the end of the school year is such a great time for reflection. i love to look at the pics i did of my kids on the first day of school and compare it to how they look 9 months later. it is astounding how much a child can change, learn & grow in that time!
like my oldest son, travis for example. he started his kindergarten year a little rough. there were many new rules to learn and a new pace of learning to adapt to. he was resistant at first and came home on "oops" and "bad news" for a while as he was learning the ropes. it was so hard to hear him upset coming home at the end of the day! but now he has way more "super" days than not and is doing a great job of reading. still in shock that he's going into first grade in the fall, new school, new teacher, new rules.
cayley seems to excel in any situation! second grade has been a breeze to her. i have tried to give her a little more responsibility along with a tiny bit more freedom. several teeth lost and visits from the tooth fairy, reading books like nobody's business, made straight a's, growing so tall that it's hard for me to carry her to bed when she falls asleep in mine...that's what i'll remember.
so adam...not such a baby anymore. now this is a hard adjustment! he still loves to cuddle up, but will run and play at any moment. i enjoy it while i can! he's finding out he can do things on his own and boy does he, lol. praying that he can gain independence with the comfort of holding his mommy's hand.
so here's the contest part! you can play even if your little ones aren't in school. just post a comment on how much your children have changed since the end of last summer till now. what they have learned? grown? challenged themselves? discovered some new interests?
i'll pick a random winner who will receive the movie "The Ultimate Gift". if you haven't seen it- it's amazing! really illustrates the "gifts" we should bless our children with :)
this is a great movie to watch, keep, and share! tim and i adore the messages in this one and love sharing it with family and friends. we get something more from it each time we watch it.
so, leave a comment and i'll pick a winner on the morning of may 19th. thanks to sarah smith for helping me with this :)
good luck & happy start of summer!
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6 comments:
WOW, I don't know where to begin, I will quickly mention Cash and try my best to be brief w/Tay! Cash Cash Cash! Well, this little man has gone from screaming when I leave him at school to giving me knuckles! He has gone from screaming all the way to speech to letting Mrs. Heather bring him w/not one tear shed and he has gone from being a three year old in a crib to a three year old in a "big boy bed". These are little things that are so small to the fact that last August I didn't know if Cash would ever speak in complete sentences. Would he ever speak clearly? Would he ever be able to tell me what he wants or needs? Would he ever tell me he loved me? I stayed up many nights crying as Lance told me I was silly, not to worry. Mom's worry and the word "apraxia" crept into our daily conversations about Cash's future. If you know Mr. Cash now, well, this story has a happy ending! That little boy can talk his BUTT off and tells me he loves me every day! Now, Taylor, is another story. She has gone from sleeping with her favorite stuffed animal "Bullet" to me fidning him on the floor or under her bed. She has gone from running around the house naked to needing the doors closed and I mean "literally" the boys can't see her! When I see her I want to turn away and cry! She has matured physically this year and that's been the hardest part of all. She has gone from, "you better call camp and tell them I changed my mind" to "when is camp, I can't wait to go away for 2 weeks". There are so many more changes I can't even describe in words, but one that has hit me VERY hard lately is the fact that she doesn't want me at school or on field trips. She is about to the point of me dropping her off somewhere a block down so no one sees me I think! HA! I love Taylor more than anything in the world and I am harder on her that anyone else. She is my future and everything I wanted to be and still want to be when I grow up. People have asked me why I am the way I am, going "overboard" sometimes with parties, activities, etc. The only way I can sum it up is to say you only get one shot at being a mom, you better get it right the first time and celebrate each and every time you can!
Sorry so long Sarah! Love the contest!
this is for val:
Luke has grown a lot physically and mentally. He's also a lot more social-where as before he started pre-k he'd play by himself or with me...now he mingles with the kids
Well, my crowd is just growing and changing every day. Hayden has jumped right into Kindergarten just as I expected him too. He has learned to read!! He can write me a note to say "I love you" or "Sorry Mom" or whatever else he wants to say! Marshall - has just turned into a big kid - we have been scared over the speech thing, but I am watching him catching up by leaps and bounds. His thought processes are so complex now - when before I worried that he wasn't on par with where I thought he should be. Also, Marshall has discovered his love for his sister. He was just not quite thrilled with her at first, but now they are little playmates and I love seeing him have his turn at being the big brother!
And Gracie Girl - well - she is now my little sassy, dancing, kiss blowing little princess! She has begun to talk and she gets right in there with those boys and has a great time being in our family.
I adore these children. They are by far the absolute greatest thing in my life. Some days are crazy but I would not trade it all for anything in this world.
We haven't seen this movie and it certainly looks like wonderful, wholesome entertainment for the whole family.
Your children are adorable - it is amazing to see how much they grow in a school year.
My daughter, Sophia, was 14 at the end of last summer and is now 15. She's just as involved in horse riding as she was this time last year but she has taken on the responsibilities of a leased horse so I have seen her mature incredibly as she is very conscious of her horse's care and safety. She competed for the first time in a horse show just recently and was so poised - my baby girl is really growing up.
Sophia joined the youth group at our church and has a whole new set of friends - she actually went away for a long weekend on a youth retreat and thoroughly enjoyed herself. I'm not so sure she would have done that last year. She's also looking forward to going to high school in the fall, and last summer, nothing would have convinced me that this year would be our last as a homeschool family.
Thanks for making me think about this, Sarah! Well, Kolya (age 15) has grown 4 inches! No wonder I can't keep his pants from being "highwaters"! His voice has completely changed, too!
Austin (age 12) has grown 2 inches, but the biggest change for him is that he has really improved his musical skills. A year ago he was just picking up the guitar for the first time. Now he's playing bass guitar in the church youth worship band! Wow! What a difference a year makes!
OK, so who won!? ;o) I LOVE contests!
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