Complicated Simplicity

What we have been up to

Has it been a month since I last updated?  Time certainly is passing at warp speed despite my best efforts to slow things down.  We have been up to quite a bit the past few weeks.

We have gone from cool February days with Melody's favorite past-time...sidewalk chalk (psst!  it's not just for sidewalks around here)...

to my mom's pineapple upside down cake (which big brother Mason was good enough to share with his littlest sister, Melody)...

to celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2...

to enjoying the magic of a box...

to warmer days and time to redo flowerbeds and get our garden boxes ready and planted...

to evenings nice enough to go out for a bike ride even after long days at work and school...

to a St. Patrick's day so unseasonably warm even in SC that the temperature was in the lower '80s!

What have you been up to?

December is upon us!

I can hardly believe that today is the first day of December already.  This year has really flown by!  

This past weekend, we went to a tree farm.  Grace and her cousin enjoyed a tracker ride and pony drawn carriage ride around the farm.  We were there for hours.  It was dark by the time we finally selected our tree and were ready to head home.  All the walking did not tire Jon too much to get on the roof and hang the lights, though!

And back on the topic of the tree...it is a humdinger!  It must be almost 10 feet tall.  We decorated it Sunday night and even with all our ornaments (and we have many) it still isn't too much.  While we were at it, we went ahead and hung all the other decorations in the house as well.

Today grace opened the first door of our 24 days until Christmas Santa train (aka our secular spin on an Advent calendar!).  She asked to open it before school so that she could have the treat in her lunch bag for today.

In the days ahead, I have Melody's first birthday party to plan.  I feel sad to think my baby is almost one!  We are going with a Dr. Seuss theme and just having something small at home.

I have rambled long enough for one day.   

College Visit & Early Acceptance

My only son and I visited Winthrop University this past Saturday.  It is the only school to which he had applied and was his top choice.  He is adamant about going to an in-state school in order to remain close to family and only three schools in our state offer his desired major.

The campus was very picturesque.  Imagine the classic red brick buildings and lush greenery of a small liberal arts college and that is what we saw.  We sat in on discussions about student life, toured the campus, and visited the specific department in which he wished to study.  Our day ended with lunch in the dining hall where my tiny (size small or extra small) 6'1" son ate and ate and ate...

During the drive home he talked about how much more excited he was now that he had visited.  He had been checking the mail for admission notification daily since getting his application in before the 10/15 early decision deadline.

Lo and behold, his early acceptance letter was in the amil when he arrived home from school on Monday afternoon.  He was clearly very excited and I am clearly very proud.  I know he never doubted he would be accepted (he is a very talented student), but I understand how good it feels to have the letter in hand.  he can now start planning in his head about what his future holds.

He left the house this morning wearing his Winthrop University t-shirt, and I felt a little pang thinking that this time next year, I won't see him walking out the door each morning.

Where did the years go?

 

Perfect Attendance & So Much More

I will be attending Grace's First Grade awards ceremony today. Her first grade class does not assign As, Bs, Cs etc yet and so honor roll awards are a non-issue at this point.

Grace will receive an award for perfect attendance for the quarter. My 6 year old managed to haul herself to school each of the 45 instructional days of the first quarter.  I didn't manage to do that for the same period at work.

There is something special about this age.  The delight in attending school each day, the special affection and desire to please their teacher, and the enormous amount of knowledge they acquire in the time spent in the classroom. 

I am not sure that I have the patience required to adequately educate the youngest students, but I can cetainly see why many teachers love it.  It seems almost magical how much they thirst for and can learn volumes of information.

May she always love learning- reading, writing, math, art, music, PE, science, social studies, dance and so on so much that it inspires her to get up early each day and brave whatever challenges so that she can make it to school each day.