Settling In, Making Changes, and Pics from the Big Day

Well, we made it home safe and sound.  The traveling-with-three-small-children nearly killed my mom and I (actually, the flying part was fine...but the transfer in Dallas was horrendous) so when the wheels touched down in Sacramento, I looked at my mom and said, "We did it!"  I was referring to not only the flight home, but the entire summer.  We really did it.  We moved our family across the country for two months!  And truly, it was one of the best decisions we've ever made.  Steve loved his internship and got a ton of terrific experience under his belt.  Our time together as a family was a precious gift that we will always look back on with fondness.  And in addition to all of the amazing things we saw and did, I personally was transformed by the time away.  I'm not the same person as I was in June - and that feels really, really good. 

As we've settled into our new routines at home this past week, I've worked hard to implement some changes - things that I learned from being away that I want to do better in my everyday life.  For example, the passage from Just Courage that I posted on a few weeks ago...the one that says that Mother Teresa couldn't imagine going 30 minutes without praying...really stuck with me.  Now that I'm back to work at The GreenHouse, I have a big "2" posted up in front of me at my desk.  It's a reminder of my personal commitment to stop every 2 hours, get up from my desk, and go pray about whatever it is I am working on.  It's not quite "every 30 minutes," but for me, this is a necessary change and a good step in the right direction. 

I'm also trying hard to SLOW DOWN (you know...stop every now-and-then and breathe).  So far, it's working - though feel free to ask me about it in a month or two.  In spite of coming home to some big transitions that were on the horizon for our family, all while Steve was still in DC, I was able to remain relatively calm and steady (ie: not stressed).  Indeed, the time away did me good.

So about those transitions....Just two days after we got home, Jonah had his first day of Kindergarten AND Nicolas and Riley had their first day of preschool.  It was a Big Day of change for us but everyone did just great and somehow I managed to get everyone out the door on time. 

   

Jonah loved kindergarten and was beaming when I picked him up.  We feel such peace in our decision to put him in our neighborhood school and we're so glad he likes it there.   

Nicolas and Riley loved preschool equally as much.  They've been itching to go since they watched Jonah go there for the past few years.  Now it's finally their turn and they feel like such big boys! 

(I tried to take individual pictures of them on our front porch before they left for school, but they insisted that they be together for the picture - a cute twin moment)

All around, it's wonderful to be home.  It really is Home Sweet Home here in Sacramento.  We've loved re-connecting with friends and visiting with neighbors and starting up soccer practices and figuring out new school routines and getting back to work.  Life truly is meant to be lived in community - the good, the bad, the messy, and the painful.  We love our community and we're glad you are a part of it!