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Well another school year is off to the races! We had some bittersweet changes this year. Last year our beloved little 2-day-a-week school made some (really positive) changes. Namely, they are now requiring students to attend 3 full days and, for various reasons, it just wasn’t a great fit for our family. I think the school is heading in a fabulous direction and we were all a little (or a lot!) heartbroken that we could see God didn’t have us on that path. We had many months of WONDERING, praying, researching, visiting…trying to discern where the Lord was leading us next. And, as He always does, He provided a really, really sweet combination of school options for us. So, the kids are attending two different one-day-a-week schools and, like usual, we are homeschooling the other three. One day is pure enrichment and one day is a very small classical Christian community that’s set up like a co-op. So despite the fact that we (all!!) miss doing school with our dear friends from our last school, we have been so extraordinarily blessed and thankful that the Lord provided something new and special.

As for me, I have never been so happy homeschooling…although I’ve always loved it, the curricula I have this year is a much better fit for me and for the kids. I will admit that the first week felt a bit like my first year of teaching all over again (except about 1,000 times less stressful, ha!) in the sense that every single subject has a new curriculum and we’ve added a good five subjects to our day! Whew!

The other interesting thing about this school year is that we bumped the kids up a grade for the Christian co-op we’re a part of, but they’re still in their “normal” grade on the enrichment day. It’s a long story…and although I feel pretty confident that we made the right decision in doing that, it is really hard for my brain to remember what grade they’re in! “What day is it? Okay, so what grade are you in today??” Hahaha!

P.S. Assuming I did my math right…the kids both grew OVER an inch this summer!!! Is that even possible?? Although I record their heights at the beginning and end of each school year, I don’t think I’ve ever taken the time to do the math to see how much they have actually grown. I was floored.

Here’s our sweet girl, as excited as ever for the school year!

 

And here’s our mighty man!

I tried to shape their bacon into their grade level…

Lest you think it’s always peaches and roses around here…seconds after taking this lovely photo of the two of them, Selah squeezed Elliott just a liiiitttttle too hard… One of them isn’t too happy about it…I’ll let you guess which one.

And here are some shots from their OTHER first day of school when they are in their OTHER grade levels…

And here are their self-portraits from the first day of homeschool…

I must point out that Elliott drew himself in something OTHER than overalls!! My parents got him a shirt with turtles on it and it is officially his absolute favorite shirt of all time. If he didn’t have to wear a collared shirt for school, he would have definitely worn his turtle shirt for his first days. Look closely at his self-portrait and find all the turtles on his shirt… And raise your hand if you can spot the turtle crawling onto his foot…

 

Happy new school year, Everyone!!

Happy Summer, Everyone! I cannot BEEEEE-LEEEEEVE how quickly this summer is flying by! Waaahhh!!!

Our last day of school was a memorable one this year…not ONLY because we had snow, but the city had SO.MUCH.SNOW that they actually CANCELED SCHOOL. If you don’t believe me, ask me how many tears were shed that Tuesday morning.

Last Day Snow Day. Sniff, sniff.

Thankfully, each of the kids’ wonderful teachers did a “make-up” day. They were absolutely not required to do so, but this just shows how much they care about their students. It was wonderful for them to be able to give their teachers a hug and do some celebrating with their peers.

Well, this is a story for another blog post, but we decided to set some of our turtles free because we had to bury some of the others (again, ask me about the tears shed)…Apparently Elliott was wearing this EXACT outfit on that day (down to the unmentionables), and that was the outfit he insisted on wearing the last day of school. He chooses to wear his overalls almost every day (one of the many things that melts my heart about him) but I can’t believe he remembered the shirt and, ahem, every other part of his outfit, from that day.

Elliott had a fantastic year in second grade. He has such a great group of friends and his teacher was excellent. They always started out their day with prayer and rumor has it that every single day he prayed for our turtles. We are so proud of his leadership and excellence once again this year.

I think this is the first time that policeman and fireman didn’t make it into his career goals. I was surprised to hear him say, “Farmer and construction worker,” but he would be excellent in both those fields. Good thing he already has the uniform ;). And seriously, could his self-portrait BE any cuter???? *swoon*

Our church does a little end-of-the-year homeschool celebration. Some moms create certificates for each of their children and all of them honor their kids by taking a few minutes and talking about academic and spiritual strengths. I loved that idea!! Honoring my kids in front of others is a big deal to me and I was really excited about this opportunity. So I created certificates for them and then (long story short) we ended up not being able to make it to the celebration. So we did our own family celebration at home. It was really sweet to see their faces as I honored them. Elliott couldn’t hold back the ear-to-ear grin that completely took over his face. And when we were through, Selah immediately left the room and made certificates of her own for everyone in the family.

As I reminisced about the year, the aspect of Elliott’s character that stuck out so strongly to me was how excellent of a friend he is. He has had many friends choose him, and I can see it is because he is a little boy seeking to serve God with his whole heart. His care and tenderness for others makes him a true leader and an incredible friend.

And now onto our girl. This girl. My goodness. What a treasure. She flew through kindergarten and I’m pretty sure she thinks she’s ready for high school. Slow down, baby girl…slooooowwww down….! We are really proud of her servant leadership in her classroom this year.

This was also the first time I’ve heard her mention that she wants to be a teacher (and an artist, for that matter)! She talked frequently about leading small groups during her school days…reading her peers books and coming up with craft activities to go along with them. So I must say, I wouldn’t be surprised if she followed in her mama’s footsteps…

Elliott had the same kindergarten teacher and at the end of the year she gives each student a meaningful award. They are so thoughtful and true for each student–it is a really special time. Here’s a video of Selah’s award.

For Selah, as I thought back over the year, the aspect of her character that truly stood out to me was her servant leadership. She would come home and recount stories of ways she had served her peers in the classroom, and I don’t think she had any idea that she was actually serving. Serving is like breathing to her. Of course, I couldn’t not acknowledge her Rubik’s Cube feat and I had to throw in her creative reading positions. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found her reading books in trees, or other very interesting places. But again, that’s another story for another post!

Here are the kids with their teachers on the make-up last day. (And in case you’re detail-oriented and wondering, yes…the kids chose to wear the EXACT same outfits that they had picked out for the last day.)

 

And now, for the part that always makes me cry…a little compare and contrast from the first day!

Okay but seriously, he grew up SOOOO MUCH this year!!!!!!! How is that much growing up even possible????!!!!

Oh, how I love these two!! They are growing up so quickly before our eyes…

How do you explain the awesome wonders of the twelfth month of Selah’s life in one post? How do you sum up the ONEderfulness of the first year of Selah Bean’s existence? How do you solve a problem like Maria?

Like this.

She walks.

She talks. 

Her favorite words are, “Up!”, “Heh-whoa” (hello), “Hi,” “Bye-bye”, “Uh-oh” (when she drops something on purpose), “WHOA” (when she falls or something else falls), “Ma-ma,” “Da-da,” “nigh-nigh,” and “M-M-M-M-M-a!” when she wants to nurse or eat.

She also used to say it OVER AND OVER AND OVER again any time someone would walk into the room, but I was never able to catch that on video. But I did get her to say it, prompted:

She claps.

She climbs.

 

 

She plays. 

Though we’ve seen this the last few months for sure, this trait in her has come out especially strongly in the last month. She is SO PLAYFUL. She is goofy and funny and just loves to play. She loves to be THRILLED.

 

This is such a silly, boring video :). And I’m in the background constantly correcting Elliott because I’m afraid he’s going to hurt her :/. But if you want a true glimpse into Selah’s world of wrestle and play, here it is!!

 

 

 

Here she is, going UP and DOWN the slide over and over and over again :).

She loves deeply and passionately.

She is deeply passionate about head-wear and feet-wear. She’s totally obsessed with hats and will put anything and everything on her head and say, “hat!”

Every time she finds anyone’s shoes or socks on the floor, she sits and attempts to put them on.

Besides being accessorized with hats and socks and shoes, she is deeply passionate about her favorite people. When she sees someone she loves, she screams at the top of her lungs. In normal circumstances, we are training her not to scream, but I just can’t train this out of her…it’s too sweet. I don’t want to quench her excitement and passion. She really does loves people like her mommy :).

She is ONE. 

She started off the year like this:

And ended it up like this:

 

Selah the ONEderful, you have enriched our lives in every possible way. We love your joy, your playfulness, your deep passion, and your love.

 

Here are a few shots from her one year photo shoot! Thank you, KristiAnne Photography!

 

 

 

Click here to see all of her 1 year photos!