Happiest Girl Ever . . . August 6, 2012

The week after vacation was a nice and busy time of getting ready for school to begin.  We went through all the stuff we already had and checked it with the lists of stuff the school said we needed for each kid.  The kids look at this as fun, and I do too, at first!  But with three kids making their piles, it gets a little crazy as I try to be sure they are checking stuff off so we know what we still need to buy.  Our oldest, Austin is in high school and doesn't get his list until after the first day of school.  Last year, I did most of this ahead of time for Aleeya and just did my best guessing which things she would like (colors and styles).  This year as she worked through her list, I could see her trying to figure it all out.  I realized this was not a "normal" event for her.  So, we checked through her list to find she wasn't quite sure what a Composition Notebook  and a few other items were.  It was a good time to go over the names of all the items she had so when the teacher asked for those things, she would know just what to get out :).  After we checked off what we had, I took the kids shopping with me for some of the stuff and then just finished the rest myself.  It takes quite a bit of concentration, so I was thankful to have gone late one night to Walmart without the crowds.

We also did haircuts for the kids, and made sure everyone had a nice outfit for the first day of school.  For some of them, it was just a newer shirt.  With Aleeya at the age of 12, she is very in between on sizes.  She's not really in the "girls" section, but not really in the "Juniors" section either.  And the styles out there are just tough!  So . . . we went shopping and looked and looked!  I was just hoping to find one cute shirt for the first day back.  We were very happy when we found ONE while shopping the three floors at "Forever 21!"  This seems to be my dilemma with shopping as well, so I guess it's just a girl thing :)!  At least we had a fun time together shopping!

In the midst of getting ready for school, our social worker came for his last official visit in our home.  It was a short visit and one in which he just checked in on us to be sure we didn't have any more questions.  It felt really good to know that soon we would be a "normal" family that would function without the monthly visits.  We felt blessed to love our social workers and enjoy their visits, but there is something about them coming month after month that reminds us we aren't officially and legally her family.  Yet we so are!  We also had a fun day during the week where all the kids got to have a "Play Day!"  Basically, they all had a friend over or went to a friends and just hung out one afternoon.  This was something we hadn't had much time to do this summer with the move and busy times, and everyone really enjoyed it!

We had back-to-school night on the Thursday before school began the following Monday, and she was able to meet her new teachers for 6th grade, see who was in her homeroom, and the most anticipated part . . . get her very own locker!  We went up with her to see where her locker was and make sure she knew how to do a combination lock.  The first few tries were a little rough, but luckily the girl beside her was struggling too!  The boys were great in showing her how it's done (since they have been there and done that), and I just kept showing her and then having her try again.  We made sure she got it open 3 times straight before we knew she was good to go!  Then I hung out with her and a new friend and her mom for awhile on the playground.  I was thankful that this year she could make someone that was new to the school feel welcome (like so many had for her the year before), and begin what seemed to be a special friendship.  These girls were busy laughing and having a great time together!

Throughout the week, Aleeya had mentioned how excited she was to go back to school.  I just kept looking at her strangely when I'd hear her say it!  This is my girl that loves to sleep in and is not at all a morning person.  This is my girl that was often working long hours on homework last year.  This was my girl that was so nervous about starting at Big Valley in 5th grade and asked tons of questions!  Well, this year was different!!!  She was so excited to go back and see her friends; she was happy and alert that first early morning; she couldn't wait!  Turns out, our girl is quite social and REALLY enjoys seeing her friends!

We got up pretty early the first day so we could take our annual "1st day of school picture" at the school.  We like all the kids to be together for it, which means we have to be there by 7:40am since the boys start at 8am a ways away from where we take our picture at the elementary school campus.  So, we were up early, went to our favorite doughnut shop to get breakfast, and took our fun first day pics, which includes one with Daddy behind them making a funny face as well as one with all good smiles!  Aleeya was full of energy and excitement and even enjoyed meeting another new girl that morning.  I later realized that this was her first time going back to the same school since she moved from Saipan when she was 7.  This was a big deal in her life to be at the same school, to be secure, and she was so happy!

This was the start to a new year indeed and I was so happy for her as well!  I wasn't sure if I was ready to begin it all again, but I prayed that I would be.  I prayed for each of them to do their best with their studies, that God would help them to follow Him and His ways, and that He would help them to form some great friendships.  I couldn't believe I had a 10th grader, one starting Jr. High (7th grade), a 6th grader, and a 4th grader!  But that's exactly what God had me doing, and I knew I would need to lean on Him and ask for lots of wisdom to make this year great!