Back to School

Last week was the beginning of school for Malachi. Kindergarten started a week after everyone else, so we eased our way back into the school year. Malachi's first day was great. He has a good teacher this year and we're very excited for him to be starting first grade. He likes to pretend like he doesn't like school, but I know he does.
Yesterday was Aylah's first day of Kindergarten. I've been so upset about her starting school. She still seems like a baby. I had to try my very hardest not to get emotional in front of her- I wanted her to be excited and not be scared or upset about starting school. So yesterday morning I made them all special breakfast (strawberry pancakes with whipped cream) and I got all of the kids ready to walk Malachi and Aylah to school. We had about 10 minutes before we had to leave and I started feeling a little weepy. But Ezekiel kept me from letting my emotions get the best of me by puking all over the girl's floor. I had to quickly put him in the tub, gather all of the kids up, take some pictures of Aylah and run out the door before we were late. I think this was a blessing in disguise though, because it definitely kept me from crying!
Once we got to Aylah's classroom, she walked right in and put her things away and sat down at her seat and started working on her morning paper. She acted like she had done this a hundred times before! I was so proud of her. She came home yesterday and wanted to do her homework right away. She is going to be an excellent student.
The past two days of having only Gabs and Ezekiel at home have been amazing. Gabs loves being the older sibling- she gets to boss "baby head" around and she gets to play with all of Aylah's things. I didn't realize how difficult the summer was with four kids at home until yesterday. Gabs and Ezekiel both take at least 2 hour naps, so that has allowed me to have a few minutes to rest and also have some time to myself. Spending the summer with four kids meant that I had zero time to myself. There was always a child with me. If the other kids were napping, Malachi was still up and talking my ear off. I didn't realize how much I need a little time to myself until I actually got some time to myself. It's been wonderful. :)
I'm very excited for this school year. Although the kids don't go to the best school, Nathan and I both trust that this is where God has us for now and our kids will be protected and get a good education. It's hard to believe that we have two kids in school, but I'm so thankful for how incredible our kids are and I'm excited to see what kind of people they grow to be in the next year.