Changing Tides

It really is amazing how fast life goes. Children are being born and growing up in what seems like the blink of an eye. I know how cliche that sounds, but it is so true! The thing with large families is that you are in many different stages all the time.  My oldest child is starting his junior year of high school in the fall and will be doing his classes at the college (via the running start program). The goal is to have him graduate high school with his associates degree. He's also driving his own car everywhere and helping give siblings rides to school, do errands, and store trips for us. It's so nice having an extra driver in the house!

Then I also have two kids in the middle school age...puberty and hormones oh my! They love being silly and crazy. Owen is planning for a school trip to Washington DC next year. He's very excited. Brayden is enjoying homeschool so far and doing well at soccer. I've already caught him up to grade level for his math (beginning 7th grade though) so we'll spend the summer doing 7th grade math. He can start in the fall (still homeschooling) with the "8th grade"  math.  He seems to be excelling at homeschooling and the one-on-one attention.

 

Next I have two elementary-aged kids are are learning how to ride bikes, read, and still love going to school.  They are at the sweet, fun age. Life is pretty simple for them - wake up, go to school, come home, play with siblings, then go to bed and repeat. Gabe is thriving in kindergarten and already passed his kindergarten word list! Billy Jr is well-liked by his classmates and has lots of friends. They both just love life right now!

Then last are the two girls...toddler/preschool stage of life. They are playing with dollies, dollhouses, coloring, and just enjoying time at home with mom. I'm trying to potty train Abby (without much success) and she'll be starting preschool in another year. I'm going to do preschool at home with her next year because I couldn't get her into the 3 year old preschool class. Eden is into everything and will be walking soon. Those two keep me on my toes! 

The one stage I'm NOT in is the infant stage. Eden is perhaps too young still for me to miss it much, but I'm sure a day will come that I miss it. Right now, however, the inconsistent schedules, lack of sleep, baby not sleeping through the night, and crying for no reason (both me and the baby) is too fresh in my mind still though. I'm happy to not be in that stage! Eden is our last baby, permanently.  I haven't felt sadness about that at all. I really do feel like I'm ready to not be in THAT stage anymore. I still have a lot more stages and milestones to go through the next 18 years to keep me plenty busy!