First Day of School

Alex with her teacher, Mrs. Just

My baby girl is in third grade.  As all parents say, "where did the time go?"  This is the outfit my kiddo picked out for her first day.  We went shopping this weekend and discovered that she no longer fits in the girl's section.  We ended up at American Eagle and felt like fish out of water.  What was all this teenager stuff???  Everyone says she's going to be a basketball player or something, but if you've seen my family, that's not how God made us.  God DID make us to grow fast and then suddenly stop at age 11.  I've looked the same way since I was in 6th grade, and my mom is known as "munchichi" because she's under 5 foot.  I'm pretty confident that she won't surpass the Jolly Green Giant.
I've gotta tell you, Alex was nervous about school.  She had a difficult time getting to bed last night, and she had a belly ache. We made it, though!
This is what Alex had to say about herself on the first day of school:

This made me cry.  I just love her so much!  Alex is my teacher.  She brought me into motherhood, and she's kept me on my toes ever since.  I've been far from the perfect parent, and I'm still figuring things out, but I know God has her.  In fact, He's working on both of us every step of the way.  This paper is who my baby girl is:  a girl who likes her steak and wants to have fun.  A little girl who is discovering what the love of a sibling means, that she will always have her little brother to love.  She has been very consistent in saying that she wants to be an art teacher, and she does love to draw and create, but this summer, she also started writing stories too, just for fun.  I must say that she now reads in bed before she goes to sleep, just like her mommy.  Sometimes I'll check on her and she'll be journaling or writing a story; you just never know.  She's a girl with ideas and there's ALWAYS a "plan."  I believe that our international adoption process, along with lots of interesting conversations about different parts of the world at school & church, has opened her heart to what's going on in the world, especially with children.  This summer, she was constantly asking us about faraway places like Togo, South America, England, and China.  We ended up getting her a huge map, so she could see where these places are; we often looked up places on the internet to see what it's like there.  She's expressed that she wants to travel, but it's always followed with, "But I'm afraid of getting shots," knowing that you have to get certain vaccinations before you go certain places.  Pretty normal 8 year old stuff.  When I was her age, I was obsessed with Paris (I still kind of am); I wanted to be like Madeline and speak french and just live the Parisian lifestyle; I understand her desire to experience different things and see how that changes you.
As for swimming, I'm not sure if we're married to it.  We learned the hard way, that club swimming requires A LOT of volunteer hours, which we were unable to complete (by volunteer, I mean required).  Yes, we ended up with a lofty bill for not completing our hours and have had to rethink if this is something we can all commit to.  We've decided to put her in a less competitive swimming team.  When it comes down to it, we really want her to exercise and learn discipline and hard work, but our extra time as a family is going into our church.  So, she'll work out three times a week and do a few meets a year but not on a club team.  At 8 years old, she shouldn't feel her whole world is all about one thing.  If she wants to try volleyball (or whatever) next year, then we shouldn't feel too meshed into one thing to let her try whatever!  Oh well.
So, I realize my posts may seem a little manic about my Alex.  Honestly, we have good days and bad days.  I just want to embrace these moments as much as possible because I am blessed to have her as a daughter, even on our tense days (and we do have tense days).  God is preparing her and using her every moment; personally, I think He's using her to teach me a thing or do.  I could use a few lessons, so I won't complain!
On another note, our hearts are so heavy for all who were affected by the Indiana State Fair tragedy.  I'm thankful that Steve was home two hours before it happened; he was there working on the Habitat house. I'm praying for those who work there.  I can't imagine how stressful and emotional it is to handle that.  Ugh.

Mr. Jesse Getiso Craig is amazing.  He crawled today.  CRAZY.  I ran to get the video camera, and he wouldn't do it again.  The cutest thing was that he was chasing Alex as she was leaving the living room; he just adores her.  I promise tomorrow I'll have something!
Much love,
Kathy