Time for School....Again....

Well folks, it's that time of year again. The kids are gearing up to go back to school, but the good news is that this year, I won't have to drive them to school everyday!!!! Yay!!!!!!!! Not only does that save on gas (at *gasp* close to $4.00 a gallon...), it also supplies me with a little more sleep time! Again...Yay!!!
This year will definitely be different from last year.
Jarrin will be in third grade this year. Wow. And it seems just yesterday he was sitting in a high chair painting his face. Now he is learning cursive and will learn multiplication and division this year. Great. More homework for me to help with!! As far as we know, he is planning on playing football this year, as well as wrestling and baseball (when that comes around). This past year was his first for both football and baseball and this coming year will be his first year wrestling. His best friend from last year, Ethan, wrestles so he wants to give it a shot. He's even contemplating basketball. (Our first attempt at that didn't go so well...)
He is NOT looking forward to the start of school (which is this coming Tuesday). With the summer he has had, I can't say that I blame him. This summer he was quite the travel-bug. He got to spend a week at Lakeside, Ohio at annual conference, as well as a day at The Beach water park, Kings Island, and multiple days at both Cosi and the Columbus Zoo. Not to mention spending at least 6 weeks with Grandma & Grandpa & Aunt Lindsay in Columbus. He has more of a social life than I do!
When he did manage to stay in Lima for more than a day, we still didn't see much of him! With cousins and new friends, he got to spend a lot of time hanging out with other kids while Shawn and I worked. He swam so much one week that he came home about 6 shades darker than when he left!!!
Kayla will be in 9th grade this year. After much debate and begging on her part, we have decided to let her give home-schooling a try. Its a computer based program which allows kids to complete assignments on-line. The program provides a laptop, printer and all the accessories, and if she stays in and passes, she gets to keep it. Also, if she stays in the program the next 4 years to complete high school, they will pay for at least some of her college education. I am hoping that this endeavor will teach her the self-discipline that it will take to succeed in college and in life. For those of you that are skeptical of the merits of home-schooling, we are enforcing a strict rule on how high her grade point average must stay as well as when homework and school work have to be completed for her to stay in the program. I am optimistic and hopeful that this works out. If not, back to Elida she will go.
She planned on being in cheerleading again this year, as she has in the past, but I'm not sure what she plans to do now that she has decided to go the home-school route. We will just have to wait and see!
Shawn and I enjoyed this summer as well and will be sad to see it end. While we didn't go on all the whirlwind trips the kids did, we got to spend quite a lot of time just the two of us. And with the way our lives have been in the past 15 months that we've been married, that time is precious. I have really missed the children but spending time with my husband is the absolute best.
I was not, however, idle during my twc(time without children). I undertook yet another home project and painted my kitchen cabinets. They desperately needed a new look and while I did expect them to look at least a little bit better with a paint job, I was unbelievably pleased with how they turned out. They definitely surpassed my expectations!

Well, enough for now, time for bed, lots and lots to do tomorrow (including back-to-school supply shopping...yikes!) Will definitely figure out where my pictures on my computer are and post some soon!!!
Love to all!!!