4.18.24 Full days

Oh if only this is what our days looked like. I guess it is. I know every day there are a lot of people in my house each with different needs and responsibilities. 

Anna gave Afton a nice deep hair wash. Her completely clean hair is beautiful. I always envied my sister's straight hair. Andrea and Merle are good at wearing their new hats. When Addie returned from her travels last weekend she woke up Sunday and took the little kids on a walk before church. They adore spending time with her. They also love it when she takes pictures of them. 

The dandelions are coming out and of course, we love that they are so bright and vibrant! The kids came home with handfuls of flowers for me. 

The bike riding is slow as the older kids removed the weak training wheels. She has a lot of desire and I'm sure one of these days she's going to master the balance required. 

With Reed Andrea gets to gather eggs. She loves to bring eggs to me mostly they survive and are used. 

On the rest of the days we had thing after thing with the big kids. John had an article on Facebook about being a strong man at school. From the 200-pound bench club, he also achieved the 1000-pound total weight lifted in a series of 3 weights. These are some of his friends who are also in the club. 

We had senior night at the local track meet. This is John throwing. He actually placed 2nd in the shot put at this meet. He is improving meet-by-meet by about a foot or two per week. 

Addie ran strong races the mile and 2 mile she totally dominated. She basically ran alone, she is looking forward to running against faster runners soon. I'm excited to see how she does when challenged.

The coach's wife put together nice recognition baskets for the Seniors and a flower for the moms. I always try to be put together but I'm past beauty over comfort or function. It was cold at this meet and got colder the longer I was there. I do enjoy visiting with people and athletes. The kids were there for the first hour then I took them home. As the meet went on and more than one child was called over the loudspeaker because they were lost from their parents. I was thankful that wasn't me as that freaks me out in a major way. 

At home with another late dinner, Addie took it upon herself to teach us how to be successful in school. She is a natural teacher. 

Even though I started dinner early in the day track meets are notoriously long and dinner was around 9. I have to admit that even though it is late the kids love when we are together and they get to interact with their older siblings. It's hard to break that up it's good for the younger ones to learn and feel seen and it's good for the older ones to be loved and listen.

I sent this poster to the writing teacher. She is unique and demanding but through her program, we have all learned and improved our abilities of written communication. She was impressed and suggested Addie be her student teacher in a few years. This was providential as Addie is looking toward her future and making some plans. When people ask what she wants to do she is saying business. I think that is a waste of her many talents with kids and information. That particular offer of student teaching might be a life-changing moment we shall see where it goes. 

Every day this week had multiple events happening in overlap with various kids. Not to mention an overarching disagreement on future engagements. The constant battle between people in a home is challenging, to say the least. As the mom in the middle knowing and sticking on just one side is rarely possible. I'm sitting listening to a parenting class where they are analyzing situations that happen in less than a minute. If only those situations were isolated to just one child not three or 5 or 10. Oh well, new tools and new perspectives might give room for better practices. 

At the soft end of the week (meaning school is over for the week which means 4 nights to work on homework). Homework is heavy right now as teachers are trying one last time to help kids prepare for the state test. As I went to bed very discouraged last night about one child, I contacted the teachers this morning asking for their assessment. We had a meeting after school where I was delighted to find that child has actually made tremendous measurable growth. I was so relieved. I was surprised to hear their assessment of my sullen, quiet, very reluctant child. They are anxious to share answers, and they are cheerful and dynamic with their teachers and peers. I was shocked really? Do they just use it all up at school? Is it just so hard to be good and on all day that they are dead when they come home? But the takeaway is the child is growing tremendously which is the purpose of life is to grow and become. 

So after a very stressful week, we are blessed beyond measure and life is good.