Getting JJ Back to School

After making one, long list, several shopping trips, some phone calls and an early morning trip to the airport, JJ is back at school. He left yesterday morning and will have a week of soccer camp before his classes begin.

What a summer! He got home and charged straight into making sure his brothers were kept active. He really did a great job with them! I don’t know what it’s like to be a boy. I grew up as the oldest of 9 kids, but the 7 directly behind me were girls. By the time my brother came along, I was in 7th grade and completely self-centered. I never really got to know what it meant to have a boy around. When Kateri was born I was so thankful that she was a girl because I really didn’t know anything about boys. With Clay deployed as often as he is, JJ has seen the need in his brothers to have a strong and positive male influence. He did a great job! He kept them active and challenged them to do well in all they took on. Even after he hurt his knee, he found ways to do things with them. He really did a great job!

Poor guy, though, he was in a really good routine of working out and staying active when he hurt his knee. Luckily, he has the go ahead to charge forward into the soccer season at school.

Whew!

Now it’s time for me to focus on all the last minute details of getting the other 7 kiddos ready for school. I have 2 weeks left to get it all done. I’m a little behind in a few things and need to spend today catching up. Now that I have Kateri, safely, in Germany and JJ back to school, I can get into the routine that we’ll have set for the school year.  This will be the very first time that all my kiddos will leave the house each day. I decided it was best for me to also leave each day and took a job as an aid in one of the classrooms.  It’s been 16 years since I’ve worked outside the house on a regular basis.  I’m a little nervous about staying on top of all that needs to happen in the house.

~big breath~ One step at a time!

Have a great day~