a settled place

School days have begun for us... Ivory started kindergarten several weeks ago! By now she is enjoying her class and friends, loves PE, and generally eats all of her lunch that I send... which is better than I could say through the summer! :) Honesty is always my goal, though, and if I'm being completely honest, sending my first child to kindergarten has been much harder than I thought. I wish I could say that by the fourth morning of kindergarten, we flawlessly completed our morning routine including quiet time, protein-filled breakfast, plenty of clean clothes in the drawers, no arguments about hair or shoes, no nerves, and no fits by little brothers. But I cannot say that. In fact, the fourth morning of kindergarten proved how quickly you can go from being "on time" to "late", and also showed me the extent to which the weather forecast will dictate our methods of getting and from school from here on out. "Heavy rain" is not ideal walking conditi...

Yesterday morning after we finally got Ivory to school in the rain, Laura came over to watch the boys so I could go over to Edelstein and work on painting at the rental house. It was so kind of her to offer, because she just as easily could have done the painting, but I really appreciated the opportunity to walk into a project space, drop my keys in the silence, and pick up some sandpaper and a bucket of primer.  I expressed to Grant not that long ago that I cannot take progressive steps forward in any given area of life without help, at this stage. I can go over to Edelstein and paint, but someone has to watch my children. I can take one child to a special event, but I need help with the others. I can care for my children and meet all of their needs, but then it's likely someone else will have to pick up my slack in other areas - cleaning my house, helping me can my peaches, bake my cookies and bars for church lunch, etc. And so, I'm very grateful for our village. There...