Samuel

Dressed himself for school today:

He's awesome!

Exhaustion

When school is exhausting and you put yourself into nap time 1-2 times each day:

God bless precious Matthew!

Love

These two had been sitting like this for about 30 minutes when I took this picture. 😍

VPK Begins

VPK officially began this week, and Matthew and Samuel are attending our church's VPK program.

Matthew and Samuel are loving their new school and teachers! When I picked the boys up from school yesterday, Samuel begged me to take him back to school. He thought the days were too short. 😄

The boys attend school Monday through Friday, 9:00 - 12:30 p.m. This schedule provides a good amount of quiet time for the older ones to get their hardest subjects done before the littles return home.

This is a new phase for us, as we've had at least one "little one" in the home for so long during our home-school days. We are excited to see how this year progresses!

In addition, we are so excited for Matthew and Samuel! We are so thankful they have the opportunity to be taught in a loving, God-honoring, God-uplifting environment!!

Hurricane Dorian

With all the preparations and the hysteria, the hurricane ended up steered away from us. (Derek's work had put us up in a hotel near the company so that Derek could remain working through the hurricane.)

This was all we got:

One "downed" palm branch!

Can you see how disappointed the boys were--even when I asked for a nice picture for Daddy?

As everyone walked away from the branch, Samuel seized it. He was going to keep the memory of Dorian alive.

But then as we walked, the gusts of wind began, and Samuel's fun started.

And adventure boy was SO HAPPY he had his trophy piece ready!

And then he shared,

 and the "fortress" (Cherish) held firmly,

and all were happy!