Savanna Breanne DeVault

Three months old today!!

More family pictures at www.devault.myphotoalbum.com

Changes

This week could be called The Week of Adjustment. Monday found me starting the second week of my going-to-the-gym routine, and Reed had his first day of preschool (Note his oh-so-proud smile). When we got to his school, he hung up his coat, put his backpack in his cubby, and said, "Bye, Mom!" in a cheery voice. I hadn't expected it to be so easy for him! So, with a bit of a lump in my throat, I asked, "But....can I have a kiss?" He said (just as cheerfully) "Sure!" planted a big one on me, and then walked into the class without a backward glance. Wednesday was the only day he had any apparent nerves. He said, "Mom, I don't want to stay here today." And I explained that this was something we'd be doing for a long time yet, four days a week. I offered to stay a couple more minutes, and before five minutes were out, he forgot all about his nerves.

I'm somewhat at a loss as for what to do with this 3 hours and 45 minutes of less demanding time. The first day, I just wandered around the house while Jaxon and Savanna slept, doing completely pointless things like straightening pillows and re-arranging papers that were already in a neat stack. And now that I've finished the seventh in the Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling is a genius!), I no longer have that as an excuse for passing the time. I suppose I could clean. Or organize. Or sleep. But I find that I'm paralyzed, not wanting to move off the couch until I'm sure I'll enjoy the chosen use of those hours.

Isn't it nice to be needed so badly? Isn't it nice and exhausting and overwhelming and exhilarating and rewarding?

True Love

Something that just won't leave my mind tonight is the example of my maternal grandparents. My fifteen-year-old idea of love just drops off the map when I see the fruits of their almost sixty-year marriage. Tonight, my grandpa called me to see how I was doing. And when I asked how he was, he told me that he exercises three to five days a week, at the age of eighty, so that he can take better care of my grandma. And then when I asked how she was doing, he said that he has made a chart of all the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, to help her organize in her cancer-ravaged mind who's who in our family. Gone is the notion that you can't choose who you fall in love with....sixty years of service to each other? Decades and decades of choosing, everyday, to work for the other's happiness....he made a chart. He made a chart so that she won't have to wonder, so that she won't have to feel the frustration of forgetting the names of who she loves, the lives she has followed from our births up to now.

Oh, the 15-year-old notion of true love pales in comparison....I had no idea how much bigger, how much deeper it runs.

Baby Rae

In looking at some baby pictures of myself, the resemblance of the baby-me to my babies was really fun to see! I still think that they all look so much more like Phill (whose kid-picture I've included....simply because it's sooooo cute!!). But it's fun to see my features on their little faces. (Note that Reed and I share a similar fashion sense....)

Closer!

I've just finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and I've started on #6....I'm just dying to get my hands on that #7!

"According to Madam Pomfrey, thoughts could leave deeper scarring than almost anything else..." ~J.K. Rowling, "The Second War Begins," Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

New place

We're quickly settling into our new home, and I'm smitten by it. My most favorite feature of this place: Because of how the house is placed, we don't get direct sunlight from East or West. But because we have so many windows, we get Southern light pouring in for most of the day. It's like melted butter. And it's not direct, harsh light, so it doesn't make the house hot. It's perfect--just the right amount of light, and the right kind. The boys have been outside a lot, because the backyard is fenced-in. They go in and out at will, for the most part. And probably my second favorite thing about this place: The bookshelves fit in the living room. So when people walk in, they know right away one of my top favorite things to do! (Whereas before, the bookshelves were in Jaxon's bedroom.) And lastly....the house was built three years ago, and is really well insulated, so we don't have to have the A/C on 68 for it to feel like 73. We have it on 73, and it feels like 73. Very pleasant. More to say than I've got time for. Back later.

*Just finished re-reading HP#4, starting to re-read HP#5....getting closer and closer to unread #7!!! No spoilers, please.

Here we go!!

Alright. All you well-wishers out there, lay it on thick! Not only do I have bills to pay, household items to shop for, and errands to run today, but we are moving Friday. And taking our first load over tonight! So I need all the strength, patience, and endurance I can ask for....this is the first I'll be doing this many errands with all three kids. Here we go!!! Down the steep slope into.....insanity? Or accomplishment? Perhaps a little bit of both!:)This picture is a frog, says Reed. But I'm telling you--I think it's a pretty accurate depiction of how I often feel at the end of the day. A little wan, stretched thin, somewhat disfigured out of sheer fatigue. So! On to my tasks of the day! *Back online by the 8th of August.*