First day of school

First day of school! First day of school!!

This past Monday, Generations of Grace Classical Academy opened it's doors for the first day of school.

The classroom was decorated.....

The head administrator enthusiastically greeted students.....
The excited students donned their first day of school clothes and joined the staff for a Back to School Breakfast.....
And an equally excited teacher welcomed her students to the 2nd grade, Kindergarten and PreK.....
After a morning of hard work, the students helped the teacher prepared "inside out" cupcakes, complete with cupcake toppers that read, "Happy first day of school!"
The cupcake toppers were right. It was a GREAT first day of school!! May God establish the works of our hands this year.

Being content

Since it seems that our plans just don't align with the better plans that God has for us, I've been working on contentment. The most practical way I've done this is in my home. After 9 months on the market, we decided to take a break, move back into our home, and work on making our little 3 bedroom 1400 square ft house work for us.

One of the first things we did was to rearrange bedrooms. Micah and Benjamin had been sharing a bedroom, and Elizabeth and Timothy had been sharing a room. Elizabeth is getting to the point where she really needs and appreciates her own room, her own space, and an opportunity to escape her brothers from time to time. So Micah and Benjamin got a new roommate!
The picture above was taken on the boys' first night together.

Eventually, we plan to get bunk beds for the two older boys. But for now, we're continuing in our lesson of contentment and using the trundle bed that we already have. The most exciting part of this move was when I took the hinges off both kids' rooms and maneuvered the crib out of one room and into the other room without taking it apart! I was pretty proud of myself, though it was quite an adventure.

We've done other rearranging, and redecorating to make the transition a fun one for the kids. I'll have to share those pictures soon.

Even though both Curtis and I would have rather been setting our kids up in new rooms in our new house, I am thankful for how well these little transitions have gone. I've had opportunities to talk with the kids about being thankful for the house we have, even though it does feel a little small. My creativity has been stretched as I try to make our space work for us. But it's been a fun process!

Vacay, Day 10!

We drove home!

Our time in Atlanta and Pensacola was blessed. We received so many of the things we were needing: time with extended family, to away from the daily responsibilities at home, great time with friends, but more of all, family time. I am so thankful for the time we had together as a family.

Vacay, Day 9!

Vacay, Day 8!

Friday morning we went to the National Naval Aviation Museum. It was incredible!! If you're even in Pensacola, it's a must! We really enjoyed our time.









After lunch, we headed to the BEACH!!!! We were there for several hour, enjoying the water, playing in the sand, and God's incredible creation.

Vacay, Day 7!

Day 7 was a big day for us. It was the day the kids had been looking forward to for weeks! We drove to Florida!!! That morning, everyone but Timothy was excited to load up the van. Timothy was NOT happy. He gets very anxious when we start loading the car. I think he's worried we're going to forget him. He got so stressed out, he went over to the hang up bag and started snapping the hangers. So I put him in a sling and gave him so good snuggle time.

Once we arrived in the beautiful Sunshine State, where it happened to be raining, we headed to our dear friends, the Butchers, house. The Butchers used to lived here, but moved about a year ago. It was such a joy to see them again!

After a yummy dinner, we headed to the beach! We told the kids that we were only going to put our feet in the water, and that we were there to take pictures. Despite the fact that we weren't building sand castles or swimming, I still saw this expression when I looked in the back.....













It was beautiful! The sun was setting, the temperature was low, it was lovely!

Vacay, Day 6!

Our first day without Grandma. :-( We had to console ourselves with another trip to the donut store. Wednesday was also our last full day in Atlanta. We hit the pool again, started doing laundry, and made art!