Back To School

 

Here we are!  First day of 5th grade and the last year in elementary school.  I started the day praying this will be a good year for her because last year was hard on the already emotionally sensitive girl.  

And the boy is starting 8th grade virtually.   It sounds like a meeting is going to be held in September to discuss having the option of masks.  If masks become not necessary I'm not sure if we'll bring him back to brick and mortar learning.   I'd really prefer it that way but it's a big decision.   We'll see how well he does with cyber.  

I hate what this virus has done.  I hate that it's taken lives, I hate the divide it has caused a nation that's already divided enough, and I hate that it's taken away normalcy for kids.  But we can take this experience and learn from it.  

Wishing a happy 2021/22 school year for all!

Pray For the Nation and the World

 Last week was a little difficult.  After we transferred my son back to in-person school the school board decides to require masks.  So, we had to make a quick decision to get him back to cyber because he doesn't handle mask wearing very well.  Then we got a ton of rain which flooded our basement a little bit.  My husband was using a lot of four-letter words while cleaning it all up, if you know what I mean.  This morning my alarm went off at 6:15 and I grumbled at the thought of waking up early to go to work.  I spent a few hours getting things ready in the kitchen for the first day of school on Wednesday as I thought about the overwhelming and uncertain year that lay ahead.  When I came home I had to deal with my poor boy who is suffering with an inner ear infection.  Last night he was in so much pain and had very little sleep.  My husband also had little sleep because of his own pain he's been feeling.  

I could go on and on about things going on right now.  

Then I think about what is going on in the rest of the world and my problems seem so miniscule.  I try not to watch the news anymore but I do know about what's going on in Afghanistan right now and it's scary.  There are other countries going through a lot of tough situations.  Here in this country there are people dealing with so many problems.  The west has been experiencing fires while the east has been getting way too much rain.  

I pray for this crippled world and a country that seems to be going under faster than you can say HELP.  I can share my views and I can say who I feel is to blame but it's not going to fix the problems, is it?  All I can do is pray.  Pray for our nation and pray for the world.  We need Jesus now more than ever!  

Splishing and Splashing

 When we put the pool in the backyard my son put the dog in to see if he can swim.  Naturally, he started moving those front paws quickly doggy paddling his way to the edge while his backside was slowly sinking down.  He's definitely not going to beat Michael Phelps Olympic record and he won't mind.  

Murphy enjoys eating, sleeping, and snuggling.   He does not like swimming.  

Knoebels 2021

 We made it to Knoebels Amusement Park on Monday.  With only one week to go before school starts we wanted to make this trip.  We love this park so much.  Free parking, free admission, and we can bring our own food.  The prices of the rides went up a little but it's still so much cheaper than Hershey Park.  

She's 10! And Baptized!

One decade!  It went by so fast.  Over the weekend my daughter turned 10.  I just can't believe it.  She celebrated with three of her best friends who slept over.  They had so much fun together decorating cupcakes, painting nails, playing dolls and swimming in a large blow up pool my husband bought for the occasion.  

This girl is a mixture of both sassy and sweet.  She's very sensitive and emotional, and that makes for a lot of exhausting moments.  However, she's a total mama's girl and loves spending every moment with me.  She's caring and loving.  

I can't believe she's 10 years old and going into the 5th grade.  I do feel blessed to have her in my life, despite those emotional challenges.  

The night of her birthday was also super special because both her and her brother got baptized.  This is something they had been wanting to do for a long time and I wanted to make sure they completely understood what this meant and why they were doing it.  Growing up Catholic, I was brought up believing that babies should get baptized.  Then in my adult years, I learned about "believers baptism."  This is an outward expression of our inward faith.  Having already given our lives to Christ we are showing others what we committed too.  It symbolizes our belief, just like a wedding band symbolizes the commitment we made to our spouse.  

I'm so, so proud of them!  After my daughter finished she said, "I want to do that again!"  

 "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" -- Galatians 3:26-27

I Need More Summer

 

And just like that it is August 6th and emails from school principals and the superintendent come pouring in as they prepare for the new school year.  Ah, that school year starts in three weeks.  After doing half the year at home through a cyber charter school my son is re-enrolled in the district because I believe that's what's best for him at this time.  Right now the health and safety plan at school will not be much different than last year except masks are optional.  With two new variants of Covid out there it seems they are back to pushing masks again and I hope, hope, hope that doesn't become an issue with school again.  My kids hated it.  My son developed really bad migraines because of it.  Every morning my daughter would cry because she hated wearing them.  I am no health expert but I don't believe children breathing in their own carbon dioxide for that long will be healthy for them in the long run ... you may disagree but this is how I feel.  

To wear masks or not to wear masks.  To vaccinate or not to vaccinate.  All of this has divided our country even further apart.  Whatever happened to being able to make our own choices over our own bodies?  Hmm?  

Well, anyway.  

The kids will be home soon after spending the night at my parents' house.  I enjoy the peace and quiet when they aren't home but I sure do miss them.  I've been sitting here the last few days working on my book.  Yes, that book that seems to be taking forever and ever to finish.  I will get it done.  I'm determined.  A lot has been holding me back but I learned if I do want this done I'm going to have to steal some time away to do so.  

These summer days went by so fast and I feel very little has been accomplished.  I start the summer with several plans and ideas and then I end the summer looking around and thinking well, so much for that.  Three more weeks!  Let's see what I can accomplish.