So Busy!

Some days I feel like life has spun out of control. We have the kids in three different schools this year. This hasn’t been the case since Jordan was in pre-k. This is both challenging and a nightmare! They not only go to three different places, but we are expected to attend evens at all three places. Between this and our jobs, we are quickly becoming exhausted.

Eric has been in bed for two days with his annual fall icky-ness. He seems better today, so we will see. Things are only going to get busier before they slow down. I may not blog very much this fall, but know that I am around!!

School!

School is back in full swing, and I think going well. The girls each reached a new milestone this year… Katheryn began high school while Meg started middle school. Jordan seems to be the one going through the most adjustments though. He hasn’t been in school without one of the girls since he was 4 years old. I think that he is starting to adjust to this, we will see.

Katheryn has her first test today. She was nervous about it. She had to read 3 books over the summer for her honors English class and over the next few days will be tested on each of them. I know that she will do great!

Jordan also has a first, he is in the horizon program this year. Meg and Kat both took the tests several times and just barely missed getting in. Jordan is excited about being able to do this.

Meg gets to pick her instrument for band this week. She has it narrowed down to flute and baritone. What choices! I’m not sure how you narrow it down to those two… but OK!

I had better start getting ready for work, I really would hate to get up at 5:30 and STILL not make it on time!

First Days

Today is the first day of school. Katheryn’s bus has come and gone and my baby has started high school. This makes me a little bit teary eyed. Jordan was sad this morning. He hasn’t gone to school without Meagan since he was 4 years old. He was out of sorts. Clingy and teary eyed. I felt sorry for him. The girls are moving into a new big world and he is feeling left behind. I haven’t felt this “maternal” since his first day of pre-k. I know that he will grow to love being independent and not having the girls around. Meg wasn’t always nice to him, I think that he will enjoy not having to worry about “evil Meagan” rearing her head.

Meg is right now sitting on the couch waiting on her bus to come take her to the middle school. She is excited and scared. I am not worried about Meg and middle school. She is one tough cookie and is just waiting to show the great big world what she is made of. She is going to be in the band… and of course that makes me very excited.

I had better get off the computer and start getting out the door.

So many emotions

I have always wondered how I would feel when it was finally over. I always wondered if I would feel relief, or joy, or maybe just happiness. I feel them all. I even feel a little sad. I know, that one even confuses me.

Jeff is completely out of our lives. That is a statement that I never, ever thought that I would be able to say. I have heard my entire life that you can divorce the husband, but you can’t get rid of the father. We did that. The small amount of sadness that I feel at this is for him. I have never doubted his love for the children, but the fear and stress that he created in their lives trumps that.

We were sitting at our celebratory lunch with the children following court when Meg looked at me and said “now we are a real family”. Eric and I have felt for a long time that we have been a “real family” since our wedding day. During lunch when Meg said that, I realized that the children really needed this. The children needed to feel like they are part of a real family. I have never been happier. I stayed with Jeff longer than I should because I believe that families should stay together, what I never thought of is that sometimes people can make their own families. We are a family that is together because we choose to be!

I just want to formally welcome into the world… Katheryn Elizabeth Beavers, Meagan Nicole Beavers and Jordan Robertus Beavers!

Adoptions

I just wanted to let you know that the adoptions are final!

Endings and New Beginnings

School starts this Thursday and for two of our children this will mean new schools, for all three of them it means a new last name. This summer has brought so many changes for our family, so many amazing things.

Katheryn, my oldest child will be in high school. I find this so hard to believe. Just a few short years ago, she was just a baby. I was looking through some of her baby pictures the other day and found so many memories. Her first trip to the mail box. Her first bathing suit. Her first stroller. I saw pictures of her through the years….. so much love. She is a great kid. The next school change for her, will break my heart. The next time she changes schools it will be to go to college. I know, I know… that is 4 long years away. Four years that include her learning to drive…. expecting to date…..heart ache and love. I hated high school. High school was hard for me. I never really fit it, and I cried almost every day. I have dreaded my children entering high school since they were born. Eric loved high school. He is excited for her. He is excited for all the possibilities. I hope that together her parents can be what she needs us to be… supportive bystanders. I hope that she lets us participate and grow with her. She is a good kid… the next four years will be amazing to watch.

Meagan is starting a new chapter as well. Meg will be in middle school come Thursday. She is scared. Well, at least she says that she is scared. I have never seem Meg afraid of anything. I have never seen a challenge that this kid wasn’t itching to tackle. She has overcome great odds to become the beautiful young lady that she is growing into. I can’t wait to watch her become the teenager that I know she is capable of becoming. Meg’s big challenge will be learning how to accept this new role…. she is transitioning from little girl into teenager. She is learning to spread her wings and testing out her decision making skills. Meg is going to the orthodontist on Tuesday to start the process of getting braces. She will get spacers this week, and then bands the following week. That is when they will take molds of her mouth with which they will make her an appliance called a Palate Expander. She will wear this for 3-6 months before they put her braces on. The whole process of fixing Meg’s mouth and teeth will take about 3 years…. so she will shed them just in time for her transition to high school!

Jordan, my little man. He is in his last year of elementary school. He is scared, because he has always had the girls there for support. He gets to be “the big kid” on campus. I am excited for him. I know that as the baby… the youngest of four he has the biggest challenge. He has to overcome being the “baby”. I am praying everyday that God will give me the patience to push him from the nest and give him the opportunity to learn how to fly.

As a mom, I am both excited for them and scared to death. I am not ready for my daughters to grow up or for my son to become a man. Like so many others, I find part of my identity in my kids. We all try not too, we say that it wont happen… but it does. What will become of me when my kids don’t need me anymore. How will I let go. How will I sit there and watch a boy drive away with my baby! I have to learn how to chill. I am lucky, because I have Eric. I have a future with my soul mate to look forward to. I haven’t had that before. Now I do.