Right now, I should probably be crying my eyes out. Joshua went to his first day of pre-preschool at United Methodist Kids First. When I said goodbye to him there was no clingy-ness, and he barely looked up from the chalkboard he was coloring on to say, "Bye". That should have broken my heart, but honestly, it was a confirmation that he needs this almost as badly as I do. Yes, he is only 3. Yes, we are students who probably shouldn't be forking out any extra money for something that I could replicate at home. But guess what? It is quiet. I am writing. Genevra is sleeping. Josh is at work. And it is quiet.
I like this.
So with that introduction, it is time for our semi-annual update.
The longer I have been a mother, the more I realize how easy it is to loose your identity and individuality with all of the monotony that is laundry, grocery shopping, housework, cooking, etc. Once in a while, I like to take a moment to remember that I am a person too and my needs matter as much as my children's. To avoid running on empty, I have been making a mad dash to the door the minute Josh gets home from work. He is a rock star for being willing to put the kids to bed by himself (it's usually not a two way street here...he likes putting them to bed by himself...I don't). These outings are me going to lift at the Rock Chalk Park, going window shopping, or to the library by myself, or meeting up with a friend. At this point, I would normally apologize or make an excuse for needing this time to myself. But I am not going to. Not today, at least.
Josh started working at Pulse Design Group in Lenexa as soon as he was finished with his May-mester of sustainable design. He has struggled going from the challenge and excitement of designing in a studio setting to being stuck in a cubicle doing intern stuff, but he likes the company and it has really been nice to have income that didn't come with interest (loans). His church calling takes up quite a bit of time, but the more he hangs out with the missionaries, the more he likes them. Josh is awesome to take me on weekly dates. Most of the time they are simple things that happen after the kids are in bed, but that measly hour or two a week has helped our marriage weather some of the typhoon that has been Josh's schedule/program.
I am not sure where this summer went. The kids and I spent a lot of time at the wading pool, library story time, toy store (they have some awesome play tables), park, lunch program, camping, the Crown Center in KC, Clinton Lake beach, free movie theatre, open gymnastics at the Rock Chalk Park, etc. Summer time around here is great because Lawrence and the surrounding area offer a variety of activities for kids during the summer and most of them are free to super cheap. With school starting up, a lot of these activities have ended and we are trying to find alternative ways to keep busy and avoid the cooped up claustrophobia that happens from being inside our apartment all day.
Joshua is doing 3 days a week preschool for two hours (I don't count the 30 drive time) each time. Josh and I feel very blessed that the United Methodist Church has a scholarship fund for students with children pre-school age. Not only will this give Joshua the much needed time away from his grumpy mom and biting sister, but it will give him a chance to grow in ways that he can't here.
Genevra turned 2! Her birthday came as a bit of a surprise. Life has happened so fast, it's kind of surreal that she has been a part of our family for 2 whole years. Genevra is my light and my bright ray of sunshine. If I had to pick one word to describe her, it would be "happy". She has a disposition that is very bubbly and fun loving. It takes a lot to make her angry and not much to make her smile. She is talking more with each passing day, but despite her cheerful little spirit, her favorite thing to say is "NO", while doing a very forced, very fake frown.
We did have some visits this summer. My brother, Dallin, and his lovely wife, Karlie, made the trek out here. It was SO much fun. The kids enjoyed it so much that Joshua's pretend friends are named "Karlie" and sometimes, "Dallin". He tells me that he went swimming with Karlie and that Karlie was on the slide with him at the park. The best I can figure his logic is a make believe friend.
My other brother, Nic, was married in Gilbert, AZ to Tiffany Coon. And my sister, Anna, was married in Manti, UT to Kevin Clawson. Although I doubt the timing of their weddings had anything to do with the time/money it took us to travel home, we were very grateful that they threw the two weddings together on short notice and we were able to be there for both, as they were only a week apart. Yeah, my mom was amazing for pulling it off. Coming home for a wedding is always a good thing (same thing happened last summer), because it gives us a chance to catch up with family that we would have missed, due to our never being home for reunions.
This blog post was scattered, but oh well. Maybe if afternoons are for real going to be like this, I could write an update more often and include those fantastic details you are dying to read about (kidding). I was actually able to write it within a very short time span, completely uninterrupted by whining. Score!
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