First Day of School--WARNING, This is a journal entry (it may be a bit long for the casual observer!) :)

Would it sound crazy to you, that I've had terribly mixed feelings about sending my boys off to school again? I should be jumping for joy that I'll have 7 hours a day with only two little rugrats to take care of. And yet, I've been so concerned about the welfare of my boys away from home that I've worried and worried about sending them back. And so it began today. . .

Aren't they handsome? Well, last night, they each received a father's blessing (I asked for one too) to begin the school year. Many of my concerns were addressed in a way that left me feeling much more at peace about things. . . I began my day with my usual 6:30AM morning walk and came home at 7 to find Damian all dressed and ready to go (and Emma & Isaiah ready for breakfast!). At 7:20 Gehrig's alarm clock went off and I went downstairs to help him figure out how to turn it off (first time use--he figured it out by the time I got there). He expressed some anxiety about school, but I encouraged him and got him moving.

After Gehrig's quick shower and teeth brushing for the boys (oh yeah, and baths for Emma & Isaiah), we all gathered downstairs for our morning scripture study (complete with a song, scripture reading & explaining and a prayer for the day). Gehrig began practicing the piano while I made french toast for breakfast. Gehrig stopped practicing to join us for breakfast and then went back to finish up after we ate. Everybody cleared, rinsed their plates and loaded them up after they ate and I was able to finish up the dishes before it was time to take them to school.

Emma wanted to join them with her cute little cow backpack. Isaiah was oblivious to the happenings. The boys convinced me to let them bike today, so I quickly filled all our tires and off we went. They both went straight to class and were more okay with it than I was. I was surprisingly calm as I left them, but as I walked out of the building, I felt the emotions of a mother sending her babies off to the BIG BAD WORLD!

As soon as I dropped the boys off, Isaiah was ready for his morning nap. Emma asked to watched TV (what's new?), but I encouraged her to find something else to do. She busied herself with games most of the morning while I folded laundry, began catching up on my blog, email, etc. etc. My list of things to do today was probably 25+ items long, so I got right on it.

This is an onion from our flower garden that Gehrig picked for Lou (he used it in the delicious dinner he prepared for us Sunday evening--11 years later, I'm finding out maybe he can cook, as he'd always claimed! :) He made rice and a delicious pork/onion gravy.) I mention this here, to lead into what I did with the bulk of my day today. It's harvesting time! Not that we have a whole lot to harvest out of our own garden (although we do have tomatoes, squash, a cucumber, a few melons, green pepper and onions!), but Mom has given us a bunch of stuff from her garden as well as a few others. So. . .my refrigerator was too full of produce and I wanted to freeze what I could and prepare as much as a could. After I filled several different bags, I realized that it might be fun to document it with a picture. So. . .here are most of the bags of food that I prepared (minus the few I had already put in the freezer). I just love the colors of God's creations!

After I fed the little ones lunch and let them outside to play happily together (at least for a while), I continued working in the kitchen, listening to classical music and watching Emma & Isaiah playing together on our little playground, enjoying the peace around me. There was a moment today when it all felt right. The way I expected motherhood to be. The boys seemed to be happy when I dropped them off and the babies were enjoying each other while I was actually accomplishing something! Anyway. . .it was terribly windy and a little bit rainy when I went to pick the boys up from school. We biked home as quickly as we could and I had hot cookies and milk waiting for them (just thought it would be a fun memory--if it lasts). We looked over their papers (homework) and visited about the day. Gehrig read to me and Damian for 20 minutes (his daily assignment) and then Isaiah and Emma woke up from their afternoon naps. I could keep going on about the day, but this is getting much too long. . .Overall, I had an excellent day and the boys enjoyed themselves. BUT, I still have concerns and my worrying isn't over (probably won't be for the rest of my life). Gehrig reminded me of the four lettered word (yeah, the one beggining with an "f") that his "new" friend ("old" enemy from last year that's now in his class) used today around him. And so it begins. . .I'm getting closer and closer to homeschooling. . .Was it inspiration or craziness that led me to encourage Gehrig to make a new friend each day and tell me about it? I told him that I want him to each lunch with someone different tomorrow and tell me about it. Maybe he can broaden his circle of friends to include some that will be a good influence on him? Any other suggestions? ? ?