and they're off!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose....

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.



so the boys started school yesterday, dark and early.

{first grade}




{third}




and this kid is now in middle school, which is still a little hard to fathom. (he came home flushed with the wonder of lockers and lunch choices and navigating labyrinthine hallways, everything i'd thought could easily unnerve him. good for you, B.)






And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)




so elle and i are now left behind with oddly placid mornings. she's the left-behindiest kid, that elle, but she likes my company just fine, so we manage okay.



* * *



today i'm feeling a bit sad that B forgot his box of sliced apples (breakfast: 6:20, lunch: 12:50, so they're allowed to bring snack to tide them over), but i need to be a parent who doesn't bail her kid out of small dilemmas, who allows him the space for disappointments and growth.

it's harder than i thought it would be.



* * *



also, please forgive me for not updating sooner.

you all contributed $130 to world vision, $171 to doctors without borders, and $83 to save the children, and i know that some of you donated directly, and that so many of you regularly give time and resources to humanitarian efforts.

even with several days' worth of thought, i still can't seem to wrap words around how much this warms me.

thank you. i am so heartened by your kindness.