A new year letter

Dear Jackson and Addison,

Today is your first day of 6th and 4th grade. It is hard for me to believe summer is over. You both have enjoyed the downtime immensely. Sometimes too much in my opinion. Freedom was definitely on your side.

The anxiety we are all feeling about the new year has been completely evident the past few days. Yesterday especially. But I have talked with your teachers. They get it. I'm sure we will still have our ups and downs. But I am excited for what this year will bring. Jackson, you will get to switch teachers throughout the day. Addie, your teacher sent and email that brightened your yesterday immensely.

I'm going to be honest, starting the school year takes me back to last year and how rough it was in the beginning. I know that even with the unknown challenges this year will have, we will be settled.

My prayer for this year is that you are able to learn as much as you can. I hope your teachers challenge you in ways that you need to be challenged so you can grow as a student and individual as much as you can. I hope they encourage you to ask questions, and help you find the answers. I hope you come to find a friend or two that you really feel is a friend. Along with that, I hope you start to understand that we don't have to have a large group of friends we call close friends. That's a hard concept right now, I know.

Ultimately, show the world who you are because both of you are amazing, creative and intelligent. Your teachers are lucky to have you in their classes and we are lucky to have them!

I love you guys!!!!
Mom

4th of July Fun

We headed to cooler weather for the 4th of July this year. We left a day earlier than planned and got to spend the night with my parents, which was fun. We definitely don't do that as much as we need to....plans to change that! The morning of the 4th found us up and on the road ready to go. We got to Dave's parent's house early afternoon which was good. It was still warm (where was the cooler weather??), but the kiddos were ready to go and wanted to show me the creek (it's been a few years since I've been to the cabin just due to other things that happened to hit at the same time as planned cabin weekends). We headed down to the creek, and I saw all the fishing spots!

After a hot hike back to the house, we cooled off and waited for the guests. Chuck, Kathy, Mary, Lily and two other friends came over to eat and hang out sans fireworks due to fire restrictions in the area. Instead of fireworks, the kids got to do tattoos and glow sticks! 

After a yummy dinner, they got out a drone that one of the friends had brought with them. The kiddos had a good time watching him try to get it started, fly and ultimately land it. It's quite a process. I had no idea you had to have a permit/license to fly the drone. WOW!

We ended the night with a walk back down to the creek. There's just something magical about the freedom to just be when we are up there. 

Finishing the 4th together.