We've more or less settled into our new neighborhood, which we LOVE. Our neighbors are so outgoing and there are tons of little ones that our kids have connected with. We love our neighborhood church and pastor as well, and feel so confident about where we are ... which is great considering how worried I've been about the unknowns! A little weird for me, but here's a little sneak peek into where we've been - where I've been - as of late...
One of the most gratifying elements of being a teacher is
the massive paycheck that I bring home each month. Kidding, obviously. I do have one of the most gratifying jobs on the
planet, however… It is so wonderful to see your pupils blossom and succeed
and make slightly wiser choices because of your love or guidance, or when they succeed despite you; even more incredible is to find that the “student” has actually become a lifelong
friend...sometimes even your teacher!
Spring Break is that fun time in the life of a teacher where
student-teacher relationships often blossom into friendships as a handful of former students drop by to say hi, tell you what your class meant to him/her in their studies in
college, or – even to let you know that your words made a specific impact on his/her journey in life… and all the time you sacrificed to spend away from your family makes it so worth it.
Last week I had the joy of meeting up with a couple students
back from their final year in college, ready to embark on the world. I was surprised at how much I was sitting in
the “pupil” seat, learning from their wisdom – one who had travelled the world
and found her steadfastness, another who has faced the hardest four years of her life between
athletic injuries and a family in crisis.
As I write this blog, in the midst of a significantly rough
patch in my life (“rough” seems to be a pretty normative term to any full-time
working parent of young kids – but it's been a little more than just that), I really don't mean to be whiney. In fact, I think – I HOPE –
that I just experienced the hardest year, emotionally and spiritually, of my life (despite the happy pictures on facebook and instagram, despite the smile I
pasted on for my students…) Still I am so grateful for the lessons that God has taught me in the past year. But, when you walk upwards and out of a muddy,
mucky valley where the rain has been pouring down, but is finally lightening –
and you finally are sensing the break of sunlight through the clouds, you
don’t know what quite is around the corner … or in the next 30 miles … that
whole unknown time can be a little daunting.
Let me be vaguely specific about the road ahead:
Corey is starting a new business.
He (WE!!!) are thrilled, but the financial unknown can be
terrifying. The kids probably need to
change schools to one closer to our neighborhood – not near my work - and it looks
like the lottery results for the school I wanted aren’t going to work out. Where to send them??? And, after being an avid
runner for 10+ years, I am about to undergo two significant hip surgeries,
requiring months - perhaps a year - of rehab before I am able to run – or work
out significantly at all again. All the while,
between the everyday of life, work, moves, kids’ activities, and significant change and
growth in my marriage, a healthy, constant, and steady place of security has
been at the forefront of my mind, my prayers, and my actions for my kids. Their emotional well-being is prominent in all of my decisions and outside actions while I still, admittedly, have been terrified and amazed
and disappointed and reassured as I smile on.
I guess that’s life. But in their formative years, Emma Rose and
Porter will know that they are loved by their God, and they will know that their parents are
committed to each other and to them. I’m
not faking that message, but rather facing the reality that those are God’s
messages for me, and that while I am far from perfect, I will do my best to
model that truth to them while protecting them.
So here are some pictures - what's happened on the outside in the Sowa family.
I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since I last put up a blog, but here it is - what the Sowa’s have been up to in the midst
of a pretty chaotic time in life:
Colorado weather has been nuts this winter! Here's a random day in December, chez Sowa:
This is one of my favorites...it captures Emma Rose running to the car, daily, as I pick her up from school. She loves her "ear-puffs," as she calls them:
...And a pretty common sight of the kids on the commute home, when they can't stay awake to the "Dragon Rider," or "The BFG," or "Limmeny Snicket," or "Chronicles of Narnia" on CD (yes, we've listened to them all) anymore...
We've gotten a small handful of snow days this year. Here's one of the first. The kids and I came home to "my" garage, knowing that daddy loves us:
Here's one of Emma Rose's favorite winter past-times at home, bubble baths!
A picture of the kids, enjoying hot chocolate on 1 of 5 cold days out of 90 this winter (at least that's what it felt like!!!)
I love this picture of Porter, Emma Rose, Reese, and Anna (school friends) at Porter and Anna's 2nd grade "Western" - themed musical. (Porter is wearing Grandma's cowboy boots --- because they fit!)
Emma Rose loves her crafts, so she was thrilled about the prospect of a "girl-date" with me. It was all about arts and crafts. We crafted some homemade Valentines, friendship bracelets, and a 100-piece glitter snowflake for her 100th day at school:
Porter and I made Star Wars Valentines this year:
We've enjoyed our surroundings. Here's a nice, 70-degree day in February where we went for a hike on the Mesas in Golden:
I took Emma Rose with me to the Broadmoor for a school DECA event. We ran into some of her friends from school:
Corey and Porter came down briefly to join us for lunch and a stroll around the grounds as well...
Early in March, Corey took Emma Rose out for a daddy-daughter date, while I took Porter out for a mommy-son date. Emma Rose was so excited for this special time with her dad that she started getting ready for her evening date at 10:30 in the morning. She "hates" getting her hair curled and braided, but she put on a special dress and "high heels" and had me curl and braid her hair... Corey took her out for pedicures and a fancy dinner.
Porter could care less about his appearance (as long as neon was involved), but said that our evening of neon golf, arcades, and a burger while playing CandyLand was "epic."
Emma Rose practiced and practiced for her first-ever musical with her kindergarten peers at Ben Franklin. She went dressed as a gardener/farmer...
And, because the weather has been so warm, the kids have gotten some good golf days in with their daddy!
I love this. At the end of the day, when you've faced disappointment or frustration, when you've screamed, or chosen moodiness over joy, your kids can outshine you and show you the truth. Emma Rose "gets" real love. I'm grateful for her sweet, sweet spirt. Here's a book she started to create while I was working out one day...
... kinda puts it all into perspective for me...
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