Another School Year Gone

And as quickly as it started, the school year is over. My first grader will be moving on to second grade (it doesn't seem possible) and the baby will start kindergarten. We are looking ahead to approximately 90 days of fun in the sun, days at the beach, t-ball games and coaches pitch baseball, late evenings running around the yard, dirty feet, sunkissed noses, picking cherry tomatoes in Papa's garden, fresh peaches and bing cherries, the smell of Coppertone, long bike rides on the Gandy Dancer , county fairs, cold beer on the patio with friends,and all of my favorite things of summer! Of course I will have to throw in the occasional work day every once in a while, but these are always the days that I am grateful to be 1/2 of the combo that is a nurse and a teacher. God bless summers off with the hubby and paychecks that continue on! The fun is just beginning and it always flies by too fast for me.

Last summer was consumed with finishing the basement and training for a marathon. This summer will be consumed with some smaller projects and hopefully some time to test out my new (used) golf clubs. The kids are excited to be off from school (although they both love it) and are hoping for some warmer weather to really kick off the start of summer. As usual I have had to take a step back and notice the changes in my children. Growing like weeds in front of my very eyes, the time seems so fleeting. They are surprising me daily with their newfound independence. Alex is wanting to continue on with his very favorite subject - math. He is excited that I mentioned that we could keep working on it this summer at home and do some "homeschooling" for the summer. We'll see how that goes, but since we have a strict ban on the video games and electronics for the summer, we will need something to keep us busy.

As always, I am ever grateful for this blessed life and am reminded of it daily. It is easy to fall into the trap of feeling not satisfied with "things", but then I have to realize that we have it soooo much better that lots of people. I am surrounded by a loving family, a great house, and needs that can be meet with few complications. I am happy to be in this life and I am grateful that it was chosen for me. I think that I have finally figured out the meaning of life and it is that we have to learn to be satisfied with what we have. There will always be bigger, better, and fancier.
Our greatest challenge as humans is to find the satisfaction in what we have and appreciate that this is what was chosen for us. I am surrounded by love and I am lucky.