September's 10 on 10

10 pictures on the 10th day of the month (Monday).

{Document a snapshot of your life & find beauty among the ordinary things in your day! }

The mornings are dark and cooler. I was tickled to discover that my book and blanket match. Truly, its the little things. ;)

The highschool kid leaves at 6am, the middle schoolers leave at 7am...

...the elementary school kid leaves at 7:45am and the college student sleeps until noon. ;)

I began a three-month trial with Crossfit so that K and I could go together. Its been an inconsistent start, as those things go, so I've been doing the 7:30am class by myself. Its been a good experience.

Chilly, rainy day...my first time wearing pants and close-toed shoes to work in a long time.

A favorite part of my day...when the yellow school bus stops at our driveway and drops off a sweet little boy.

Pickup line in the pouring rain, waiting for two soaked girls who were trying out for the middle school soccer team. (After another day of tryouts the following day, they got the news that they both made the school team!!)

Aiden discovered a new book series that combines history and mystery. He's completely hooked!

An every-night occurrence...kids sitting at the kitchen counter while I cook dinner. Makes my heart happy. :)

Another very common scene...games being played in the game room.

We had an incident come up that the girls were involved in. We didn't handle it perfectly, but I was thankful for the margin that happened to be in this day so we could talk through it with the girls.

Shaun asked me out on a movie date in the living room. Forty days in the new house and it was my first time watching any sort of TV or movie. It was nice, because we got to sit close and hold hands. :)

Project 365, Week 36

Labor Day kicked off this week, leaving just four school days. It was good to continue to settle into our new routines, new schools, new house. Lots of new, but every one seems to be taking it in stride.

September 4

Working through Algebra homework. Having kids with Math homework is a daily reminder to me how thankful I am that I married Shaun. ;)

September 5

New school, new classroom, new library of books. Aiden's been reading about four a week and feels like he won the lottery, I think.

September 6

Its nice having Jared so close to us while he's in school.

September 7

Youth group had a special rally/fall kickoff night. Two of the kids brought friends from school and I spent the evening in prayer for the whole lot of them. Jesus is THE difference maker.

September 8

First weekend of soccer. This fall season we chose to continue playing with our old town. Its a really good program (which is not the case in the new town) and we've been with these families for years. This year the girls are playing together on the same comp team and Shaun is coaching Aiden's comp team for the first time. Sorry ahead of time that there will be lots of soccer pics for the next eight weeks....watching them run around and be healthy and strong, while navigating team dynamics and personal challenges fills me with deep awe and gratitude.

She started out frustrated but by the time they'd walked the length of two fields, she was laughing. Such a good daddy.

Cousins came to watch game #2, though I'm pretty sure most of them didn't watch at all. ;) They sure are cute though. :)

The older girls were gone for the weekend at a wedding so we got a few hours of "just us five" time. We do our to "push our chairs out", making the circle bigger to allow room for others, but its a sacrifice and we do it out of obedience to what we believe God has called us to. There is a very old song that I sing in my head almost daily. Part of the chorus repeats, Love is not a feeling, its an act of your will. I'm not sure if its right or wrong, common or uncommon...its not something we dwell on in the day-to-day of life, we all feel extra special when its "just us".

September 9

This sweet girl is moving across the country to pursue her dreams and use her talents. My sister opened her home so people could filter through and say their goodbyes and best wishes.

Project 365, Week 35

We breathed a deep sigh of relief when the respite kids left after 10 days and got to work putting our lives back together and figuring out which end is up. On Sunday, Shaun took our family out to lunch after church and we did a family de-briefing on the good, bad and ugly of our time with the kids and then we went school shopping. It was healing to get the day together.  And then, just like that, a new school year and soccer season started.

August 26

Avery's been helping out at Junior Bible Quiz and this was her first week as Quiz Master. She did such a great job!

Aiden scored highest in the match, but had his shorts on backwards. :)

One of our new neighbors extended an invitation to our family for a backyard BBQ.

August 27
We walked the halls of the middle school, learning how to do the locker combination and finding classrooms to make the first day of school a little less awkward. Avery is taking a class in the high school and it was cool to see my kids walk the halls where their dad spent his four years of high school.

A beautiful evening for Girls Night Out, also healing and refreshing. I'm thankful for people in my life who support me and challenge me, encourage me and inspire me.

August 28
Mom fail, episode 1,832. I took Aiden to his school for Meet-the-Teacher day, only it happened the day before. We were able to explore his classroom anyway and after we shared our hearts over ice cream.

August 29
What is more beautiful than seeing your husband praying over your children? It was an emotion day for us, so many firsts and plenty of hard on the horizon but the kids squared their shoulders and went out bravely.

All of these years we've walked to school, but now the we're in the 'burbs, everyone has a bus ride.

August 30
With the blessed routine of fall comes the return of reading together at night, at least for me, Amanda and Aiden.

August 31
Shaun is coaching Aiden U10 boys comp team. He's adjusting after having coached girls for the past couple years. News flash...boys and girls are different. ;)

September 1
Lobster fest weekend kickoff!

September 2
I don't want to brag, but I think our family silly-face game is on point! Love these people!

Project 365, Week 34

It would be difficult for me to overstate how hard this week was. This sibling set we had on respite for 10 days was beyond challenging. I'll leave it at that, because there aren't even really words.  On the bright side, I got LOTS of time outside, usually at a park where I didn't think we'd run into other people. N and J will not quickly be forgotten by our family.

August 19

While Shaun took his grandparents and the kids to visit family, I took the kids to a playground where few people were. We spent six hours there trying to get tired out and not being at the house.

August 20
Nana and Grandpa John snuck in one last poker game before heading out.

In the late afternoon Avery and I headed out for a special getaway. I'd booked it before we knew what the repsite kids were like, but Shaun insisted we still go. I won't say too much about our time to preserve Avery's privacy, but I would highly recommend the Passport2Purity program to anyone who has an 11-14 year old. We live in a crazy world and Shaun and I believe its imperative to be intentional about teaching our children, even the hard conversations. It was SO special!

August 21
Shopping at the outlets and dinner out.

August 22
We woke up to a lovely rainy morning, perfect for "sleeping in".

We got home at noon, exchanged hugs and Shaun said, tag...you're it! Thankfully the boy was in a day program so we "only" had the girl during the day. We made use of the lake in our new town.

August 23
Even though it was challenging to engage the kids, Avery was the most successful.

August 24
Veggie Tales over breakfast bought us minutes and I was reminded how very funny those writers are. Such brilliance!

Shaun got our three on the soccer field. Amanda aged up a level, so she's playing on Avery's team now and Shaun is coaching Aiden's comp team. It will be a fun fall!

August 25
My mom takes the kids to a huge picnic every year, which they look forward to. She sent me this picture of Aiden climbing. :)

While our three were at the picnic, we ran some errands with N, who seemed to do better being out and about. Shaun was so diligent and sweet with her all week.

He also spent time with the 18 year-old, talking money, mechanics, etc, as we work to transition her into the adult world. He gives and gives for his family. Shaun is our resident super hero and I'm so thankful for him.

Our 9th day with the kids and we were able to get 10 minutes of a baseball game in...no one was hit in the head with a bat and no windows were broken....progress! Avery was proud of the fact that she'd taught them to stand correctly and swing with two hands on the bat.