Monday, August 27, 2007

One week of school down!

I am excited to report that the boys did pretty well all week. James did great! Although, he is on a new level of having to stay organized, and it may kill me!!! One of my friends said that they think junior high is all about learning to organize and keep things in order, and I think it may be true, but he will make it. He made a couple of friends and told me last night that one of them is a Christian. He asked some sweet questions last week. One thing he asked was at what point do I tell other kids that I'm a Christian. He said that he wanted his friends to know but did not want to scare them off, so we had a good conversation about that. He also asked how he prevents bad language from becoming a part of his vocabulary when he hears it all the time now. Apparently, he is a little concerned he will start cussing because it is so common around school. There is also one boy who was around at lunch, at least one day, who was talking about terrorism and being inappropriate (joking about it, which is absolutely not okay in our house), and he wanted to know how to handle that. I am just excited that he is talking to us about it. Pray that we will have wisdom on how to answer the questions. Really, I just want him to stay completely away from that one child, but at the same time, he could be a great witness. He did tell me that he told the kid that he was being completely inappropriate, so I am excited about his courage!

Jason did great on Wednesday and went happily Thursday morning. Then during the day on Thursday, he had some academic struggles and came home very discouraged, but Friday he did very well on his test, and I had a pretty good talk with his teacher this morning. I know it will take his teacher a little bit of time to figure everything out, but he seemed to think Jason was doing okay. The class sizes are pretty big. The kids get prizes for good behavior, and poor Jason told me last week that his teacher would never know he was being good because it is impossible to tell who is being good when you have to watch 30 kids. Jason has a very sweet boy in his class, whose mother I met and is also very nice. He was just so kind to Jason all week, and that was very helpful. The boys are adjusting well, and I am so thankful that God has provided in so many ways.

David and Sarah did okay with their brothers gone last week. I started doing a little bit of schoolwork with David since I did not get him into preschool. He really enjoys it and has learned three letter sounds. It just gives us a little something productive to do during the day.

I spent a long weekend with my grandmother, aunt and cousins in Palm Springs. We had a nice time. I have never been close enough to do anything like that, and I really enjoyed the time with them. It was nice to have a little break from the kids, but I did miss them. I got home last night in time for dinner with some new friends. We had a great time and laughed a lot while the kids swam in their pool.

I am studying Leviticus right now in my Bible study. I always have such a hard time making it through Leviticus and Numbers and decided I needed to get a study guide to help me understand all of it. It is still so hard to really grasp, but it makes me appreciate so much what Jesus did for me and all the freedom I have because of Him! I am also reading a book called Raising Kids for True Greatness. For those of you who don't know me as well, I am not a big reader, and I really don't read many parenting books, but this was sent to me and I liked the title. So far, it is an excellent book and I would highly recommend it (though I have not come near finishing it). It talks about the difference between true greatness and success and has really challenged my thinking about what is really important in raising my kids.

It's been a week or more since my last post, and this pretty much updates my life. We are just busy! Brent and I sat down and made a list this morning of things that need to get done. It's no where near finished, and I am already scared of it, but God is good and will help us accomplish it. Have a great day everyone!

2 comments:

Courtney said...

Thanks for my comment. I am sorry (and sad) that it didn't leave the first time. I don't knwo what happened. Anyway, so glad that the boys have made friends and that is amazing that James is so open with you. I hope that he remains sucha great kid throughout these next few teen years that tend to be difficult. You guys have done an incredible job! Keep it up...:)
Hope your study goes well and your reading too! Way to go on David...that is great. Talk soon. Love you so much!
Court

khowze said...

Hey!! Glad you are blogging. I don't, but I love to read others, I guess that makes me nosey! Sounds like you all are adjusting. I'm glad the boys (and you) made it through the first week. You are going to have to keep up this blog so all of us with younger kids can keep up with how to handle the school age years that are coming (way too soon). I hope I can do as well as you have!!
Miss you around here!!