School Days

Well, we've arrived. The first day of school for Micah. She was so excited when we arrived at the preschool, never even looking back after she walked through the gate. She's going to have lots of fun, and I've enjoyed a quiet morning at home to get some work done.

Before we left this morning, I took the obligatory first day of school photos. She was quite proud of her backpack and kept turning around for me to get a picture of it, so I have lots of pictures of her back and only a couple of pictures of her face.

Either way, I'm glad to have captured the memories. She's soaking up things like a sponge these days, and preschool will be a structured learning environment for her. She's pointing out colors and counting, and I'm continually amazed by how quickly she's picking things up. She's a big girl now.

A big girl who was ready to stop taking pictures and climb in the car.

Hope you're all having a good day. In a bit, I'll head out to pick my little lady up, but until then, I'll enjoy the quietness of the house.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Hello Old Friends

Changes are afoot in the Jones household. Most notably, little Miss Micah is starting preschool next week. I know. Preschool for an almost two-year-old? And the answer is yes.

For far too long, I've been trying to do everything. I thought that being more disciplined would help me get more accomplished, but in actuality, it hasn't. It was a tough decision to send Micah to preschool, but I think it's best for all of us.

She'll spend her mornings at the daycare, during which time I'll hopefully focus on my ongoing writing projects and social networking (including this here blog). Then I'll pick her up, we'll eat lunch together, and she'll go down for a nap. During which time I'll focus on designing and creating pretty paper. Then she'll wake up from her nap, and my workday will be over. We'll play together until Dennis gets home, then I'll make a nice home-cooked meal, she'll get a bath and go to bed, and Dennis and I will have some much-needed time together before we go to bed. Together.

That's the plan anyway.

As it stands now, after we get up and eat breakfast, we watch a bit of Sesame Street (that's what Micah's doing in the picture above), and then we both head into the office where I try to work while Micah clambers all over me. I try to keep her from coloring on the walls and pulling all the books off my shelves. We somehow make it through the morning, me ignoring her for the most part, and then we shovel food in for lunch, and I throw her into bed so I can finally get some work done. Except the small window of time that is her nap is never enough for me to cross off everything on my list, so when she wakes up, we're usually back in the office together until Dennis gets home, and then I'm back in here after she goes to bed, while Dennis hangs out in the den alone and then goes to bed alone. I then work into the wee hours in the morning before falling into bed. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Not exactly familial bliss, if you know what I mean.

Something had to give. So I gave up trying to do everything.

I'm excited for Micah, because I know she'll love playing with some other kiddos her age, and she'll thrive in the structured environment. I'm also a touch sad, because in a way it feels like I've somehow failed. I know that's not the truth, but sometimes feelings speak pretty loudly.

She's not a baby anymore. She's a little girl. This is just one part of growing up.

We'll survive. I may be a blubbering mess come Monday, but it's the best thing for us right now.

How's that for a change?

Until next time, grace and peace.

The Great Cato Turtle Race: 2011

Note: This is a follow-up post regarding some medical trouble that my nephew has had. You can read all the posts about Logan's condition here. The posts are listed by recency, so start reading at the bottom of the list. Thank you so much for your faithful prayers for Logan. My sweet nephew went home from the hospital Saturday afternoon. He's still got swelling in his brain, and he will be on anti-seizure medication until the swelling recedes, but for now, he's doing much better.

Today, I wanted to share a little bit of our recent trip to the little community where Dennis grew up. If you've been hanging around the blog for long, you know that we celebrate the Fourth of July in right fashion, with a fish fry and turtle race at the church. It's always a fun night, filled with good food and good fun.

This year was no exception.

In years past, the men in our family have gone to great lengths (dragging the pond, etc.) to secure turtles for our entries in the race. This year, turtle acquisition was much easier, as Pop had set up a trap in the pond several months prior.

A couple of days before the race, they checked the trap and were surprised to find five turtles in there. Who knows how long they'd been there. Not us. At any rate, we had several turtles to race (and share).

As usual, Lauren named all of our turles, but for the life of me, I can't remember any of them except Sweet T(ea). Both Lauren and Micah had a turtle that placed, but Logan's didn't do so well, so he demanded a rematch when we got home from the church.

Much fun was had by all. Hope you enjoy this video of the rematch. As you can tell, Logan's turtle performed well :)

The Great Cato Turtle Race :: Rematch from Leslie Ann Jones on Vimeo.

Until next time, grace and peace.