Another Year Gone!

Nothing says "another year has passed" much more than the start of yet another school year. Right now my office is over crowded with six stuffed, zipper bulging, backpacks; a tell tale sign that the lazy days of summer are over and we are back into the hustle of our race against the clock.

As I sit here and think back about this past year I am baffled at all the things that our family has experienced. Not just experienced either, no, what this family has triumphantly risen to the occasion and greeted with open arms and challenged ourselves to see and do better and bigger than our wildest imaginations would allow.

In the past year:

• We have gone from conquering fourteeners to strolling along the beach.
• Emma went from struggling in Math in grade school to acing honors Math and Science in middle school.
• We went from a family of 8 to a family of 9 and then back to a family of 8.
• We went from being surrounded with familiar faces and places to only recognizing 7 other faces in a whole new world.
• I went from having no peace and quiet to 6+ hours a day of silence (it's not as golden as I thought it would be)
• We went from using a bottle of lotion a month to not understanding what you'd need with lotion unless it has some really phenomenal bug repellent associated with it
• Kaidon went from baseball to tennis
• We went from waking up and putting on our favorite outfits to waking up and making sure the uniform was cleaned
• We've gone from worrying we'll be late to wondering when people will actually roll around to showing up
• We've gone from merging into traffic to wondering what is going on when we are not the only car on the road
• We've gone from non-denominational to baptist (only some of you will understand what a "change" that is)
• Kayelas gone from 2 hours of school to a whole day away
• We've gone from tennis shoes to flip flops
• We've gone from coyotes to alligators and rabbits to tree frogs
• The girls have gone from long hair to bobs
• We've gone from deodorant on sale to clinical strength needing to be reapplied several times a day
• The kids have gone from being in the same school k-5 to being "the new kid"...... twice
• PC to MAC
• Graysie's gone from the doggy paddle to winning second in two swim meets
• Not having a clue why it's so frustrating to understanding RAD
• From coats, gloves and hats to rain gear
• Tardy slips to "no rush"
• Dieting to exercise (god forbid I try both at once)
• Mumbling Mikael to "PLEASE lower your voice"
• Soccer to golf, tennis, swimming and lacrosse
• Fun nights out with friends to great week long visits
• Josh focused only on me to the IPAD (heehee j/k ...but not really)
• Facebook being fun to it being crucial to staying in touch
• "home"
• Mihya has gone from princess to Southern Belle
• Proud to be an American to PRIDE in BEING an AMERICAN
• Having manners to actually having manners
• Sitting on the bench at recess if homework wasn't turned in to running laps and dropping and giving the teacher 20
• rain to RAIN! (aka torrential down pour)
• We've gone from Josh struggling to pull people along to Josh being pulled along by great people
• We've gone from "should we move?" to "this was the best move!"

The list could go on forever, really. To say we've gone through some major changes would be an understatement and yet, at the end of the day, we haven't really changed all that much! Hopefully, at the beginning of the school year next year my list is shorter and I can relish in the fact that we made it through at least one year of marriage and parenthood without such chaotic bliss. Although, if this coming year is a replay of the past 15 we'll still be holding tight to the fact that we are family, we are united and we are powering through because we know this life has big things in store for us. Here's looking forward to another fun-filled year!