Kindergarten & 6th Grade!

Getting ready to drop off supplies at the open house on Sunday morning. 

I have so much to share and so little time! I think I'll start with this week and work back in my next post. I have all kinds of adoption related stuff I want to share, but first I want to share some fun news! Sidney started kindergarten, and Eli started 6th grade. Eli is considered middle school, and his teach actually uttered, "The students are switching classes, because we are getting them ready for HIGH SCHOOL! NO!!!!!!" I didn't hear those words. 

Who looks happier? I'm lucky I got Eli to stand in front of the locker.

When I'm dropping the kids off at school, I am thankful for opportunity. The ability to provide an education that will give them both bright futures is a blessing. The fact they can go into a school and learn about God and pray in their classroom is also a blessing. I can't help but think about how great it feels to send Sidney to school. Six years of education in China. That's all I can think. It's a sad reality. I think that's why my heart and prayers are never far from the kids that are left without the same opportunities in Chenzhou. 

I'm afraid to say anything about kindergarten, because things are going so well. A couple of weeks ago, they were not going so well. I think this is largely because of the lack of structure summer provides. It doesn't seem to matter how much we have planned, accomplish, or spend time doing. Summer is loose, and this is rough for Sidney. With routine and structure I always see her at her best. 

Part of it also was Tom's absence. The lucky dog got to go on a week vacation in the mountains with the guys riding Rangers. It was a well deserved break. He did the coolest thing. When he came home, he didn't tell me when they were getting on the road a day early. He simply appeared at the door. I'm not ashamed to admit I shed tears. After eight nights do you blame me? More on his absence and its impact on Sidney in another blog. 

Okay, off change the laundry. We have fun plans over the weekend with my best friend from high school. We still make a point of seeing each other with our families. She was one of my greatest inspirations in moving foward with adoption with three of her own from Korea. There were so many times we talked on the phone commiserating over the process. It's so much fun to finally have all of our kids in one place! 

Okay, off to the rest of my night!

Fun and Not So Fun Summer Days

I’m in a post pontoon boat stupor. We spent the day boating with Tom’s parents on Sunday. It’s such a blast, but the sun, water, and laughter always sap us of any energy. Monday was a process of fun detox as  Mom continued catching up on projects and checking off items on the list of many items needed to go back to school. 

Sidney is registered for kindergarten. Sigh. I’m sure I’m not the only China mom that’s spent the last few years loving her child into submission, only to feel like I blinked my eyes after leaving the airport coming home from China and I have a child ready for Kindergarten. How does that happen? And in the same respect, how does a kindergartener so quickly need a scientific calculator? Sorry, I'm in denial that I have a child that's going into the 6th grade and needs a scientific calculator.

 Yet I know she’s ready. During VBS, her teacher and mom of one of Eli’s good friends, commented on how she was buzzing around the room helping her with various tasks. She thrives in any amount of structure, and for this reason. If there’s a sequence and an order of events, she does best. No matter a kid’s history, I am a firm believer in schedule. I remember when I was pregnant with Eli speaking words I will forever regret, “I’m not going to schedule my kids.” One day home with a newborn, and we were on a schedule.

Swimming in the lake with Grandma Sheryl, Tom's stepmom. 

My fish! Grandma and grandpa were so surprised to see how she can function in the water with mom hovering by. 

Unfortunately the schedule and sequence of events that typically takes place on a summer day in our home has been altered. The smallest swimmer in the house has swimmers ear which resulted in a doctor’s visit and drops. She has a serious aversion to taking any kind of medication that requires her to swallow, so I’m elated we are putting them in her ear. I’m not used to her having any kind of sickness very long. Colds typically only last four days. While the rest of the preschool kids were out for back to back illnesses, and parents were talking about their sick kids building an immunity,Sidney only missed a couple of days. Her immunity was set in the orphanage. Just another plug for adoption!

Okay, I’m off to my day.