back to school: accomplished.

Well, we did it.  We made it through our first week back to school since Callista was born.  And you know what, it really wasn't that bad.  In fact, I think we all breathed a little sigh of relief at the normalcy of it all, even though a couple things have changed already going into the new year.

I wish this photo was less blurry - I'm still completely idiotic without an autofocus option on our camera.  But I think you can still tell how big he's getting and how handsome he is.

How cute is she, and how long are her legs?!


The kids have started using planners this year as a way to foster more independence with their assignments, and we've been getting together with a family in town in hopes of establishing a nature group that will meet semi-regularly.  This is a huge answer to prayer for me, as I'm markedly indoorsy and need an outside motivating force to pull me out of the house - namely, someone who's expecting me for an appointment I had planned for in advance. Verrrrry little else accomplishes getting me out the door with all the kids.

We've met a couple of times now, and I think we've determined the park we'll be meeting at regularly.  Being an Iowan at heart, when I think "city park," I think, "flat grassy patch with a playset on it."  But I'm learning that parks in Columbia are a whole different thing.  The one we're going to be going to is a ten-acre timber with a hiking trail, smack in the center of a residential area five minutes from our house.  (Today we're headed out with another friend to the heart of downtown, where there's a fully wooded area with a creek for the kids to play in.)  If I could give Columbia a big old kiss on the lips for giving my kids the chance to swim in a creek and hike through a timber in the middle of town, I would.

In other related-to-school news, Finneas seems to be on the cusp of reading and is really desperate for it to finally 'click,' so we'll be picking up some Dick and Jane books from the library and seeing where it takes us.

Beyond those items of note, school will probably be pretty 'business as usual' for a while, which we actually all really appreciate for the structure it gives our days.  So we're looking forward to sinking back into a normal routine after being off-kilter for the last month and a half.  It makes it so much easier to manage our time well, get things done, and avoid the boredom and bickering that large swaths of unstructured time inevitably entail.

See?  No more bickering.

Or, as that sign would be translated in a more fun culture than ours, "School-time-happy-fun-day-hooray-yes."

As we're not the only ones getting back into the swing of school and establishing a refreshed sense of routine, I thought I'd spend some time this week revisiting some of the stuff I've covered on time management, getting the important stuff done, and still leaving room for margin and rest.  I suspect I'm not the only one in need of a refresher course as we head into the new school year.  If you haven't already, I'd suggest you start by watching my FB chat on time management (and ignoring how crazy I look in the still-frame).  Then throughout the week, I'll be posting more info on the topic to help you get started... or re-started, if you are anything like me and tend to fall off the 'I've got my life together' wagon with alarming regularity.