oh yeah...the blog

Awww, my poor little blog.  I love how my last post says that I am going to keep up the blog so well to keep my family back in Memphis posted to what we are up to...UPDATE: Nora DID finally lose that tooth (and a few more) since October of last year.  Shame on me.  So much has happened this year, but it has had lots of ups and downs as we settled into our new home.  There have been buckets and buckets of tears, loads of family time (good thing we like each other), happy times, sad times, many trips back and forth to our old stomping grounds as we adjusted to a completely new normal.  We have made some precious friends this year that helped ease our homesickness and showed us that this town is FUN.  Now, I'm truly back on my blogging bandwagon.  I won't stray again.  (I promise, Mama!)  You will be able to look on here to see what's going on...the good, the bad, and the ugly.

For now, here's a little end-of-the-school-year review. 
To say that Nora had a hard time adjusting to her new school in the beginning would be putting it mildly.  And that's a huge part of the buckets and buckets of tears...hers and mine.  It's a real challenge to leave a wonderful small school where everyone knows your entire family and you know every student in your grade, and then start new in a new (large) school where you know ZERO people...even if that school is awesome.  And I had no problem sharing that fact with anyone who asked how we were doing this year...friends/family back home, friends here, the lady checking us out at the grocery store...EVERYONE.  Whether they wanted to know or not, I let people know we were struggling.  Our saving grace was an amazing teacher.  I can't express, without getting a little teary, how much we appreciate everything her teacher did and was this year.  She took the time to get to know us, get Nora on track, and really communicate to us what we could do to help Nora be successful.  The improvements in Nora's school performance was incredible. I will be grateful to Mrs. Helmburg forever for this year.

Xander also had incredible teachers.  He fell in love with his class, his teachers, and his sweet little preschool. And so did we. It was tough having them at separate schools after having them together the previous year, but that trip downtown twice a day was worth it.  He has learned so much...and I can't believe how well he can write his name.  His writing is blowing me away.  Especially after the way Nora refused to write and do her schoolwork.  He embraces the ability to write and is so proud of himself.  It has been a blessing to watch him grow this year.  He had occasional times when the move would show the impact on him...new fear of the dark, afraid to go into a new classroom at church or a new soccer team.  But one thing both of my children have shown me this year...they are tougher and more resilient than I give the credit for.  Their strength and grace definitely come from God and God alone.  Andrew and I have displayed very little of the same in comparison.  I'm so proud of them. 

 

Anyway, I love to share pictures.  Here are random snaps from the year...the house, the kids, and even a few of us parentals.

a witch with NO front teeth!





my tough little power ranger



ah, I think I remember what to do with all this snow

first Christmas in the new house

loving his soccer trophy

graduating from rec soccer

downtown Lexington

first Derby Day!

woohoo! a new bike for my big 5 year old 

Nora riding Shades

tulips that I planted with my sweet mom

We've done soccer, horse riding lessons, gotten new bikes, made new friends, became UK fans, explored our new city, found a church home, experienced more snow than I've seen in my entire life, seen our first derby day weekend in KY, and survived another month of May birthdays. Whew, it's exhausting to look back.  From now on, a post a week or so...I PROMISE, no really!

This time I mean it.