Ready or Not...

As a teacher I've been asked numerous times the past couple weeks if I'm ready for school to start.  Yes, the room is ready.  The copies are made.  The desks are set.  The bookshelves are dusted and resorted.  I've made A LOT of changes in my classroom for this year, so it's with a great big sigh that I can say tomorrow morning I'll be ready to greet 12 first graders at the door as they climb the stairs excited for the new year.   I'M READY...

Well, for the literal sense of school....

Am I ready to give up the morning cuddles, extra half hour of sleep,  more time for devotions, reading, and gardening....No.

But what I'm REALLY not ready to give up is the family time we've enjoyed this summer.  Honestly, when the summer began I wasn't so sure how ready I was for it to start.  The boys had been home for 8 months and we had a good system and routine down with school weeks.

Every summer before now we had "younger" children who may had an activity here or there or laid back t-ball twice a week.  Then this summer came and BAM, we were thrown into a whole new arena of extracurriculars--with Eli now old enough for Mustang baseball, Ayla moving up to two days a week of gymnastics, and Detcho and Nahagi having soccer 3 days a week (plus weekends)---ANNND all the summer camps!  Even though we were on the go most evenings, we spent our days together. 

We've been very fortunate for how well our children get along and love each other.  Looking back at this summer I can say not only do they love each other, but they LIKE each other and care for one another in a way I never dreamed they would at their ages.  Most days they spent 4-6 hours outside playing with each other and I'd have to peel them off their bikes to come in to eat.  We spent hours reading and discussing novels together, playing games, and building gazillions of lego creations.  I think I can count on one hand the number of times I heard "I'm bored," simply because they have each other and enjoy spending time together as a family.

The hours together each day brought up many hard conversations, many fun or serious stories, and a lot of bonding as we worked side by side laying thousands of patio pavers, raking 2 acres of dirt, planting a small garden,  and shoveling a ton of rock. 

In addition to the days, some of the best memories from summer 2014 were the nights away!  Before this summer we hadn't gone anywhere over night as 8.  By the end of the summer we spent 10+ nights in hotels (thanks traveling soccer!), and 7 nights away on vacation.  (I can tell you squeezing 8 people into one hotel room is quite hilarious at times).

For those that continue to pray for our family....THANK YOU.  Yes, there were tears and heart aches and days when I wanted to THROW THE TOWEL IN.  But, truly this summer was a huge blessing to our family and we grew leaps and bounds. 

But, tomorrow morning....
Ready or not....
it's a new school year!