Poco Mountain Girl

Our first day of school has come and gone, and everyone is happy and just a tad smarter.  We had a good day, even though we’re a little bleary-eyed from being up through the night with a restless crying Cash, who literally wanted to nurse all night long.  Owowwwwwwowwww.

Tiredness didn’t make our first day of homeschool any less exciting.  Zia was already up and dressed and sorting her counting animals when I got up just before 7:00. After breakfast, she and I made the chairs and couches into a McDonald’s drive-thru and played most of the morning, with toy food and real money.  Later we read some books she got at the library yesterday.

When we finished, we decided to surprise Caleb with a pie. We just happened to have all the ingredients for it, but needed some vanilla bean ice cream.  We headed into town for two pints of Haagen Daz, which just happened to be on sale.

While we were there, we also hit the science shop, the music store, the natural foods co-op, and the Carousel of Happiness.  Zia bought herself a big stuffed snake and a bouncy ball for Cash, and treated us to carousel rides all around.  She had been saving her money for a while, and she was itching to spend it.

She was one happy girl and said she had the most wonderful day ever for her first day of school.  We got cheese sticks and chocolate milk at the co-op, and an egg shaker for Cash at the music shop.  With his bouncy ball and shaker, our little Chub was grinning from ear to ear.

We went home and I made the pie while Zia watched a few episodes of Curious George, currently her favorite pick from Netflix.  At 4:00, Caleb rode in on his motorbike.  He was happy and said he saw his friends, classes were good, and he likes his new American Sign Language class.

Dadda made steak and burgers for dinner in the rain under an umbrella.  There was apple pie and ice cream for dessert, and we finished up our day under a bright, full double rainbow.  Zia said we should go look for the pot of gold at the end–

but I think we might have found it already.

I’m so thankful for everything we’ve been given–our kids, each other, even those long, sleepless nights that give me a chance to think about all I have.  Starting school again has a rhythm and routine to it that anchors us after the free, floating feeling of summer.  It gives us a place and a purpose–like apple pie in autumn, like a rainbow in a thunderstorm.  Like a mama in a swirl of happy kids.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 23rd, 2013 at 7:39 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.