A Praise

God has been showing us many positives of our decision to send Josiah to school this year rather than home school and I am so so very grateful!

Adalie and I have worked in Josiah's classroom every Wednesday since the first week of school. And for the first month Josiah was pretty stuck to us, unsure of what to do with her free time (especially on the playground). She was waiting for me to suggest things she should do ("why don't we go play on the swings, that looks like fun" etc). But 3 weeks ago something changed. When it was time for recess, I looked around and only had 1 child, Adalie, hanging close to my leg. Josiah had gone off with her classmates to find her own fun! She appeared confident and at ease. Finally! Hallelujah! She had figured out how to seek her friends and together discover something to do.
It was no secret that I had been concerned for Josiah starting school for many reasons. One of them being that I saw her as a follower. She is a bright girl and doesn't miss a beat. She is capable of seeing a person's quirks, dialects, habits, words, voice, laugh, anything..... and in a matter of minutes be able to incorporate it into her personality. And it scared me!
But last week, I saw her in a whole new light. I went to school a bit early and just watched the children play. And there I saw my Kindergarten daughter with 7 or 8 other girls, all ranging from Kindergarten to 3rd grade, and she had her clipboard and pencil writing each of their names down because they were in her "Gymnastics Class" and she was their "Teacher". I saw my daughter as a leader, not just of the children her own age, but of the older girls too. In a matter of weeks she has blossomed into the place with her peers that she has always held in our family.
And many more times over God has shown me this quality in her; today as she leaned over another girl's shoulder to patiently help her figure out her work, Monday at recess as she developed the "Strawberry Club", and on and on. I am grateful for His mercy.

I can't wait to see the new things He will show me about this beautiful little girl!
We are so very blessed!

Days of the Week

It seems like everyday something fun and exciting is happening in Josiah's classroom.... Here is just a taste
Monday - Computer Lab

Tuesday - Music with Mrs. Florey, she is a crack up!


Wednesday - Share and Tell (I love how they hide their object behind their backs!), and Soccer Practice




(had to get a few picts of Adalie practicing with the team... for one, she loves it, two, she is easier to catch on camera than Josiah and 3 she is so darn cute!)
followed by an evening with Amma and Grandpa while Mommy and Daddy have Bible study.

Thursday - Craft Day (these are just a few of the crafts they did for October) and Mono Indian Teaching
Followed by Gymnastics practice.

Friday - Cooking,

Library,

Gardening, I Love to Read and Treasure Chest.

Wow! Busy girls!!

She Can Read

That's right!! Josiah is officially reading!! It is so exciting. Watching her sound out words, I suddenly realized that somehow we went from a jumble of hieroglyphics... to sounds.... to words! It is amazing!
We are all enjoying this new accomplishment!!

Forts

My Girls love to make forts! Some are open air forts some are closed tent forts. Whatever the end product, they all seem t have the same ingredients, lots of blankets and pillows, secret hiding spots, a baby doll and a comfy place to rest your head.

This fort is the quintessential "Josiah fort" because it has lots and lots of books to read. One on every pillow to be exact. I have to admit, it is alot of fun and no 2 forts are ever the same!

Special Days

Our 2nd month of school and I am finally allowing myself to enjoy my time alone with Adalie without worrying to death about Josiah. It has taken me a long time and lots of prayer to get at least to this point. It's true, I am neurotic and alot like a mother bear when it comes to our girls. My instinct is to protect them, not just physically, but their minds and spirits too. So 2 months of ultra-scrutinization of Josiah's new surroundings and now feeling like she is OK..... but that is a whole other post!
So Adalie and I are off for some fun of our own. And it is alot of fun! It's fun to see Adalie just as Adalie, not always as the little sister. And it reminds me of the special time I got to spend with Josiah, and of being pregnant with Adalie and wondering how on earth I would offer the same to our 2nd child as I did to our 1st. These are special days. We walk through our daily errands talking with one another, we have special outings and lots of giggles!
So today our adventure began with apple picking with Gigi.
We often fill Josiah's seat with all our things throughout the day.
Then we continued on to the park for a picnic.
Adalie loves the climbing wall and in keeping with her habit of climbing onto everything as a babe, she is quite talented at scurrying up this wall.
Still wants a hand to catch her on the bumpy slide.
But for the 1st time she can go down the twisty slide all by herself!! And she was very excited to "go on the slide like a big girl"
And climbing up to the slide "like the big kids"
A fun day indeed!
Then she suddenly notices that Fall is coming with the changing of the leaves.

All fun days must come to an end so that another can begin!
You have to love that lip!

Notes

Since Day 1 Josiah has loved to scribble, color, draw, doodle and write. The girl writes on every piece of paper she can get her hands on.... She has more journals than we can keep track of keys for. She takes a notepad with her when we go out on walks to write things down. If we need to remember something she runs to write it down. She copies words out of books, cereal boxes and junk mail. She just plain loves to write.

But my very favorite things she does is write notes. I love these notes. But there have been many notes and I found out the other day that I may have been taking these notes a bit for granted.....

The afternoon began as all others; she came home from school and went straight in to get out her paper and writing utensils. She then began to write a note while I made dinner, occasionally asking me to spell words for her. She labored over this note like she does every note. But it wasn't until I peeked over her shoulder that I realized .... GASP ..... this note was not for me! Not for me at all. It was for her teacher!!!!!!! I panicked!
But thankfully the very next day...... this box lay on the counter......
To Mommy, F (short for "From" she tells me) Josiah
And inside.... my note!
Front

To Mommy. F Josiah

A copy of her hand, bracelet and all.
and Back! Mommy 32 (yes we write all our numbers backwards..cute!) Josiah 5.

Dear Mommy, I like you Mommy. (heart) Josiah
Isn't this a cute picture of me?? Do you love my high heels!!!

And next to my gift box was one for Daddy and Adalie too, "so they wouldn't feel left out" she says!

Thank you Josiah for always making sure I know that I am loved by you! I adore your notes!

He does it better...

Although there are probably millions of things in our house that Daddy does better, there is one specific thing ..... waking up slumbering girls! He sings to them. He sings them little songs to bring them out of dreamland. Sweet songs that make them grin even while their eyes are still shut. They wake up happy and smiling when Daddy does it. Have I tried the songs? Oh yes! But for some reason Daddy does it better. And my little secret...... I love to listen in!