Kindergarten Here She Comes!

El primer día de kinder en Bethany

The day finally came, summer is officially over and Bethany started kindergarten. I'm not sure how this girl got so big, but here she is going to full day, Spanish immersion kindergarten. It was a bit of a crazy day with a major delay in the school parking lot resulting in Bethany being late for her first day (I think I was more emotional about it than her) and chaos with the after school bus that resulted in her getting dropped off at the bus stop 45 minutes late! Ugh, don't these people know I have a new kindergartner on that big bus! All in all Bethany reports she had a great day except for the part where she had to pee the whole time she was on the bus. Fortunately she made it home without an accident and now she knows to go potty before the end of the school day. She is excited to learn Spanish and was relieved to find out that sometimes Maestra Sanguino will speak English if Bethany really needs help.

As far as Bethany's mom goes, she's doing pretty well too but will feel a lot better when the transportation department gets their act together and gets Bethany to the bus stop in a more timely manner.

Latest Happenings

 We've been busy lately and I just wanted to take a moment to add some of our recent events.

 This little gal lost her first tooth and I don't think it is possible for her to be any more excited about it.

 We remodeled our kitchen:

 Before

 After

This little guy made a Bat mobile with his megablocks. Complete with a mommy and daddy superhero, both of whom wear helmets.

Last but not least we got a swing set that Tom diligently put together several days after work last week. The kids love it, even if they have to put raincoats on to play on it.

We're living a blessed life here in Eugene!

I'm William!

Unlike his sister, William has never been a fan of being called by a nickname. The list of Bethany's nicknames could go on forever, LB (little Beth) being the most common but she'll respond to babe, sweety, honey, little one, crouton, ladybug . . . I could go on forever. William on the the other hand will almost always correct you and say, "I'm William!" Despite knowing this, I can't help myself and I'm constantly slipping up. Every once in awhile he'll get exacerbated with me and come up with a response that cracks me up. Here are my two favorites:

"Mom! I'm not Crouton, daddy is CrouTom!"

"Why, why you keep calling me wittle man? I not your wittle man, I your William!"

Birthday Post

The best part of Facebook is definitely all the birthday wishes I get on my birthday. Lately I've been trying to limit my Facebook checks to only few times a week. It has become a time suck for me and I definitely needed to reset my habit of constantly checking it. But today, I'll probably be checking it often because it feels so good to see the happy birthday wishes from so many. Many of the people I  rarely talk to, but it warms my heart that they take the time to post on my wall.

It all feels so good but the truth is 4 years ago a shadow came over my birthday when my friend Ryan died on the 7th of November. For the rest of my life my birthday will be preceded by the anniversary of his death. He was 30 years old and will never turn 31. It's a sobering reminder every year to be thankful for the opportunity to grow old. To watch my kids as they grow up is a privilege that Ryan didn't get. Ryan was committed to creating community in his church, his neighborhood and his city, before he died he challenged us all to do the same. So every year, on the day before my birthday I'm reminded of my commitment to create community. I often don't feel like I do a very good job at it, but I'm working on it.

If you want to see a glimpse of the the life Ryan and his wife Jessica lived you can watch this video. Have the tissue ready.

Summer

We've been busy this summer having fun doing all sort of things. 

Lane County Fair

 The fair isn't complete until you have some cotton candy!

We've biked to this little library several times. Have you seen these before? They are little book houses that people put outside their homes for anyone to borrow a book. We see them all over Eugene and the kids just love them! What a great way to encourage reading, we may be getting one of our own . . . I'll keep you posted.

 We've gone to Hayward Field as spectators and competitors (thank you All Comers' Meets!) I'll admit, I'm pretty jealous that my kids have gotten to run at Hayward field, I may just have to participate myself next year.

 You can't tell but Bethany is running in lane 1 here. We don't have a good picture of it but Bethany kicked some hiney in the 200m. I won't lie, I felt like she had just won the Olympics I was so excited.

 Enjoying the bounty from our garden.

We all had fun waiting for the fireworks to start at Alton Baker Park on the 4th of July.

Grammy and Papa came for a visit

We have gotten to spend a lot of time on the lake this year thank to my parents bringing their boat down to our house.

 When daddy has a torn ACL, mommy gets to ride on the tube with the toddler.

 We went camping with friends at Dorena and there was this awesome swing.

 William doesn't like to go as high as his sister does.

 And summer just wouldn't be summer without putting sand in the pool and bathing naked in it. Right?

And just in case you don't know what bees make, William will let you know.

Beekeeping

Last month Tom and I went to the local beekeepers association meeting. We've been beekeepers for about 3 months and  are still wading through all the information about how to care for and sustain our hives, so we figured we should makes some friends with other beekeepers. As expected, the crowd was mostly older. Tom was pretty confident I was the youngest person present. The truth is, we loved it! The thought of having 50 other beekeeper friends who probably fall into the early years of the baby boomer generation (for many of them they contributed to it) is fun for us. People love to pass their passions on to future generations and it's kind of fun knowing that people are excited to talk to you about something they love.

So feel free to call us nerds or dorks but just remember we're the ones with the honey and if you want some you better be nice. :)

Navigating Death with a Toddler and Pre-Schooler

A few weeks ago my family woke up to find out that my Grandpa did not. He was 83 years old and had a medical history so full of initials it made even my head spin. I knew our time with him was limited but I wasn't expecting it quite so soon.

Thanks to our move to Eugene last September my grandparents have been a part of our daily lives. "Pa" wasn't just some old guy my kids heard about or saw in pictures. He was the man they would run in and hug and give Eskimo kisses to when we stopped at their house. He was the familiar face sitting and drinking his coffee in the church foyer when we would walk in, and my kids knew he was waiting for them to run into his arms.

As an adult, I'm sad and I miss him but I know it's our loss, not his. This world has lost vasts amount of wisdom but he is basking in the light of our Savior right now and his body doesn't ache, his weariness is gone. In the midst of my sadness I feel peace. He died at home, holding my grandma's hand. After almost 64 years of marriage I don't thing you can ask for much more than that.

I'm not going to lie, I feel like I'm really "good" at death. I don't get burned out holding the hands of the dying, or sitting with their families and talking about the process. I cry, but the tears are cleansing for me, not incapacitating. I'm grieving but I know that at 83 years old, his death was appropriate.

Right now the hardest part is figuring out how to help my kids understand and process their feelings. When I tearfully was telling Bethany that Pa's body stopped working and he is in heaven with Jesus she looked at me wide eyed and said, "He died? When Grammy's chickens die she gets new ones." My heart broke explaining to her that we wouldn't be getting a new Pa. As anticipated there have been emotional highs and lows and breakdowns. . . .  Especially at my Grandma's house where my kids can't quite figure out why Pa isn't sitting in his chair with Missy (his dog) on his lap. Randomly in the car a few days ago William said to me, "GG don't have Pa. We haffa fine him." (Is it awful that the only thing I can think to put after that statement is a crying emoji?)

So here we are, all learning and sorting our way through the most natural, and only guaranteed thing about life. It is beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. I'm so grateful for the life my Grandpa lived. His quiet presence and encouraging smile will be missed by all of us, but knowing that this separation is not forever brings me peace that surpasses all understanding and I'm praying that my kids will feel that unexplainable peace as well.