A Lifetime of Love

This week brought about the end of the school year, cleaning out lockers and retrieving items from the kids' various schools, returning items to said schools, and lots and lots of rain. Like a lot of rain. Every day. :( Seriously though, this week was a refreshing break after all the emotions of graduation from the week before, as well as the stress of Zoom meetings and school assignments from the weeks prior to that.  I spent a lot of time reading (current read: “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand), meal planning, time in my classroom organizing my lesson files, and preparing for the 4K Art Show at my school. Every year, the preschool holds an event called Family Day. Families come and watch a performance put on by their child’s class and then enjoy a reception. For the 4K students, this also includes an art show. We spend almost the entire semester preparing for the art show. We study an artist and either replicate one of their works or create our own piece based on their st...

I think Thomas’ graduation was such a special event that it deserves it’s own post with pictures. Enjoy! Before we left for the ceremony Dr. Gallman, one of his favorite teachers John Mugabe, a bright young man who is going to do great things in this world! Gabby and Tatyana- 2 girls from Youth Group who also attended school with Thomas. Both of these girls are beautiful souls and great friends to Thomas.  The Calls- good family friends who are always so supportive of us! His name on the big screen! Receiving his diploma A family from the school purchased fireworks for after the ceremony. It was amazing and such a thoughtful surprise for everyone. It was so touching as these Seniors truly had a memorable graduation ceremony. 

This week brought about a major life event, and truthfully I am still processing it.  My oldest child, Thomas, graduated from high school. He is officially an adult. My parenting journey with him is finished. At this point, I can only offer him advice.  He is fully responsible for the choices he makes, as well as the consequences.   18 summers. That is what we, as parents, are given to influence, mold, discipline, and train our children so that when the time comes, they are responsible, contributing members of society. It is an arduous task that at times seemed not worth the effort. But, looking back, there really isn’t much I would do differently except perhaps cherish the time we had together. While the days were so, so long, the time has passed quickly! I look back at old photos and the memories they invoke seems like they happened just yesterday. Homeschooling Thomas afforded me the gift of time with him, and if nothing else, that alone made the stresses of...

Mother’s Day began SDW9. I woke up to Titus standing next to my bed with a Christmas-themed gift bag full of stuff. He begged me to get up and as I did, I could hear the other kids upstairs with TJ. When they saw Titus downstairs and me following up behind him, they started scolding him for waking me because they weren’t “ready” for me to come up. When I walked upstairs I immediately noticed signs covering quite a bit of wall and furniture space, as well as the counters and doors. They were all uniquely different expressions of basically “Happy Mother’s Day.” Some were written as acrostics, some drawings, and some distinctly bore the words “Happy Mother’s Day.” I had to chuckle because my kids really know me- a lot of the signs made mention of my love of teaching and reading.           My older boys redid a flower bed for me. It had been ripped up years ago to get rid of the scraggly bushes that were trying to grow, but we had never replanted anything in ...

8 weeks.  I can’t believe it has been 8 WEEKS since social distancing, quarantine, and COVID-19 became such common verbiage in my life. This week brought about a broken air conditioner BUT God was so gracious to provide cooler temperatures outside. It was only miserable in the house one day (inside temp reached 85*), but other than that, we kept the windows open, fans spinning, and time outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. And, thankfully, it was not a terribly expensive repair. Week 8 also brought on Teacher Appreciation Week. I love this week because it affords me an opportunity to sit down and write a note to each of my children’s teachers. This year it was no different, except that my children were unable to hand-deliver their notes and gifts. We boxed up everything and delivered to the front door of the school. They will receive their boxes when they come to the school to pack up for the year. It’s sad, but at least they will know how loved they are! Teacher Apprecia...

Full acceptance hit this week. I didn’t cry (very much) and I didn’t get sad; rather, I just reached the point of acceptance. Acceptance that I am not returning to school this year, and neither are my kids. Acceptance that we will be social distancing for a long time. Acceptance that this is our new normal, and our previous normal will never return. I have come to realize that acceptance is a good thing. Acceptance brought peace and calm. It also gave me time to reflect, analyze, and think about changes I want to bring about in my life as a mom, teacher, and friend. I was able to go back and look through photos of my year in my classroom, and seeing my little people brought some BIG smiles; we had such a fun year! Acceptance also forced me to realize that there is no better time than now to pursue my goals. I want to be the best teacher I can, and in order to be that, I need to know more. When you know better, you do better. I enjoy school and learning, and I try to take advan...

*Sigh* This week has been mentally challenging. I was officially laid off from my teaching position and began the steps to file for unemployment. That was heartbreaking, and it has nothing to do with money. When I was still being paid, it gave me hope that we might return to school before the end of the school year. However, the moment I received the news, my bubble was burst. On Wednesday afternoon, the governor announced that no one would be returning back to school before the end of the year. That was expected, but again, knowing what my children are feeling makes it difficult to accept. I have been thinking about this a lot, and it seems to me like we are going through the stages of grief (all over again). I definitely had denial (no, school won't be canceled), anger (why can't we just stay until Spring Break), bargaining (we can at least go back for a day to see friends and say our goodbyes), depression (been in this stage far too long), and now acceptance. I get...

When we took these pictures, I had no idea these would be the last pictures we took as a class. Looking at them brings so much joy to my heart! What else could the smiles, the laughs, and the fun of dressing up and being silly bring to one’s heart? Today my heart is hurting. I miss these kids. I miss the hugs, the excitement of sharing in their lives, and the thrill of witnessing them master a skill.  I miss my right-hand man (woman) who is so much more to me than my assistant. She is my friend, my idea-bouncer, and the peanut butter to my jelly. She is just as important to the success of the year as I am as the teacher.  We were only a few days away from Family Day, which is the day we sing songs and reveal the art work we have been secretly working on for the past 3 months. The stress of planning the artwork and executing the process was almost to an end, and I was both thankful and excited to reach that point in the year. I had already begun planning our...

Phew! This week was hard for so many reasons, especially since we are coming off Spring Break, but the reason that stands out the most is simply me missing my "old" life- the life prior to social distancing and coronavirus- and the many things (and people) I took for granted.  I walked a lot this week, which was good because it gave me time to clear my head and focus on the beauty of the world around me. A really bad storm passed through parts of the city late Sunday night, and when I walked early Tuesday morning, the devastation seemed just as bad as it had the day before. But, there were so many beautiful parallels to what we, the world, are experiencing that it sort of took my breath away.  Huge trees were uprooted or even split and broken in half. Branches and leaves were everywhere, covering the roads and yards. Power lines were down and some parts of the city were without for several days. As I walked and saw the devastation, I also saw the flowers which continued t...

SDW4 was so nice! It was Spring Break week for my kids so we were all able to take a break from school and the stress that goes with it. The kids enjoyed beautiful weather and lots of time outdoors. I did, too. I took several walks around the neighborhood or sat outside in the sunshine. It was glorious! This week we also went on a picnic at a local park. We were isolated and enjoyed watching the ants working around us. The fresh air and change of scenery did wonders for grumpy moods. As a family, we ended Spring Break by roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the camp fire. The girls attempted to camp outside on the trampoline, but it was too cold at night. They were all back in their beds by 3am. ;) TJ did take the kids fishing a couple of times. They LOVED it, especially the boys! Our dishwasher has been opening mid-cycle so TJ ordered a new latch. I am hoping it will be an easy fix and it won’t need to be replaced. We just had to replace our dryer last...