School and Other Fun Things

Well, school has just completely turned our world upside down. This whole school thing is for the birds, I told my momma a few weeks in. It's totally overrated! Ok, my opinion has shifted to a slightly more positive note since then, but this whole hustle to get out the door and then come home (with a potential tantrum thrown in there because everyone's tired and the world is caving in) do homework, eat dinner, shower (maybe), and get ready for bed leaves us a lot less time together as a family. Yea, I don't like that. And this is everyone's first year at a brand new school, our first year with public school and our first year with our sweet Leila who has never had to operate with a sense of urgency (aka she moves as fast as a turtle on Tylenol PM). I'm pretty sure I didn't pray for more patience but evidently, the Lord thinks I need to work on that.

And who knew I'd have a zillion sheets of paper to keep track of and have to plan for special outfits - red day, orange day, camo day, patriotic day, etc. I totally had a mom fail and dressed Leila in bright orange when she was supposed to wear red for students against drugs (I didn't know 3rd graders even knew about drugs). It was Frazier who was supposed to wear orange the next day. Oops.

Nonetheless, the children all seem to love school, and we finally feel like we have a plan and clear expectations in place with Leila's school and teachers. She and Mary-Michael are both learning to read which is super exciting. I keep telling them the world opens up when you can read (I kind of love books), but they look at me and say, I don't understand. One day, child. One day.

When we aren't doing school stuff, we've been enjoying some super fun stuff. 

As a family, it's really important to us that we stay connected and generous to Niger. We all volunteered at the Chick-fila Cow Drop in early October because half the funds went to Schools for Niger. Here's a picture of Leila with our good friend Howe Rice during the Welcome. Howe held Leila when she was an infant and financially supported her long before we even met her. We are so excited he's going to be able to lead her dedication at church early next year as one of our church elders. So incredible how God brought us all together!

Waiting in line for a turn down the slide.

Go Frazier!

We enjoyed a birthday dinner for Granddad after the Cow Drop, and the kids had a fabulous time with their cousins. Here's Leila and Layne all stickered up.

Happy Birthday! 

Daddy went on a church men's retreat, so the kids had a sleepover on the floor. They thought this was the best thing!

Chick-Fila story time and Halloween fun!

A new hairdo for Miss Leila. This week we have family pictures and my brother's wedding in Charleston, SC. Woohoo!

I took all 3 kids to VCU for Leila's sickle cell monthly checkup. They had a grand time, and I breathed a sigh of relief that all behaved well and didn't break anything or didn't poke themselves with anything sharp. We love the doctors at the HEMOC clinic!