It's That Time

It's that time. That time of year when the church calendar (and therefore our calendar) is crazy with confirmations, graduations, youth worship services, and summer preparations. It is that time of year when I love to be outside and digging in the dirt. It's that time of year when the birds sing and the squirrels prance... all in an effort to torment our poor indoor cat. It is that time of year when bombshell changes can be made within a local congregation of the United Methodist Church without much warning (Linn folks, relax...we aren't expecting anything). And it's that time of year when I begin to realize just how grown up our "little girl" is.

See, this week was Josie's last week of school. Thursday was her final day of kindergarten. She is now a first grader. When she starts summer school on Tuesday, it is as an official first grader. She is doing math, she is reading, she loves her music and art classes... she is a real elementary student! For some reason, having a kindergartener wasn't that hard. Sending her to school on that first day wasn't as emotional as folks told me it would be. But for whatever reason, this, this first grade thing, THIS is hard.

With the last day of school came a little awards assembly. Awards for reading, attendance, fitness, etc. All the kindergarten children received reading awards presented by their way-cool-and-now-retiring principal. Josie took great pride in her award because she absolutely cannot get enough of reading.















As if the last day of school weren't enough hype for the day (we started the day with a special "graduation" breakfast at McDonald's), Josie had her dress rehearsal for her annual dance recital. This is a big deal because she gets to dance at Jesse Hall on the Mizzou campus-- and that IS a big deal!! For the actual recital on Saturday, Eric's mom and step-dad will come up. For the dress rehearsal, our dear friends, the Richardsons, came out to see Josie dance followed by an enjoyable dinner together. Seriously... dancing at Jesse Hall... that is a big big deal and we treat it as such.




















But today is that time of the calm before the rest of the storm. It is a day of rest -- no school, no meetings, no dress rehearsals. Going into a long weekend, we are grateful for today, because tomorrow turns into a big 'ole ball of stress -- weddings, church services, and the dance recital. Oy. It is indeed that time...