Yes indeed, this may be my son's first selfie, he's taken many since.
Grace had her first day of child care without Grady. She's doing really well at it.
We of course had to take our first day of school picture. We started with Romans, Church History, and Family Relationships. God is using them all to really work us over, realizing our position in Christ, and shaping our understanding of living out a life that's walking in the Spirit.
Kent went to a Michigan game with a friend, so the kids and I went to our first dog show with my friend Brenda Lei and her kids. As you can see, we're not with the dogs in this picture. The kids enjoyed the dogs, but loved playing together more.
GRADY HAD HIS FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! It's hard to believe that my Grady is 5. He's doing so well in school. We love his teacher, Miss Craddock. She's very good with him. Waking up early is the worst part of school, but we're trying to adjust. We miss him being home each day. We're always glad for our family time each night.
This really isn't a first of anything, but was taken on Grady's first day of
school. I really just love the picture.
Our first visitor was Lala, my mom. She came for a Saturday and took us out to breakfast and enjoyed the day with us. It was good to have her come.
We've been living in MI for a year now and have never visited a Lake. Now I should have learned from by orchard experience that "a Lake" in MI would not be like "a lake" in IN. The lakes here are like going to a park only with nice water that your kids can swim in. And the majority of them have a really large shallow area that the kids can play in, and then they also have a nice playground close to the beach. As you can see, it's a great time to get away from NTBI, allow the kids to play, and hang out with our friends.
Grady lost his first tooth on the second day of kindergarten. It was coming out and the tooth behind it is already grown in. It was hanging by a nerve, so I flipped it and it popped out. He put it under his pillow and I traded it for a dollar. The next morning at breakfast, Grady asked if I had just taken one of his dollars out of his penny bank and put it under this pillow, of which I told him no I had given him a new dollar.
Grady, Grace, and I got to ride our first Bluffton Street Fair ride together. Grady went last year with my mom, but this year we all went together. Kent's mom was kind enough to buy the kids bracelets so they could ride.... she was also kind enough to buy them balls to win fish..... so now our kids have their first pets, two goldfish named Fred and Ted.
At the street fair, Grady and Grace also got to ride their first real horses. They seemed to enjoy it.
Here they are all in one place!!!! Grady and Grace got to see Owen, Grahm, and Cole for the first time in 2 years. It was such a blessing.
And here I am with my two amazing sisters. We were able to enjoy church together for the first time in two years. I don't know how many times we'll get to do this but it was a blessing to be able to share this with my sisters on Bobbie's first Sunday back in the states. Oh, how I love my sisters and am so thankful for them.
My birthday was last week, not my first one, and Kent sent me flowers in the mail. It was the first time I'd ever gotten flowers in the mail. It was pretty neat.
We were crazy and took our kids to their first Michigan game. Kent found cheap tickets and used his birthday money to buy us all tickets. Let's just say... it went, but we won't be taking them back any time soon. It probably didn't help that Michigan was terrible and lost yet again.
However, as always, they seemed to find their silly faces long enough for just one crazy pose.
Lastly, this morning, Grace told Kent she painted her nail. I was in the other room and didn't realize that she meant she really had painted her nails. She actually did a pretty good job and didn't get any on the carpet.
So there we are, five weeks into school and so many first. We've been very busy with school, Grady's school, SWP, homework, and everything in between. This semester has been more challenging to find time with our classmates. That's difficult for me, but something I have to accept and hope will be better after our Romans class.
In December, we will have another first, watching our friends Josh and Brenda Lei leave NTBI. I don't think about it much because it's just hard. Bobbie told me that a missionary in Africa told her that you have to play it hard till the end. There will be time for crying later. So that's what we're doing. Playing it hard till the end, with all our friends that we love so dearly.
