My First Grader

Do not be fooled by the boy's expression. While to me he looks a tad apprehensive in this photo, he felt nothing of the sort on his first day of first grade yesterday. It's true there were many proclamations this summer of, "I just want kindergarten to start over!", and when people would ask him if he was excited to start first grade they got an answer filled with nothing short of dread. But this all changed after I bought his school supplies, and he and his dad delivered them to his classroom earlier this week. Seeing his desk, meeting his teacher, discovering at least one friend was in the mix with him - these all ratcheted up the excitement. He didn't even look back yesterday as he entered the building.

I'm not really surprised by all this. I know my boy. He's like me: new things and change are always scary at first, but once we get warmed up, boy, we are IN! What I am a tad surprised by is my reaction to this whole business, particularly today as he's at his first FULL day of being away from me. He gets to experience all kinds of great new things like eating his lunch in the cafeteria and art class and making new friends. And I want all of those things for him. And, quite frankly, I want this level of peace and quiet for myself. Because there have been ZERO fights this morning (not that that will last forever, I know), and this afternoon I get 2-3 hours of blissful silence. But I still feel kind of lost with JJ gone. It's hard for me not to get to watch him experience all these firsts, only to get a second-hand, less-detailed-than-I'd-like account of his day. I want him to continue to grow. I welcome it. But it's harder than I expected to release him to the world in order to do this.
So I pray. And decide to just be unproductive today, so we can adjust to this new routine. And try not to think about how I'm going to feel in two weeks when Ben starts preschool.

July? Are you there??

I could swear that I JUST flipped my handy-dandy Berghoef family calendar over to July. Suddenly August is all up in my grill, and I'm thinking about things like school starting up again and fall approaching (followed all too quickly by winter. I think we're well aware of my dread of the Old Man and his snowy sabatoge). However, you don't need me nay-saying all over your computer, so I'll focus on more positive aspects of Louwerse life.
It has been a great summer overall. It's been glorious to be out from under the pressure of a schedule and to just enjoy sunshine, swimming, time with friends, indulging our ice cream cravings, firing up the grill. We didn't take any major vacations this summer. Certainly nothing akin to our road trip last year.But that's ok. Regular life is busy enough, so we just didn't complicate it with more places to go, things to see. We've been enjoying getting to know our neighbors and our town a little better, discovering places that before were hidden to us.
As summer does, indeed, wind down, we've been blessed to celebrate some milestone anniversaries in our family. (Side note: this was year 13 for us, and I'll be darned if I didn't try insisting to my husband it was 12. That doesn't speak well for the state of my brain cells. They do grow back, right?) Last weekend my grandparents celebrated 65 years of marriage. We had an awesome time of gathering as a family, reminiscing, capturing the moment via photograph, etc. And of course, stuffing our faces. Because no party (particularly a Dutch one) is complete without a buffet. A darn good one, at that. It's been about two years or so since I can remember my mom's whole side of the family being together like that, and it was really cool just to catch up with everyone and to revel in the blessed heritage we have received from the Gp's.
The boys and I are currently back in MI for a bit of an extended visit, as has become somewhat of our tradition the last few summers. The primary reason for our trek to this side of the lake is to celebrate my mom and dad-in-law's 50th (FIFTIETH!) anniversary this weekend. In this day and age, it's no easy feat to accomplish the Big Gold. And they have reached it with flying colors. Can't wait to be together with family and reflect upon their years together. I am truly blessed to have married into this fantastic group of people that I love and respect so much. Anyway, stay tuned for details on all that fun.
While I try to hang onto my last shreds of sanity whilst awaiting the start-up of school, I fully intend to enjoy these last days of summer freedom with my boys. I hope the same can be said for you. (The enjoyment of summer, not the shreds of sanity part.)

Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime

Jeran's moves

Call me crazy but this kid's got a future in dancing. Either that or liturgical karate. To really get the full effect you have to hear Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" in your head as that's the song he was jamming to. I've posted it on the ol' blog playlist to the right there to help you out. (Try starting the video around 2:15)

Sigh

Ugh - I know. You're just totally unmotivated at this point to even direct your internet browser to this address aren't you? The last post was about RABBITS. And I never gave a shout-out to my MOM for heaven's sake. I don't even have any pictures with which to amuse you (unless you are easily amused and would appreciate pictures of the bed we will soon be attempting to sell on Craigslist). Life is just piling up on us over here. We're starting to get the sense that we're overcommitted (yes, if you know us well you're chuckling because somehow we always end up doing this to ourselves). I've been trying lately to be intentional about committing my ways to the Lord (Prov. 16:3), prayerfully considering each day what it is God would have me do with my time rather than what I think is best, trying to learn flexibility in the process. I know all too well that there aren't enough hours in the day, so what is going to be the wisest way to use the ones I have? This week some of my hours have been spent at the Take Care Clinic with Ben (ear infection), at the car dealer (broken door latch - my, how I take for granted having doors that close and stay that way!), partaking in a surprise celebration for one of my most treasured friends, planning a service project for Sunday, working, etc. etc. {insert many more random activities, some amusing and some pressing, here}. We're looking forward to a little bit of a breather this weekend: a short visit with my parents, a party with friends (RAIN, RAIN STAY AWAY!), serving with fellow CenterPointians on Sunday, and spending a few days in the Dells with my in-laws. But stay tuned because you just never know how God is going to test this new flexibility thing I'm trying on.
And, ok, I lied. Here are a few pics of the fam from Mother's Day (but hey, if you're interested in that bed, let me know).

You Know You've Seen Too Many Disney Movies When...

Last week James was mowing the lawn (you know, that loathsome activity our boys are not yet old enough to have forced upon them?), when suddenly six baby bunnies leapt from a hole in the ground and scattered. He gathered the bunnettes then gathered the boys and I to check them out as he placed them gently into a box lined with grass, into which they immediately began to burrow. Nervously, I hovered over the box.
I immediately started looking around for the mommy, kind of envisioning a Bunnicula-looking creature darting toward our jugulars in defense of her kids. When no such animal appeared we started speculating about what to do with these six little balls of fluff. James insisted that they could not, in fact, be kept in our backyard (though the boys and I tried in vain to convince him it would be really cool), and as I pondered driving them to the forest preserve and letting them loose, the only image that filled my brain was of a mother bunny leaning over her empty burrow weeping giant rabbit tears into a hanky, her little cottontail shoulders quivering with grief.
Luckily the Internet, oh glorious device of knowledge, assured me that rabbits of about the size ours looked to be were ready to be out on their own and that, in fact, around this time the mother abandons them so they are forced to do just that. (Heartless coney!) So we boxed up the bunnies and did, in fact, drive to the forest preserve. We took turns naming each rabbit and then watched them dart off into the grass (James and I praying that a hawk would not at that moment plummet from the sky and cause untold amounts of trauma in our children).
Now we tell stories to each other about Bartholomew, Sir Hopsalot, Lucky, Johnny, {makes bunny face}, and Bunny Louwerse living life adventurously out in the woods and ponder how they fill their days: holding races, facing and overcoming obstacles together, meeting new animal friends. And trying to overcome the guilt that slammed into us when the mom came back and sniffed around the burrow for a week afterward. I swear she had a hanky.

A Room of His Own

Today my baby is two. Forgive me for REDUNDANTLY stating this fact, but there are NO MORE BABIES AT MY HOUSE!!! For a plethora of reasons, that I will spare you from my expounding upon, I am giddily excited by this fact. I'll admit there is also a teeny, tiny, infinitesimal part of me that mourns the passing of this stage. But it is miniscule. Hardly even worth mentioning. Our big boy is celebrating the close of year two with, finally, his own room. He's always been the lightest sleeper of our brood, taking his sweet time in falling asleep and being easily awakened by the slightest noise or disturbance. Due to various circumstances here, we put off giving him his own space until just recently, but now that the deed is done we are all sleeping MUCH better because of it.
This weekend we will celebrate the baby of our family, hopefully with a trip to the zoo, perhaps a few gifts and some emphatic birthday singing. We will marvel at his growth (or is that, girth?). We will reminisce about the last two years of his presence in our lives, and we'll probably supress a little panic as we realize anew the depth of our responsibility as parents to get these three gregarious, loving boys safely into manhood. Mostly we'll probably just feel a little stressed and overwhelmed by the pace of life right now with three active kids aged six and under. But we'll feel pretty darn blessed too.
Happy Birthday, Grayson!