Check.
Happy to say farewell to September for many reasons. It was an overwhelming month for me personally. So often I found myself feeling stretched in many directions, physically and mentally. It's the same for all parents, I know this-it's just some months are more challenging than others. It was a month of lessons for all of us. Some moments called for celebrations, others left nothing but tears. The days fell to either to be black or white.
Black and white. Fact and fiction. On and off. Good and bad.
None of this comes with complaint or negativity. I see the goodness, trust me. It's all part of life, all part of the gift of parenthood, marriage, life. We're all doing our best-and if you're not, its frustrating but I'm working on that. We're all given the skills we need, it's whether or not we're using them correctly. Some days, it's so exhausting to find those skills and implement them. So, September found me napping and praying more often. I'm confident both of those are leading me in the right direction. After months of searching out the perfect mattress, I had to validate our decision. While others are stocking up on everything pumpkin and searching out Halloween costumes (already?!), I slumber and pray for them.
Plus, it was hot. Too damn hot.
Fridays with friends, high school football games, tailgating and leisurely Sundays watching football all made up our September. Saturday morning with friends around my table sipping coffee and eating scones, family movie nights and countless hours of catch. Late nights around the counter of frustrating homework and tears, early mornings, and dentist appointments. Good and bad. Black and white.
Fall ball is in full force. Double headers every game day. Thankful for evening games, fields that serve beer and stadium seating.
B and his cousins are playing football-what fun it'll be cheering on these monkeys. No evening games, no beer or stadium seating but guaranteed fun Saturday mornings.
It's clear to say C's teacher nailed in on the head with the verbiage on this award, implementing baseball references. The irony of this award is the many nights J and I talk about how to motivate our kiddos to stay on task and meet deadlines. He was given this award after a particularly long dramatic evening followed by a rough morning. It was just what he needed. And apparently, just the message I needed that things will all work out.
This month in particular we've had to prioritize, plan and focus. This has been a challenge for all of us. Some are learning faster than others. Some take failure as motivation, some are set back by mistakes. This is when I feel stretched, as I'm trying to help us all succeed. This month didn't guarantee success-there were stumbles and buckets of tears and frustration. I found myself borrowing more parenting books and taking bigger sighs. I know parents and teachers can relate, I am repeating myself all. day. long. I cannot stand the sound of my own voice some days and know I am not being heard. -Insert self induced time outs.- If I were to receive a quarter 1 achievements award, mine certainly wouldn't be for "works well with others," but I'd get recognized for still showing up to cheer them all on.
For several years I've been schooled on baseball terms, facts and statistics. With B playing football again, I'm also getting schooled on football plays, players and teams. I caught these two drawing out plays to practice. I'm still catching up on volleyball and basketball. See, I too have to focus.
C enjoyed many games this season, always cheering on the Diamondbacks, despite their record. He's literally on the edge of his seat watching Goldy bat. Certainly, he's not a fair-weather fan. Black or white, good or bad. The countdown is on for opening day.
This is our home-school religious ed group. What an opportunity its been for us to do this in our homes. L and all the boys, such cuties. This has been a fun run the past two years. I love hearing them speak from their hearts where the world is still innocent. They are all searching for the black and white, good and bad, I'm thankful we can lead them.
As I was uploading my pictures for this post, it occurred to me that all the pictures I chose were edited in black and white. I love color in pictures and work with it often when taking pictures but this month things were black and white.
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