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| Jocelyn, Pauline, Ethan and Lily get their back to school picture taken in our front yard, while Madeline gets hers taken in front of her Cosmetology academy. |
The last few weeks of summer wound down in a crazy spiral motion leaving me longing for school to begin again. A strange feeling for me because I am usually dreading the back to school day. I like my children home, but after a full, stressful week at fair, with four kids showing pigs, I was ready for routine, and hours of peace and quiet here at home.
The strangest part of yesterday was after all five children were dropped off at school, I had the peace and quiet I had longed for, but I also had acquired a sizable lump in my throat and tears welling up in my eyes. It may have been because I could sense the nerves in Ethan as he entered the middle school for the first time, and the nervousness in Pauline as she entered an American high school, as a foreign exchange student, or the excitement in Madeline as she went off to Cosmetology school. My kids are growing up, and it makes my tummy do flips.
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Pauline - I can't imagine that we could have chosen a more perfect young lady to share our home with for the school year. She truly feels like one of our family, and we adore her. She is polite, kind, and helpful. She is teaching us French, little by little. At every meal, she shares new words with us, and giggles at our horrible French accent. She is lovely. She is 18, and already finished with high school in Belgium, but will go back to study at University and hopes to become a brain surgeon. Oh, did I mention she is smart?
Madeline - It's hard to believe she is already in 11th grade, a junior. She has big adventures ahead of her, I know it, and this year will be epic for her. She is only taking three classes at the high school this year, because she has started the Cosmetology program and spends her mornings there. I am so excited for her. She knows what she wants, and she's on her way to her future.
Jocelyn - This blond hair beauty is my ever steady child. She is calm and focused as she starts her 10th grade year. She is always willing to challenge herself, and she never gives up. She gets that from her dad. She would like to become a Pediatrician and I know she could do it.
Ethan - After a year of home/online schooling, he is excited and nervous to be back in public school with his friends. I was really nervous about sending him too, but I am confidant that he will do well. He has made a couple of really good friends and he has a renewed effort to do his best. He also has a really strict math teacher, which I think will do wonders for him.
Lily - What a little sweetheart she is. When I picked her up from her first day yesterday with a mile-wide grin on her face, she proclaimed that she had the "nicest teacher EVER!" She is always positive and kind and told me that the teacher sat her next to a little boy who is autistic. He had a rough first day, and I told her that I'm sure the teacher put her next to him because she knew that she was kind and patient and would help him. She really makes my heart swell.
