The Sky is Blue

I am experiencing a whole array of new experiences lately. First, the four schools business, I don't want to beat this dead horse, but seriously it is something interesting. For the first time in my life as a parent, I have become highly aware of fairness. I never thought fairness was something worth losing sleep over. I mean, life isn't fair, right? When you have four children and limited resources, fairness is pie in the sky. Someone is always going to be ahead of the others, the key is to make sure it isn't the same kid every time. With the disparity in school environments, I find myself worrying myself sick about my eldest. He is smart, but lazy, athletically gifted, but no fire in his belly. He is at a huge public high school, and I am worried. I am also concerned about my 11 year old, the reasons, the same, with the exception of the school environment. He is in a pretty good school environment, but again, no fire in his belly, and he has to be forced to do...

I haven't written about Nick's first day of Kindergarten yet. I was expecting the worst, after all we have a bad track record. William, then Jack, then Michael, all had super rough starts. Nick doesn't like to be separated from me period, so I thought we'd have a full on melt down happening on day one at least. Well, Nick is not the predictable sort. He did get a little nervous. His teacher let the parents hang around a little longer than I would have liked. It was just at the point that some of the kids were starting to get panicky that she dismissed us. Two minutes later, and Nick would have lost it I think. He is doing great. It is a long day, 8-2:23. He is having fun, making friends, learning how to play nicely with others. He can already write his name, and hold his pencil perfectly (better than William does, at age 15). He is a sponge. I am delighted at his progress, and soooo proud of him. He is our last baby angel to leave the safety of Mom & Dad...

It has been quite some time since I have taken the time to update this blog. Life has swirled into a heightened sense of fullness. Everyone is finally back in school. We had a staggered , and slow start, four kids, four schools. I believe our family is like some weird educational experiment. We have one in a charter school, one in a private school, one in the LVUSD school district, and one in the LAUSD school district. The differences are glaring. Some good, some bad, some just different. It is a challenge keeping all of the balls in the air with this set up. I reminisce back to the one year when I had three kids all in the same school..... those were the days. Life is good. I am consulting part-time, I'd love to be a little busier, but it is good for now. I have done nothing creative for months. No scrapbooking , no jewelry making, no nothing. I am trying to stay involved at each school. I am hopeful that once I get in a good groove, I can catch up on my scrapbook alb...

What a beautiful day. Gorgeous weather. Today our church held a beach baptism in Malibu. What a great way to get baptised. We had a nice size group of people there. We heard testimony, we prayed, and then we dunked in the cold... cold.... pacific ocean. I have yet to be baptised as an adult. I feel the call, I know I need to walk forward in obedience, but..... I am waiting for ABF to schedule a Hot Tub baptism. I am happy to host. It is just soooo cold in the ocean, even in August. It was a really nice day though. I came home and was completely toast. I slept for 2 hours. My incredible husband made dinner, baked brownies for his father / son bowling league, then he and Michael went off to kick butt at AMF . Now I am doing a little work in preparation for the week. I am trying to figure out my new laptop. It is a PC, and I haven't used anything but MAC for 10 years so I am a little rusty. It is so funny when a 10 year old has to explain why my window went all won...

I must apologize for not posting nearly as often as I should. Summer has been tough, time wise, and to be honest I haven't been very inspired by any particular topic. Fall is officially here. My oldest son just finished his first week of school. My second oldest just had his first high school football scrimmage today. So cool! I still have two at home, but my 5 th grader starts on Wednesday. Fall brings a ton of activity. It should be interesting to see how Jeffrey and I manage four boys, four schools, with him working (like crazy), and me working (part-time). It may take some strategy to make sure everyone gets where they need to be, and gets picked up on time. I am a little nervous about getting back in to the classroom. (I am facilitating in a corporate environment). I need to hit the books next week to make sure I know my content inside and out. To be honest, I am more concerned about wardrobe. Silly, right? I have lived in tank tops and yoga pants, with an assortm...

Fall is creeping up, and life will get very full very fast. I remember in the spring contemplating commitments for this fall. Now it is almost here, and while I didn't over commit in the Spring, I must admit, I am looking at a very busy Autumn. What is new right? The good news is, I feel like it is filling up with the right kind of things. It is easy to just be busy-- that is a state I do not enjoy. Busy, means stress. Busy means, harried. I want my life to be full, but not busy. I will volunteer at school in meaningful ways with controlled time commitments. I will not spend every minute on the campus's, sitting in dreadfully long meetings. I will volunteer at church in ways that will enrich my relationships, and allow me to use my gifts. I will not over commit , and allow myself to feel harried. I will seek out and work on professional projects that will help me to expand/update my marketable skills, and that provide a good return for the time invested. I will no...

It is starting to hit me that life is about to change. My youngest son is going off to kindergarten. He has been with me all day, everyday, since he was born. In fact, when I went on my trip to Seattle a few weeks ago, that was the first time we had ever been separated for more than like one night. He gets more independent with each passing day. He says things that sound so grown up. When my older guys were away this summer, I really missed them. Admittedly the quiet was nice for a day or two, but after that, it was no fun for me. You would think that after years and years in this crazy world of boys, that I would enjoy the break. It makes me a little concerned about how I am going to handle change over the next 10 years. I am facing two boys going off to college, or military, or whatever they chose, in the next few years. My baby Michael going off to Middle school in a year. I hope I can handle it. The good news is, I am back to work. I will start to rebuild my identit...