This week marks a year ago that we arrived in the great state of Georgia. I know it's partly due to the time of year, but after three dry weeks, I find it somewhat ironic that this week, starting today, we have heavy rains and threats of hurricanes affecting us, just like the day we crossed the state line. Maybe that's just the season we are in...
We just finished our first week of school. This is truly the first year that the kids were not bored with summer unscheduled and anxious to start school back up. Maybe it's their ages. Maybe it's that we've had so much change in the past year. Maybe, with graduation, guests, and all of the busy that came with it, it felt like summer relaxation was really just kicking in when summer was truly winding down. I'm not sure, but it was somewhat of a surprise to experience the shift. Thankfully though, it only took them half of a day to get back into the routine of school and to be excited about the materials we will be covering this year. I'm especially excited about some of the novels that Nikolas will be reading this year--I love a good book!
Hannah started first grade. Her big focus this year is to learn to read well. I am excited that her summer not only relaxed her but gave her just a big enough push in maturity, that some of the areas that she left school a bit lacking in after the close of Kindergarten, she has advanced in over the break. This will make reading lessons so much better! I knew it was likely since she started school a bit young and I was hopeful. I have not been disappointed and she is excited to dive in and tackle her assignments this year, which is great. This is a pivotal year for her. :-)
Riley started third grade this year. He will master cursive this year. I am excited for that. At first he wasn't, but after the first lesson he discovered that he's pretty good at it, so now he loves it. :-) I know that many schools do not teach cursive anymore, which I feel is a travesty. I've read about the benefits of having a child learn cursive, how it actually creates new neural pathways that assist in the success of the child's reading ability, and makes a difference in their comprehension levels. Heck, for that alone they should all learn! In any case, we do teach it. I don't expect every assignment to be done in cursive, but I do make sure it is a part of their everyday work and I often find that the kids decide it is an easier and faster way to write (and I agree) so it does find it's way into regular life. Plus, I love to see what font each child creates. I mean, we all start out with a standard pattern of writing in cursive, but as they age, they tend to personalize it (I did) and I think it's neat to see how they make it their own. It can be kind of telling of their personalities. :-)
Sonja started fourth grade this year. This meant that she was promoted and moved classrooms in Sunday school, which thrilled her. She is a competitive spirit--always has been. It might have to do with being the first girl in a line of four boys, or it could just be built in, but either way, it's consistent. :-) Sonja will learn much about being a girl this year--at least that's part of the plan. Being nine and being on the verge of so much physical maturity, I have to start having more conversations with her outside of just good English composition and math computation. She still says that information about how babies are made and the female body works is gross (so there's a bit of a "yay!" there since she's very socially aware, and that can be challenging) but I aim to normalize all of that the best I can before it becomes a maintenance factor in her life. She's watched the boys mature, but I know that she has no real clue about how her maturity will be significantly different, and since the boys have been her measuring stick for everything, I figure I have my work cut out for me in helping her to make the necessary revelations. :-)
Connor started sixth grade this year. This is a huge milestone and one I did not anticipate reaching for one more year. In my book, Jr. High doesn't start until seventh grade, and where we lived before backed that belief. Here, sixth grade marks the entrance into Jr. High and all the activities and lifestyles that comes with it. So, Connor was promoted quickly and kind of jumped a hurdle prematurely, because truthfully, I didn't prep him for the transition because I wasn't anticipating it. And then, at the end of the school year, when youth group was doing a wrap up followed by a welcome event for the incoming Jr. High kids, and Connor was invited, it hit me. I was behind the ball here and I needed to get the both of us caught up. So we did. We attended the meeting for incoming kids and I discovered that I had just 375 weeks before his graduation.
I mean seriously, who needs a reminder like that when you are graduating one, prepping another, and just moving this kid into Jr. High? But still, it was a reality check. And so we switched gears, and now Connor is being fully immersed into the Jr. High culture. Welcome to the big dogs play yard son!
Nikolas was promoted to the top of the chain this year now that Jozsef has successfully graduated. Nikolas started tenth grade this year. Just the mention of tenth grade began conversations about career testing to find out just where he is well suited to serve and earn money, conversations about resumes and college entrance requirements, conversations about SAT and ACT scores as well as scholarship requirements and financial aid. There is so much to do already and he's only in his second year of high school! Of course, it's a good thing that we've done this once already and we learned a few things along the way because it should make things a tad bit easier in regards to preparation this time around. Yet I say that with some reservation since the college school system here is just different enough from our former state that I/we have much to learn in order to best utilize our resources. So far, Nikolas seems to be similar to Jozsef in that he doesn't anticipate following the usual course of high school graduation and entrance into college. His interests lie in areas outside of the usual degree programs which is both fun and frustrating since the path to good education and accreditation is not necessarily well paved and requires much research on our behalf. So the search has begun to discover and locate the best program to equip Nikolas for a career in drone mastery. Pioneers never follow a preset path and Nikolas, from the beginning, has been one to do things just differently enough. There is no surprise here. God has had this boy pegged for something specific from day one. I'm excited, anxious, and thrilled all at once to see just where this boy's road takes him.
I don't have a first day of school for Jozsef. Since he graduated, he's been working as much as possible and saving to buy a car. School is not off of the radar for him. As a matter of fact, he is doing all he can to get started, but since his start is not solely dependent upon himself, it may take some time. Jozsef is planning to work through the TNARS program (http://www.tnars.net/) to obtain a degree that will equip him to be a pastor. He has quite the heart for God and His people. In order to participate in the TNARS program, Jozsef is required to secure a mentor who will commit to seeing him through each stage of the degree program, the AA being the first level. Jozsef is earnestly and prayerfully seeking said mentor and waiting patiently on the Lord's timing and working while he waits. So being that Jozsef has officially graduated from our school and has yet to officially begin at his new school, there is no first day of school photo to share. I suppose I could provide a photo of him at work, but I'm sure he's happy not to flaunt his pizza making outfit (he currently works for a family owned pizzeria called Uncle Maddio's). Jozsef is enjoying meeting new people and learning more about being an adult in the work world while all of us are learning to adapt to his new status as an adult and the schedule that comes with it, which is set apart from our family rhythm. Change with the passage of time is inevitable.
There has been much change in the last year. Adjusting to a whole new coast is an adventure, to say the least. We are meeting the challenge and adjusting just as quickly as we can manage. There is much discovery and exploration to be ,made. I think we are finally getting accustomed to the layout of the roads here, enough to kind of know where we are and where we might be going (no predictable grid layout in our area). All of the trees are beautiful and refreshing to have in our midst, but they all look alike and make landmarks harder to identify. I believe we are actually getting somewhat accustomed to the humidity. Although, by all accounts, one cannot get acclimated to humidity because it is always oppressive, our bodies have seemingly accepted the higher level of water vapor and somehow the humidity is that much more tolerable now. The bugs still have us in overdrive. There seems to be an overabundance of them and they are overall quite big! The mosquitoes are especially pesky. It seems that no amount of deterrent actually protects us from those monsters. :-( We truly have a National Geographic series constantly running in our domain which is both exhilarating when we get to see things like multiple hummingbirds take up regular residence in our presence, as well as concerning when we consistently find snake skins in increasing sizes in our yard. Needless to say, we're beginning to get a new appreciation for God's creatures and how to live well with them.
In other news, John's company never did open an office and we are unsure if they ever will. That means that John and the boys share the office for work space. The arrangement is working well and John says that he actually prefers working from home. The office is less busy with Jozsef not currently keeping a school schedule, but that is bound to change. We all know how to manage John's home office and with a door to close for video conferencing, it all works out quite nicely.
The older boys attend youth group regularly and the two oldest regularly serve at youth group. Jozsef has managed to obtain the title of the youngest small group leader in history at the church. The staff couldn't wait for him to turn 18 so that they could throw him in the mix, and truth be told, neither could he. Seriously, this boy is in his element when he is relating to and teaching God's word.
John and I have finally reached a point where we feel we are ready to get involved in the church. The teaching is solid there and the model of the early Acts church is great. We really feel like we've found a good place to call 'home'. So with the new semester starting up, John and I have committed to participate in two small groups. We look forward to integrating into the church and creating networks.
Otherwise, well, one step at a time. We didn't anticipate how long we'd stay where we are, but we did commit to one more year on this lease. It's just where we were lead to be. It's not bad, it's just not forever. I'm sure this year will have plenty more change and adjustments in store for us as we continue to mature and adapt to our new region. After all, home isn't really a place, it's where are people are. And right now, this is it. <3 p="">
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