Here now

The boys are growing up quickly.  As Landen’s friends have started to loose their teeth, I noticed a bit of envy on his part that he hadn’t lost any.  He is 6.  Last night he asked me what was inside his mouth.   I peeked in to find a tooth coming in behind the baby ones.  He’s excited, but also scared.  As I tucked him into bed, he told me he didn’t want to go to first grade.  “There are things I need to tell my friends and teachers.  I’m not ready for first grade!”  I suggested we contact his teachers and maybe see them (one has two sons born the same week! as both of our kids).  It was bittersweet.

Jack overheard my conversation with Landen and said to me “I’m going to be in 5th grade in the Fall, Mama!  Fifth grade!  It seems like yesterday I was in first grade!”

We felt Landen was ready for a different kindergarten experience.  He had gone to our favorite teacher Steve for 2 years, Jack had gone for 3.  The time felt right for a change.  As much as we loved our homeschooling year, I began to feel that Jack would do better in a group setting with other kids on a regular basis, in school.  It was a hard decision and he didn’t want to stop.   Landen has begged to home-schooled in third grade when the time comes.

But returning to school turned out to be a great decision.   They attended Orchard School in Aptos.  Our family went through a rough summer while I tried to figure out a way for us to move back to the Northwest, where my family lives.  When talk came up over possibly moving, the boys were ok to leave, but they confessed they’d mostly miss their school.

It turns out that we are not moving after all.  We are still working out the kinks, but the idea is for us to have easy access to family and friends up North.  And the dream is to create some sort of *home* away from home that we can go to during the summer and / or winter time for vacations as the kids grow up.  This time of childhood is so fast, we want to savor as much as we can.  And so it feels that the best place for our family to live is here now.