First Day of Pre-K

Cam started Pre-K last week!

He was a little apprehensive about going to school, since he had never attended any kind of preschool program and had always been at home with Mom...and Sister. At one of the schools we visited he turned to me and whispered, "I don't want to go to school here." I asked, "Why not?" He said, "Because I will miss you."

*Sigh*

*Tear* =(

*Sniff*

It almost broke my heart.

I don't remember Mackenzie ever talking about missing me when she was getting ready to go to Kindergarten. Hmmm, what does that say about me? Okay, never mind...

Well, once we saw OCS (the school they're now attending) and spent some more time there, registering and that kind of stuff, he was getting more comfortable with the idea. By the time his first day of school rolled around he was actually very excited!

This picture was taken inside his classroom once we dropped his backpack off in his cubby.


Okay, for those of you who knew Brad when he was a little boy, does this not look like him so much!?!?


Just like Mackenzie, he loves that he gets to see me during lunch time. I get to walk over to where he sits and give him a big hug and kiss and talk for a quick minute and see how his day is going...and I get to remind him to drink his water. It's been an adjustment not having him "by my side" all day, and I love that I get to see him during lunch time too. (Just in case you're wondering, I have had times with Mackenzie when she wasn't with me all day, even when we were homeschooling, so it's not that I don't care as much about her not being with me all day...this is just new for me with Cam)

Here he's stuffing his face with food because he was so hungry from playing so hard outside...and that's why his cheeks are so red.


He loves his teacher (and teacher's assistant) and is getting along with the other kids (there are 13 children in his class...10 of them are boys), and he's come home with a good report every day. I'm so thankful for the smooth transition for him into school!

First Day of Middle School

Eeek! Mackenzie started Middle School this last week! Crazy! Time does really fly by, and it's made me think more about something a friend (who has grown children) has said, "Enjoy the time with them because before you know it you'll have one on one end of the country and one on the other."

All through the middle school orientation and into the first week I kept expecting Mackenzie to turn to me, or come home with a heavy backpack and loads of homework, and be overwhelmed and cry. But, praise the Lord, she has truly enjoyed school so far!


Each day she has:

Math
Bible
History
Science
Basic Computer (keyboarding/typing)
English (grammar/vocabulary/reading/writing)
P.E.

So far History is her favorite, because they don't get much homework in that class:) She also enjoys keyboarding and I'm glad she'll be gaining typing skills at such a young age (after keyboarding during the first quarter they'll be moving on to other basic computer stuff)...I didn't get keyboarding until high school, or other basic computer stuff until college.

She feels like she's making friends and already attended a birthday party on Friday evening. She says she likes being in the classroom. And she loves being able to walk back into the kitchen and say hi to me on her lunch break...as well as the cookie I sneak to her here and there.

She's been very responsible and sets her alarm and is up and in the shower at 6:00am each morning. She's had a good attitude (mostly) about homework and doesn't argue or complain when it's time to get to work on it.

I'm so thankful for such a great start to this school/school year/middle school!

757 Humbling Cookies

Today was my first FULL day of work...our first day of serving food in the cafeteria. I thought since I was going to be snapping pictures of the kids' first day of school, I might as well get a shot of me at my first day at the school too...




Even before we moved to Monroe I think I had heard about the cinnamon rolls at OCS (Ouachita Christian School) and how delicious they are. I've heard it mentioned even more since it was determined I would be working there...and in the cafeteria. On my first day of work on Monday the subject of the infamous cinnamon rolls got brought up and it was mentioned that a woman, who used to work there and now can't because of health problems, was the one who had been making them in recent years. The other cafeteria workers thought maybe they would be replaced by frozen ones this year... (*gasp*, *the travesty*). Well, I just had to mention that I love to bake!

So, today when I got to work Ms. Elsie (the one who runs the cafeteria, and has ever since the school opened 31 years ago) said I was going to be making the oatmeal cookies today (with a reminder to not add too much baking soda like the last woman did one time..hahaha, "of course I won't" I thought).

I was thrilled! I thought she must really trust me to put me in charge of the oatmeal cookies, only being on the job for a few short days. And I do really love to bake! The best part about it was that I was going to be able to use one of those industrial, professional mixers! I've always wanted to use one of those! So much so that I asked one of the other gals working in the cafeteria to take my picture...she laughed at me but I didn't care...one of my dreams had come true!





Well, I had so much fun making these cookies! I gathered all the ingredients (and it was a lot) on a cart and rolled them back to the corner of the kitchen where I was going to mix them all up. I cracked 30 eggs, measured out something like 15 cups of shortening, 4 pounds of brown sugar, 17 cups of flour, and 15 cups of oats...there were other things too, but I don't have the recipe memorized already...

I was having so much fun making such a huge amount of cookie dough, and using the huge mixer. I double checked my baking soda measurements, and felt proud of myself and the job I had done. Ms. Elsie came over to the mixer and tasted the dough and said it tasted good and that it mixed up well. Score!




I had help scooping the dough onto cookie sheets so we could place 5 sheets in the oven at a time. As the cookies were nearing the end of their baking time we called Ms. Elsie over to check on how they looked, and if she wanted them more brown or not. She, along with another woman, mentioned that they hadn't fallen like they usually do. They were still mound shaped. Well, I thought they were fine...I don't mind thick cookies. But, it did concern me that they said that they hadn't fallen "like they usually do." I thought, "Uh-oh...I hope I didn't do anything wrong!"

Ms. Elsie started asking me about the ingredients. "Did you put in enough shortening?" I remembered getting greasy and slimy as I measured out all 15 cups, "Yes." "Did you put in all the eggs?" I remembered my clever idea to ensure that I didn't miscount the 30 eggs, "Yes."

Well, the cookies were "a little crumbly" Ms. Elsie said, but they tasted good, so "Phew! Got 'lucky' there" I thought.

After serving lunch, which was so fun...the little kindergartners who are new at coming into the cafeteria to get their food, look at you with big eyes (some say "thank you" and some just stare at you like they don't know what to do or think of it all), the elementary kids who are still so young and sweet, and the middle schoolers who are more confident about their cafeteria skills (and a little less concerned about looking the person who's feeding them in the eyes and saying "thank you"... which makes me think how much more I need to plaster that smile on my face on Monday when the highschoolers will be there...), we got to work (big time, kick it into high gear kind of work) cleaning up the kitchen and cafeteria.

While I was taking/stealing a minute break from mopping I walked back into the kitchen to grab my water bottle. Ms. Elsie walked over to me and asked, "Did you put in the white sugar?" *gasp* *Doh!* "Nope..." I had completely skipped over the white sugar. I was so busy being amazed at opening six boxes of brown sugar and dumping them strait into the mixer that I totally forgot to think about the white sugar...Man...Hate that!

We went into her office to look at the recipe again (and I was thankful for the opportunity to sit for half a minute). After we chuckled a little I said, "Well, at least they were edible. Next time they'll be great!"

Ms. Elsie smiled and said it was alright. I was so thankful for her graciousness! As I got up to leave her office I said, (and had been thinking all day), "Well, the Lord just wants to keep me humble."

A New Adventure

After four years of homeschooling, for various and sundry reasons, we have decided that it's time to go "Back To School." Mackenzie attended public school in Colorado for kindergarten and in Mississippi for first grade. It was in second grade that we started our home school adventure.


Homeschooling is heavenly.

It allowed us to spend time with Mackenzie that we otherwise would not have had. It provided opportunities to teach her some unique life lessons. We were able to explore some subjects that are not part of the regular curriculum in schools, such as Latin, World History, and Bible. Mackenzie shared in some of the daily responsibilities of running a household and taking care of children (especially since I was practically running a daycare while Brad was in seminary).


Homeschooling is humbling.

It provided us with opportunities to see our sin up close and personal. Any honest homeschooling mom will agree that when spending that much time with our children, and filling the role of teacher as well as mom, our sin of impatience, selfishness, rudeness, lack of compassion, etc, etc...fill in the blank...becomes evident. And if they're honest they will also agree that we learn we can no longer blame the schools/teachers/children at those schools for our own child's bad behavior, but rather that it's the sin in their little hearts and the sin they see seeping out of our own hearts.

Which leads to one of the best things that homeschooling can provide...our children seeing us humble ourselves before the Lord. It's not realistic to think that we, as parents in general whether we home school or not, can walk through the years with our children with them thinking we perfectly live up to the standards that we talk of. So we may as well get down on our knees in front of them and allow them to see us confessing. And that is one of the best lessons we can teach our children...humbling ourselves before the Lord, confessing our sin against Him (the One and only true God, our Creator), recognizing our dependence upon Him, seeking forgiveness, and forgiving one another.


Homeschooling is hard.

It's similar to many areas of life...parenting, worshiping, working, and living in general. There are standards that are clear and there are standards that are made-up, connived, construed, imagined... We see how others are doing "it" and compare how we are doing "it." The tendency is to either hold our heads up high based on false pride because we're "doing much better than so-and-so" or to hang our heads in shame because we "fall so short of what so-and-so's doing."


When Mackenzie was a preschooler and the subject of homeschooling came up I would hold my breath and say, "Oh! I could never do that!" I'm so thankful that we have had these four years of homeschooling and that I did do it (and successfully, for the most part anyway). I now know that any mom/parent can do it (now, I know there may be legitimate reasons why a person truly could not home school) and would encourage any parent thinking in that direction to pursue it and give it a go. There are so many resources out there, including other homeschooling families, which help make it possible. No one has it all in their heads and can just do it on their own.

Mackenzie has enjoyed homeschooling as well, and also has been clapping her hands with excitement (literally) as the days draw near to return to school . Cam is mostly excited, and a little apprehensive because he has no idea what school is like.

The Lord provided a job for me at a local Christian school, which will allow for us to send the kids to school there. I'll be working in the cafeteria at Ouachita Christian School. (Ouachita is the parish/county we live in and is also the name of the river that separates Monroe from West Monroe..and is pronounced "wa-shi-ta"...don't ask me...we got laughed at the first time we said it to someone from around here) Mackenzie will be in middle school...eek! Cam will be in pre-k...whew!

I start work on Monday (9th), Mackenzie starts on Friday (13th), and Cam starts the following Monday (16th).

There will be adjustments (like being ready and out the door by 7:10am).
Hopefully no tears will be shed (by any of us).
We are excited and thankful for this new adventure (and welcome prayer).

p.s. I've wanted to use "various and sundry" ever since I heard someone use if for the first time about a year ago...it sounds so cool, so smart...