six days straight. It was all I could do to keep my head on straight! We attended the open house on Travis's sixth birthday on the 25th. Roger wasn't sure that he would make it, but he was able to meet us there. It was a little bit of a challenge in the sense that we are completely new to the school, and I have no idea how things work out. And it's hard not to feel like an outsider when everyone else already knows everyone. However, it was a good experience by the end of the night. Since the weather was nice, the kids went outside. A bunch of other kids and parents eventually wandered out, and Roger and I were able to meet several other families. It gave me great peace of mind to know that on Monday, my kids would already know some of the other children in the school. 

On Sunday night, we spent some time trying to answer the kids questions and calm nerves. Honestly, they were all really excited to go except for Travis. While I have great peace in knowing that God's hand is in this, it is still a big step for us! Everyone had a hard time falling asleep, but the boys were up early and ready to go in the morning. Roger had to work, so I brought the kids to school on my own. Since we were there early, the kids played on the playground and I had a chance to visit with the teacher. I am confident the teachers are fully qualified and capable, I was just worried about how the kids previous education would hold up. 

Travis was very uncertain about school, and he was rather clingy when I dropped him off. He looked like he was about to cry, but he managed not too. Emma, on the other hand, was very upset that she couldn't stay at school! She wanted to go to school with Travis...and Travis would have gladly switched spots! Emma and I stayed in town for the morning, and picked up Travis at 11:30. He was quiet most of the way home, so I tried to engage him in conversation about the day. I asked if he learned anything, and he replied "no". He said that the teacher wanted to play some games, and the teacher said that the games would be fun. Travis said he didn't think the games were fun, and that the teacher was trying to get them to learn something. "But," Travis replied, "I already knew it." I am thankful that kindergarten is only half-days. Travis has enjoyed coming home in the afternoons and having the toys to himself! 

It was a good week, albeit a bit long for everyone. Garett celebrated his tenth birthday on Tuesday, and he took cupcakes for a treat for his class. I have a hard time believing that he is already ten! He's learned so much and has so much more to learn. He has a sweet spirit, gets along with everyone except his brothers, and I'm so thankful for him. 

Roger worked every.single.day. Last week, so that was a bit tough on everyone. The kids wanted to tell daddy about their day, but he often wasn't getting home until after their bed time. Sometimes mom just isn't all that exciting to tell stuff too, and they just wanted to talk to dad. The only problem is that so do I! I feel like I have to take a number and stand in line to tell him my story too! Oh well! Thankfully, the tourism season is almost over and the days are getting shorter. Less daylight means less time to fly to the islands, so we should start seeing more of Roger. I am reminded that God knows where I am in all of this too. After last week, I can see the Lord's hand very clear in providing the opportunity for the kids to attend school. It would've been challenging for me to be the mom, teacher, chauffeur, cook, referee, and everything else last week but thankfully having the kids in school did help my sanity...I hope! :) 

On Friday Roger and I celebrated our eleven years of marriage. It might be that we celebrated at the airport over cups of iced coffee and with Emma along, but we celebrated! I praise the Lord for Roger every day. We definitely don't see eye to eye on everything, but he loves me and I love him. He's a gifted pilot, a wonderful father, a considerate husband, and he prays for me and our children every day...I am blessed. Sometime later in the month, my sister, Hannah, and her husband, Josh, will be taking the kids for the day so that Roger and I can have some time by ourselves. I am more excited about that date than about Thanksgiving and Christmas! We are doing well, but miscommunication can happen easily when Roger is gone early in the morning and home in the later evening. I usually heat up supper, he talks to the boys for a few minutes, he eats supper, showers, and he's usually asleep before I finish cleaning up the supper table. It is what it is...but like I said, I'm looking forward to that date!! 

Saturday was a low-key day for the kids. After a full week of school, and a whole new schedule, I knew some down time was needed. They spent the day messing around in the fort, playing in the sand box, and helping me with chores around the house. We did go to the dump, but we still have a big pile for Roger to get rid of. It would be challenging for the kids and I to get rid of the broken hot tub, dishwasher, refrigerator, and washing machine. Good night...everything else better keep working!! 

Roger was able to come home in time for us to all have supper together on Saturday night, so that was a good blessing. The kids shared about the joys and struggles, and we had a good time visiting with them. 

On Sunday afternoon, we went to a fair. It was a fairly large fair with harness racing, various vendors, a museum, the midway, lots of animals, a yoked oxen competition, as well as draft horses pulling lots of weight. Hannah was able to meet us at the fair, and all my kids enjoy her company. The harness racing was interesting, and I would've enjoyed watching more of that. We watched them warm up the horses for the race, and then Travis announced he needed to go to the bathroom. We were gone for two minutes, and we missed the actual racing part! Oh, the joys of parenting! Oh well, there is always next year. Hannah, Emma, and I came home earlier in the evening, but the boys wanted to stay for the monster truck competion. They had a wonderful  time watching the monster trucks and getting covered in dust! An older couple found them to be delightful and bought them two huge bags of cotton candy! The boys thought that they had died and went to heaven. :) I'm thankful that Roger was willing to stay with them for that event as I wasn't too interested in a monster truck competion. 

Labor Day: 

God provided exactly what we needed....fellowship. The pastor of the church we attended on Sunday as well as a few other times, invited our family out to their camp on a lake. The pastor and his wife have a son about the age of Chandler, and our children have enjoyed getting to know him. We arrived down at their camp about two and we stayed until about seven pm. The hours flew by! Another family from the church was there with their children, and it was a delightful time of fellowship. We learned so much about the pastor and his family, the church, their vision for the future, and their love for the people. I enjoyed visiting both with the pastor's wife and the other family from the church. It's been a long time since we've had several hours of Godly company and fellowship, and it was truly a balm to my soul. The rest of the Pastor's children came down later in the afternoon, and it was such a sweet time of visiting. Roger mentioned on the way home how he really wasn't all that excited to go, but the conversation was easy going and relaxing. While Roger gets to interact with people at work, he too has been missing Christian fellowship. We both came away feeling blessed and encouraged. God is good. 

On Tuesday, Roger and I dropped the kids off at school. We decided to take a drive down the coast a bit. Maine is beautiful and there is so much to see. Emma came along too, of course, but Roger and I were still able to finish several conversations that we started last week. It was a good morning. It's much easier to get everyone dropped off and picked up with Roger home. He was able to pick up the older boys, and I was delighted to not have to wake Emma up from her nap. It just works out a lot smoother with Roger able to help. 

                         

                                           Enjoying the memories!

We are in our second week of school, and it is going better than last week. Although Travis would still like for Emma to go to school instead of him, he is warming up to his teacher and classmates. Who knows? Maybe he will learn something this week! :) Chandler had a very rough first day last week, but he seems to be transitioning well. He and Garett are in the same class, which has both pros and cons. :) Garett is good at many things, but school is hard for him. I'm thankful that the teacher/parent communication seems to be good, and I will work to keep it that way. 

Emma would like to go to school, so I think we might start learning our alphabet at home. She likes to be read to, so we will have to plan some trips to the library. I've also dug out some of my old piano books and started to play the piano again. Emma likes to hear the music, and she's rarely critical. I know it's not going well when she puts her hands over her ears! The boys have expressed an interest in learning the piano, and since we are counting pennies, I think I will try to teach them myself.  I just have to be disciplined to sticking with their lesson time and making it work! :) We will see. We are still so very new into the school year that I don't want to rush any decisions right now. It's definitely one that needs more prayer and thought. 

Well, this post became a bit long and wordy, but oh well. If you made it to the end on reading it, I offer my congratulations!! :) Hope you all have a wonderful week. God bless.