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School Letters

9/4/2013

Sigh...today is one of the hardest days of the year for me. Where has the summer gone? Where have the years gone? I can't believe my little ones leave for their first day of PreK and 1st grade in a few hours. I'm going to miss them so incredibly much. I wrote them both little letters this morning – if you’re a fellow Mama struggling a little bit (or a lot) with letting your little ones go today I hope these letters will bless your heart too.

My Precious Abbie,

In a few hours you will embark on a new journey – school. Hopefully today begins a lifelong love of classroom learning for you. It’s hard for me to fully accept that you are 4 ½ years old and going to PreK. I remember cuddling you in my arms in the hospital just hours after you had been born. Wasn’t that just last week?

Today Mommy has to begin to let you leave me for 2 hours and 45 minutes every afternoon. I’m going to miss you so incredibly much. I’ll miss your smile. I’ll miss the way we cuddle on the couch to watch a movie while your baby brother takes a nap. I’ll miss knowing you are just a few feet away from me and knowing with absolute certainty that you aren’t crying or frustrated or being naughty. But one thing I do know is that Jesus will be with you today and I’m entrusting you to His care.

I’m thrilled that you will be growing in your knowledge of ABCs, numbers, coloring, and cutting, but most of all I’m excited for the lessons God is going to teach you through the journey of public school.

God is going to teach you things this year through school that Mommy can’t teach you as well if I kept you home with me. Through playtime God is going to teach you what it means to share over and over again. Through times of teaching God is going to teach you how to sit still and listen patiently. Through the structure of school God is going to teach you to take turns and put others before yourself. Through your teacher you’ll learn that all adults have different rules and ways of doing things which need to be respected. Through classroom questions God is going to boost your confidence as you answer questions correctly and teach you humility when you sometimes get the answer wrong or know the answer to a question but someone else gets to answer it instead. Through Show-and-Tell God is going to teach you to share with confidence in front of a group and I’m confident that someday this skill will give you an opportunity to share about HIM with confidence in front of a group. Through friends God is going to teach you the joys of connecting with people the same age as you. Through classmates God is going to give you the opportunity to practice the discernment you’ve been taught, and when you make mistakes Daddy & Mommy will be here to remind you how to be an influencer in our world and not be the influenced. Through school you’ll learn that our home isn’t a perfect place but it is a safe, loving, and carefree place to look forward to being at each day.

Abbie, I’m so proud of the little lady you are becoming. You are smart, happy, creative, beautiful, feminine, compassionate, tender hearted, and sweet beyond description. I’m so glad God has blessed Daddy and I with you – our incredible daughter. We’re excited to watch you grow over this year in so many ways.

With all my love,

Mama

My Precious Son,

Today you leave for 1st grade. 1st grade – how are we already here?

It boggles my mind that you are 6 years old and will be leaving me for 6 ½ hours each day. It’s such a long time, but I force myself to remember that if you spend 6 ½ hours in school each day multiplied by 180 school days per year, that's 1,170 hours over a year's time. Meanwhile, I will have access to the other 9 ½ waking hours of the school day, plus all the weekends, holidays and assorted vacations, including summer – a grand total of 4,670 hours per year. School receives 20% of the time pie. So really I’m not giving you up entirely like my worries tell me I do at times. Daddy & Mommy will always be your primary teachers.

I have big hopes for you this year! I hope that you will continue to grow in academic knowledge, but more importantly I hope that throughout the school year your character will grow. I hope that you will continue to learn to think if others before yourself. I hope that you will continue to learn to be kind to others – even if they are unkind to you at times. I hope that you will continue to learn to stand up for what’s right even when it’s hard. I hope you will continue to learn that your teachers (and all authority figures) won’t always be perfect but we still love and respect them. I hope you will continue to learn that Daddy and Mommy love you unconditionally and that home is a wonderful place to return to each day. As we embark on the new journey of sports in a few months, I hope that you will learn teamwork, perseverance, and commitment.

Christian, God has big plans for you this year. My prayer for you this year is that through the good and the bad God will make you more like Him. I am so incredibly proud of you and the little man you are becoming. You are smart, outgoing, talkative, loving, gentle, and a strong leader. I am so blessed to me your Mommy, and I'm excited to watch you learn and grow this year.

With all my love,

Mama

Crayola Factory

9/3/2013

Today we took the kiddos to the Crayola Factory!
We had such a fun time together on our final day of summer break! :)

One of our favorite parts of the day was designing crayon labels.
The kids got to pick a shape logo, name their crayon,
and wrap the crayon in their personally designed label.

Christian named his crayons Strawberry, Plum, King, Donatello, Bolt, and dog. Abbie named her crayons Pool Pink, Pretty Purple, Flower Pink, Happy Everyday!, I love you, and Bolt. My two favorite names are "Happy Everyday" and "dog." :)