Bring It On! Mom's Brag Book-- More to come on my other athletes too

I have to admit we are a bit over-scheduled right now, but it is fun! Malachi is learning many new things about being in a carseat as we drive from one practice to another... He is being so good about it all. Nehemiah, Anna and Rebekah are in soccer. Nehemiah is running some with the cross -country team and Lydia is in volleyball. There is band for my older two and they have to be to school 45 minutes early twice a week ( yes, I am their bus driver to and from school) and then the girls are all in piano once a week. I did not intend for the calendar to be this filled, but am also not sure how to stop it now. We are 4 weeks into and so it is not much longer and life will be a bit more slow. One things that has happened that has been really fun for Nehemiah is that Rebekah's soccer team has had some coach trouble and he has had to step up and run whole practices by himself and takes half of the team at games. I never knew he would be able to handle all of this, even at my ripe age I would be pretty unsure of what to do...

( these photos were taken by Don Best, a dad on the team with a great skill for photography)

Malachi at 18 months --

Malachi has been home for 6 months now. He was wearing 9 months clothes when we met him and is now pushing his way out of 24 months... he is growing and seems so healthy now. With the kids back in school Malachi and I have had lots of time together and I can really tell a new level of bonding taking place. It was severly halted when I was sick and he stayed with my mom. She is still the love of his life, but at least now I am on his radar:) He is calling me "mama" now and will kiss us all freely. He loves to be touched and have his back patted and rubbed. He is beginning to settle in and loves the daily routine. I always thought when I got home with Malachi it would just feel so natural and just regular. However, if I am honest in a painful part of my heart, I must say for a long time I felt like I was babysitting someones else's baby. He was not comfortable with me and I could not comfort him the way a mother does. Now that is all changing and I do feel like he is my son and even forget all we have been through this past 6 months. I think sometimes this part of the story is lost in adoption and so I had no idea that this could happen and is actually quite normal. I am head over heels in love with him and can't imagine a day without him in our lives. The kids are still thinking he is just about the BEST thing in life and I often have to beg hugs off of them as Malachi gets most of the loving from them these days:) His litle giggle lights up our days and today my heart melted when I picked him up at church. They told him his mommy was here to pick him up and he ran as fast as he could towards the door with his arms lifted up high for me to pick him up... I had such warmth in my heart as I picked him up thinking, "Here is my boy...here is my baby boy!" .

First Day of School

How can this be that summer is over already? I truly miss my kids when school starts and it is always difficult to accept that they are getting so big. I have my baby starting Junior High this year. I can remember that day in my own life like yesterday. Then Lydia is starting 5th grade. I started teaching 5th grade when I was 23 and it is crazy that my second child is now that old. I remember thinking how old the parents were when I was teaching, yet NOW I do not feel that old at all:) Then Anna is in 4th grade and Rebekah is in 2nd. When I was having Nehemiah a cousin of mine told me that, " The days are long, but the seasons are short. " I grasp that more than ever now.