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| Chase posing by the "Big Ben" clock at Busch Gardens |
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| Gabriel posing too! |
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| Gabriel wanted a picture on the horse (we rode the carousel too) |
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| Did anyone have back to school butterflies? |
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| Before their first soccer game of the season |
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| Chase showing off his skating skills |
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| 100% boy...soaking up that last bit of summer |
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| Chase protecting the goal |
Although I hated to see the summer end, I have to
admit I love almost everything about fall: cooler weather (although we have yet
to experience much of that), football season (HTTR....they finally won a game this season!), everything pumpkin spice (I know there are pumpkin
spice haters out there too, but let the rest of us enjoy it) colorful leaves, witnessing my children learn new things in
school, etc.
Fortunately, going back to school on September 6th
was an easy transition for the boys since they're still attending FOEC. I know
not all students and parents had as easy of a transition. I have three nieces
starting new phases of school: one starting high school, one starting middle
school, and one beginning kindergarten; these have been big changes not only for
my nieces but for my sister and sister-in-law. In contrast, the boys and I
didn't have any back to school jitters. Chase has most of the same classmates
from the first grade and the same teacher (his teacher teaches 1st and 2nd grade
since it's such a small school). Gabriel has a new K4 teacher, but has adjusted
well to her. He had a harder time over summer break with switching summer camp
teachers than he did starting K4. He still has the same teacher at Hardy
Elementary for speech class. It was encouraging to hear his speech teacher say
that he didn't regress any over the summer. In fact, his speech improved over
the summer months! Praise God for every ounce of progress! I'm excited for all
of the learning that will occur throughout another school-year.
The busy fall schedule has already sunk in with
soccer practices, soccer games, school, speech classes and long work hours. I
also started attending a women's bible study on Monday nights and I still serve
in the church nursery once a month. Even though all of these activities are
positive and I'm glad we get to do them, Tim and I are already yearning for
another beach vacation since our anniversary trip Labor Day weekend was cut
short due to Tropical Storm Hermine. Nonetheless, we made the most of our
vacation even though it ended up being more of a stay-cation. We still had one
beautiful beach day to ourselves. Even though we headed home on Friday instead
of Sunday, we enjoyed some alone time at home, which allowed us to catch up on
some much-needed chores around the house, such as cleaning out the shed and the
garage and shampooing the carpet in the main walkways downstairs. Aside from
chores, we still got to go out to eat for dinner by ourselves and watch some TV
without interruption while the boys stayed at Grammie and Papa Breeden's house
through
Sunday. Perhaps it was God's plan for us to cut our beach trip short
so that we could have more time at home to prepare for our busy fall schedule
that began right after Labor Day.
Furthermore, I try to remind myself that we had such
a blessed summer. One little storm isn't enough to dampen our spirits. We
haven't always been able to do all of the fun things we got to do during the
last three months with Busch Gardens, Water Country, pool visits, beach trips
and more. I'm humbled and thankful that we were healthy and able to enjoy the
season. I realize other folks I know are going through challenging seasons of
life that haven't allowed for those same experiences this year. If you're
reading this and you're one of those people, just know that I'm praying for you
and I trust in God's perfect plan for all of the seasons in life we
experience.
On a lighter note, I always try to jot down some of
the hilarious things the boys say so I won't forget, but I often fall short.
But, here's one silly incident that comes to mind: Gabe still wets his bed on
some nights. When he woke up wet one morning he told me, "I keep telling the
sheets not to get wet but they're not listening." Then there's the story Pam
Breeden already shared on Facebook about Chase partaking in communion for the
first time at First Baptist in Hopewell. Chase asked Grammie Pam if the bread
was plastic because it had a strange texture and was flavorless. There have been
several more funny remarks, but too many to recall all at once.
Faith Outreach had a back-to-school skate night last Wednesday. Chase told everyone how great of a skater he was all summer and kept
asking us to take him skating so he could show us his skills. He went every
Monday during the summer with his summer camp class. We finally got to witness
for ourselves that he truly is a great skater. He was flying around the rink
going forward and backwards, and even doing the limbo at one point. I couldn't
believe how well he did! Even more surprising was the fact that I got out there
and skated with Chase and proved to myself that I could still skate forward and
backward too and keep up with kids 30 years younger than me....no limbo for me
though! Gabriel, on the other hand, skated as though he had two left feet and
could hardly stand up on his own. However, I remember Chase being the same way
at that age, so I'm not giving up on Gabe; just give him a few years.
Chase and I had our "show off" moment at the skating
rink. Gabe always has his "show off" moments just being the baby of the family.
So when does Tim get to show off? Well, Tim had the chance to show us the
machine shop that he works at nearly every day. After church last week, he gave
the boys and I a tour of Craft. The boys enjoyed looking at all of the huge
machines and now they have a better understanding of what their daddy does for a
living. Chase told me during the car ride home, "Mom, don't tell dad this
because I don't want to hurt his feelings...I like the machines and think
they're cool but I don't like the metal shavings and don't think I want to be a
machinist when I grow up."
We're already two games into our soccer season and
both of our teams won both games. Tim is very patient coaching the 4-5 year-olds
this season. The Pirates showed no mercy during their first game. I lost count
of all of the goals but it was around nine! They didn't score as many goals
during the second game, but still had enough to win. Gabe didn't score any of
the goals but he looked like he enjoyed playing his first couple soccer games
and he kept up with the ball. Chase's team is called the Dolphins. During the first game, they had five goals
before it was all said and done and Chase helped assist with two of them during
the second half of the game. He played goalie during the first half of both
games and didn't allow anyone to score! We're very proud of how well he's been
playing! Go Pirates and Dolphins!
Whether you're cheering on your child's sports team
or your fave football team this fall,
just remember that God is always our biggest cheerleader. He's always cheering
us on during our game of life, even when we're not playing with all of our
heart. He never chastises us if we fail; rather, He comforts us with His
unconditional love. I pray we can all show that same kind of love towards others
during this fall season and beyond.
Pumpkin spice cheers til next time.
