1st Day of school!

This picture just makes me want to cry!! When did he get so big?

Drew in front of the school on his first day.

Kaitlyn in line to go to 4th grade! I told her that it makes me feel old because I now have a 4th grader and she said it made her feel old too! HA!

Kait, Khloe and Cali Jo out front on the first day of school 2006.

Drew drawing a picture of himself on the first day of school.

Khloe headed to her classroom.

Kaitlyn listening.

Oh what a bittersweet day! Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Oh how I hope that I am training them the right way! It was so hard to send all three of my babies off to school today! I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with three beautiful, healthy children, but why oh why do they have to grow so fast? I cannot believe that they are all in school. Drew went to his first day of Kindergarten, Khloe to 2nd grade and Kaitlyn to 4th grade. Drew's teacher is wonderful! I could not ask for a better start for him. I believe this year will be a "trial run" for him, as he is so young, and I'm not sure how he will do. Khloe has the same teacher that Kaitlyn did in 2nd grade, and she is very nice. She is a little loud and abrasive, and I'm not sure how Khloe will adapt to that, but as my husband sais (who never worries about anything), it will be good for her to be exposed to people like this. Kaitlyn is in a whole new hall, and gets Jr. High lunch this year. 4th grad is a big year, they learn so many new things. I think I am going to absolutly LOVE her teacher. She seems to treat the studens with respect and empower them with choices. You don't find that a lot with teachers. A lot of times they have the "I'm the teacher, you're the student, so you listen to me" attitude. I'm not saying that is all wrong, but this teacher seems to have a level of respect for the kids that I have not seen up to this point.

Because I now have three children in school, and one that is going to need a lot of extra help at home, I have cut my hours down to part time at work. This is something that I have wanted to do for a while, but the opportunity has just not been there. Drew going to Kindergarten was my push. I talked to my supervisor and my boss and they were both in agreement to let me change my hours so that I could be home with the kids after school every day. This was all God's work and God's timing and I am so thankful for this opportunity to be at home with my kids more.

A friend of mine sent me a copy of one of her daily devotions yesterday. It talked about how moms feel like failures as parents... boy could I realte to that! The author shared some encouragement that her husband had given to her. He said he felt that God thought that she was doing a better job than she thought she was doing. Wow was that comforting to me. I struggle every day with feelings of not doing enough, or not being enough, and I hope with all of my heart that God thinks that I am doing a better job at being a wife and mother than I think I am doing.

This is just another chapter in the life of being a mom, I know that I will face challenges ahead that are harder than this one... but for today, leaving that school with an empty van was the toughest yet.