21 September 2025

Went to the movies for Family Home Minute tonight and watched Howl's Moving Castle in Japanese, with subtitles. It was wonderful on the big screen! It was so fun to go all together and talk about it in the car afterwards. 

15 September 2025

Sometimes mornings are hard, getting back into the swing of school.

We also ended up with a very appropriate scripture to memorize for the beginning of school (totally coincidental - it was just next on the list).

11 September 2025

Because Rosebud is the youngest and we are often focused on the oldest children doing important life things, sometimes I forget that she is still so young and interested in young kid things.  She was delighted to find puppets at the library and spent time having them talk to each other and putting on a show for me.  In all our visits, I never thought to suggest this to her.

Our neighbor across the street, an elderly woman, has taken a shine to Rosebud and has begun to give her stuffed animals that used to belong to her deceased daughter.  Recently it was a puppy that Rosebud named Goldwin and has taken for walks on a leash, and made a bed for (but she will also let him sleep with her), and "discovered" that he likes to look at himself in the mirror.  Sweet to see her joy in imagining a pet for herself.  She really wants a dog, just like her sister.

8 September 2025

D's language arts teacher began the year by assigning them daily writing assignments.  He brought them to me to share, and I was so happy to see the encouragement to write.  There's a lot inside of his brain that I would love for him to be able to record and share, his own practical thoughts and also so many stories.  (So grateful for his teacher's ability to decode his handwriting.)

I wish I had one more week to finish my hobbit house that I began first day of summer.  I spent like 5 minutes on it every day, so that I had time for other things, but I didn't finish in time. The hobbit house is finished now, & then deconstructed. It was highly detailed, and very large, taking up four plates (64 x 64).  (Mom's note: a lego project)

Multifaceted - I had this same assignment in 3rd grade, and I did not know what to put down, so my parents suggested multifaceted. Multifaceted: with multiple faces/skills. I am good at a variety of different things like engineering and video games ML PvP, leaping quickly, pretending to sleep.  I wasn't super good at .... , none fit in one category, so multifaceted was perfect.

Most of them feel pretty chill. Some of them cause me to very nervous, and one of them released 1 min after the bell. We do a lot of semi/group work in all of them. It was chill in ... .

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D is growing up and cleaning out his old treasures.  His beloved third grade teacher had t-shirts made for her class, and they all signed each other's shirts.  Before the shirt moved on to its next home, I took a photo of it to commemorate what a wonderful community the teacher built for her students that year. D felt safe and happy there during his first year in public school, and I am so grateful for her careful work and attention to the class members.

7 September 2025

Yesterday driving home from church, a song came on with the lyrics, "I'm a good God, and I have a good plan". D heard, I'm a good guy, and he said, "He's not a good guy, he's THE good guy. All the goodness comes from him!"

3 September 2025

Our friend Melissa took family pictures for us while Rose Pink was home!  Here we are being cute and fun together.  

2 September 2025

First day of school, although these are second day pictures because I forgot on the first day! 

When D put on his beloved Technoblade hoodie for the first time since school ended in June, he said, "This isn't as big as I remember it."  He's growing a lot right now.

We clicked right back into the schedule and everyone got out the door on time and off to school. Both D and Rosebud came home happy with their assorted teachers and the friends in their classes. Success!

This weekend was the last before some big changes - D and Rosebud going back to school, Nut Brown starting his first job, Rose Pink going back to school, and the annual September closeout for me. The weekend was beautiful. Lovely weather and quiet time spent together enjoying each other's company. It was a gift from God before we launch into the next round of challenges and growth.