8/17/21 The schedule is ramping up

 Soccer for 5 is starting.  Last night was the first practice for Lily.... add that to piano lessons, cello lessons, robotics club, tennis, and gymnastics.  I am very careful what I put my children in, because I want dinner together as a family.  But just have so many children has made our lives and afternoons very busy. I do want them anxiously engaged.  Lily has decided to to continue teaching her summer piano lessons, so our house is full of piano students in the afternoons and it is good for her to save some money for college. 

It is interesting though because when they all left for school last week, the emotion that I felt was Loneliness just with 1 potty training toddler who likes to play on her own.  I have been finding things to fill my morning with (not too much because my afternoon is chaos), but I took an nice woman with one leg to the doctor today, and reached out to some friends for playdates for Charli, and cleaned my house, my swimming in the morning with Charli a priority.  School starts for me in a couple days too.  

My 40th birthday is just a few weeks away, I have been reflecting a lot on what I have accomplished in the last 40 years and IF I have accomplished what I wanted to.  I have been really thinking about areas I feel great and areas I want to improve.  It sounds silly, but I feel like 40 is the gateway to the rest of my life, what do I want to do or rather who do I want to become? 

We had another great boating Saturday.  And a great date for Waygu burgers after that at Burgerfi. It is pretty delicious.  

8/8/21 School Starts!

 10th, 8th, 6th, 4th, and 1st grade.... and Charli still home with me.  I am so grateful for school and the chance my kids have to learn.  The proudest moment I had this week was when Ben chose to advocate for himself to be in a higher math class.  I was really proud of him, because my efforts to move him had failed. 

Rachel had a few pre-school jitters, and Ben woke up at 3 in the morning, but all-in-all school was great.

I got formally excepted to graduate school this week. I have been praying all weekend if this would be an okay choice for my family.  I really love a lot of things, but they aren't so conducive to my parenting schedule.   I need to be there for my kids and I want to get more education, but I need those things to work out.  I would have loved medicine, dental school, nursing, but I don't see the timing as working well with a family.  I am hoping to teach community college, or maybe virtual high school for a bit, we will see.  I just wished I had furthered my education when I was a little less restricted by children those first few years of marriage, and I was sooooo lonely. So far I feel good about what I have chosen, and I hope to find a niche. 

This weekend we got to take the boat out with Lily's friends.  I love Canyon lake, it is one of my favorites.  

Gary and I also got to attend the temple last night.  It was needed after a little bit of an emotional day for me.  Sometimes parenting is just so hard.  

Great first week of school!  Here is to a great year! Our back- to- school (Japanese Olmpyic inspired dinner and theme: No Weak Links