Now, this is Christmas...

I have had writer’s block. Not the kind of block that one would first assume though. The kind of writer’s block that I have had is the kind that comes from years of busying myself with life and putting this passion to the side in favor of the passions of mine that have learned to walk and talk and needed me every second. Of course, now that those passions can walk and talk, they don’t seem to need me as much, so here I am. Back to see if this passion that I have dreamt of is still worth pursuing. Of course, pursuits are never wasted, so there’s that.

In my dreams, I begin my day with Jesus and coffee, and then I start to write as the light begins to peek through the darkness of the sky. I can see the words in my head as they flow from my heart onto the page. After an outpouring of words on said page, I would then begin to make my rounds into the rooms of my home to kiss the faces that I love so dear. Yet, they will not have yet stirred. For in my dreams, I wake my babes with song and cheer. 

But that’s just a dream. Reality reveals something not near as quiet or orderly but just as beautiful at its heart. Maybe even more so...

Now, it’s almost Christmas. This morning I woke hours before dawn to a sweet, scratchy little voice that needed me. The girls still have two days of school left, and my middle baby has a yucky cough. She needed me near, and I was happy to be there. By the lights of the tree that is covered in ornaments so beloved, I held her hand and sipped my coffee and thanked God for this little house and my little family and all that he has given me. 

Now, this is Christmas--a time to slow down and reflect on the birth of a baby so miraculous. It's a time to adore Him; a time to praise Him; a time to worship Him--the Savior of the world that came in the lowliest of ways to bring Hope to a world that so desperately needed Him--and still does.

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May these three precious ones follow Him all the days of their lives...

 

 This mama and daddy are grateful for our Savior and the little blessings that he has let us love for these crazy, precious, memorable days.

Happy Birthday, Jesus

and

Merry Christmas!

The Beginning of September!

In early September, our church had its 40th anniversary celebration, and our family came in to help celebrate! I let Ave and F come to the service, and I just love this picture. Tawney is smiling brightly, Pop is there, Ave is doing something, Felicity is leaning on Gigi, and Gigi has tears in her eyes. I'm sure Brandon was singing. :) In this season of life, family is extra extra important to me.

Felicity and G-Pops were TOO sweet. <3 br="">

Four generations of Barton boys! Love these four so much!

Pop with 4/5 of his grandkids!

G-Pops and sister after the service!

We enjoyed a picnic on the grounds after our special service!

Daddy and Whitney got to sing together! :)

That evening or the next day (I can't remember, ha!), we got to go to Pappasitos!

Love these faces!

Handsome and beautiful!

Beauties!

Brandt loves G-Pops!

...and G-Pops is such a good sport! This picture makes me laugh! ;)

Poor G-Pops!

So sweet!

I love this little buddy!

This baby boy has me wrapped around his little fingers. All of them. ;)

We ended our labor day off with cuddles and reading.

I am so thankful for this big sister that loves to read to her brother and sister.

The next day, we headed back to school! It isn't the easiest thing to have a two year old and a four year old in my classroom for an hour every morning before school starts. The little one may or may not destroy my centers before my students even get there, but I am thankful that we get to be together.

That next weekend, we took a family picture! hahah! This is very much an accurate depiction of our current season of life!

First Days of School 2017

About a week and a half before Avaree's first day of school, I unexpectedly accepted a Kindergarten teaching position. I tried every possible way to get out of it, but I truly believed that accepting the position was an act of obedience in a couple of different ways. However, obedience does not equal easy. Holy moly. It has been the furthest thing from easy; however, I will share more about that later. Let's get back to our first days of school! Our first days of school were staggered this year!

First up, our SECOND GRADER started school!

 This beautiful girl is a world changer! She was super excited to head back to Corey for year three in elementary school!

 Brandt was excited that he wasn't going to school, but he didn't know that he was going to childcare while I went to inservice! ;)

 Avaree's amazing homeroom teacher this year is Ms. Ramirez. She loves our girl and "gets" her. That is such a gift to this mommy heart! I haven't had to "worry" about her at school this year. That has been such a relief. Her first grade teachers were great too, but they didn't "get" her, so that was hard. This lady loved her from the first moment she saw her, and I so appreciate that.

 We all do drop off on the first day of school! This one loves her Daddy!

 So sweet!

 I know her eyes are closed, but this is the only picture that I got with her at her school!

 A mere three hours later, I sent this to Brandon, and I asked him to pray for me. I went straight to inservice, and I put the babies in childcare (in and out based on my meeting schedule--not a consistent place or people), and I was so very very overwhelmed. I had Kinder parent night that night, and I had just found out that the parents would be coming to my room that night, too. So, I just had a holy breakdown on the floor of my room. I look pitiful, and let me tell you it was a nutty week. Besides being a mama to littles, my only training is in high school education, and I was also not granted the time to grieve my transition of going back to work or my kids getting older. I am a SLOW processer and a thinker, so this fast, fast change was super hard.

 Alas, with a little help from some amazing friends, I was able to put this room together enough to welcome the parents.

 I didn't even know what a "center" was 2.5 months ago, but now I do them every day! ;)

At the end of the day, I wanted them to love Jesus and fall in love with reading, so this is where I wanted my room to be focused. 

 The next night, it was meet the teacher for our Felicity and our Brandt! This was their very first experience with school! Look how cute this girl looked! Our sweet friend, Mrs. Susan, gave her this "Cool Cat" shirt that Chloe and Kate had also worn! She was so excited to wear it to go meet her teachers in the Cool Cat class!

 This is Mrs. Harper! She and Felicity have the sweetest relationship. I am so so grateful for this lady.

 Felicity adores her, and she was precious from the first moment she met her!

 This is our AMAZING Mrs. Mays!!!!! Avaree was blessed to have Mrs. Mays when she was a Cool Cat, and I can't even express how amazing she is! She is just the best teacher EVER--not just with concepts and academics (which i can promise you no one does that better than this lady), but also in character and social skills and the bible! She is the kind of teacher you could only dream of your child having! We LOVE Mrs. Mays!!!!

 Meanwhile, on Friday, I managed to get my tables ready for my kinders to come.

 Then, I managed to squeeze out some time to meet my family for lunch at Avaree's school that Friday, since I wouldn't be able to eat lunch with her there anymore! The littles were pumped!

 Ave was thrilled to see us! We surprised her!

 This one just sat in my lap! :)

Brandt had HIS meet the teacher, and he was NOT a fan! In fact, it took him a solid two weeks to stop screaming, but now he LOVES Mrs. Nelda and Mrs. Judy, and we do too! He loves his Happy Shapes class!

 That following Monday, it was Felicity's first day of Pre-K (and her first day of school EVER)! She was super excited, and she looked absolutely adorable!

 We had to get a family picture before we headed to drop everyone off. This day, we were all going to a different place except for Felicity and me! It was a crazy first day for Felicity and me!

 This girl was so proud to be the one holding the sign for the first time!

 Both of us had a first day of school! It was my first day as a Kinder teacher, and it was her first day as a Pre-K girl! :)

 I love the little Cool Cat on the back of her back pack!

 She stayed in my room for a while helping me, and then she headed off to Pre-K!

 A friend peeked in and got this picture for me!

 Meanwhile, Brandt was sleeping on his nap mat at Mrs. Julia's house. I'm so thankful for two precious friends that give up their Mondays to take turns keeping my baby boy. His class is only four days a week, so I love that he gets one day to just play. He adores Mrs. Julia and Mrs. Carrie, and I do, too. I am so very, very thankful for them.

 Everyone with daddy!

 Sweetest baby girl!

 Mama with the littles!

 The next day, it was Brandt's turn for the first day of school! He was not as thrilled. ha!

 We eventually coaxed him into a smile, and I love this picture! I was looking forward to what his answer would be when I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up! I love that he said he wanted to be a singer like Daddy! So so sweet!

 The backpack was just as big as him!

 I will take this same picture in May. I know he's already grown a LOT!

 It was a hard day. This little guy's classroom is two doors down from mine, so I got to hear some of his crying, but I love that he does love school now. He prays for his Happy Shapes friends every night.  

I took this picture to remember that we made it. We all made it.

Thank you, Jesus, for these sweet ones. May we find all the joy we can in this new season.