The Chijioke Life

First day of school 2013/2014! My littlest guy, trekking off with his backpack. Oh! It is "back to school" time...the temperature is still "far-too-hot" degrees, the sun still shines when the clock says "bedtime"... Pool toys litter the deck, the bubblers splashing water into a sparkling, empty pool. The easy, meandering time of summer is still beckoning...but it is "back-to-school" time!  It's an exciting time of year, full of new beginnings, idealism, hope for the "what-ifs" and I love this time of year... Routine & structure are coming back and I feed off of structure!! Stability & peace are the words that come to mind... :) It also means the glimmer of hope has begun for cooler weather, autumn, thanksgiving festivities and Christmas wonder -- with 5 kid birthdays intermingled!!! Lol :) My big kids have already started back to school and my little one starts this week. Oh! I'm not sure I'm ready to let him go!! He...

We have been traveling quite a bit this summer, doing a lot of long distance driving trips. I've really enjoyed these trips and the time spent as a family - even with the close confines! We've racked up a load of audible book hours and have streamlined the gas station bathroom process!! :D All of this has led to an increase in eating out and we are slowly making progress with that situation! LOL!! While finishing up a Chick-fil-a breakfast during our most recent trip, I was fighting the urge to gripe at the kids about the messy tabletop. I looked around our table at the oblivious youngsters, laughing and interacting together and was struck with the thought, "...be grateful for these messes! What if you didn't have the blessing of these kiddos, you wouldn't have a mess, but you wouldn't have them either..." I sat back, decided to be thankful instead and laughed to myself as I wrote up the following list of things I will one day miss about these busy, hecti...

It's been a busy summer! Full of travels (I'm getting good at long distance car drives!), new experiences, family growth, fond memories, spontaneous fun days with the kids... It's been a good summer. So thankful for each of these moments!! I'm attempting to be "intentional" about being thankful... I believe it makes my Father happy & it keeps my heart attitude in alignment with the truth of eternity :) A friend was visiting the other night for some long overdue "catch-up time" and we were both amazed as we realized this is our family's 3rd school year coming up since Cj died... How did that happen?! I can't believe how the time has passed.... William will be 3 years old in a few months and he is starting to be "aware" that things are different for him... We found a little picture book that I put together in the first months after Cj died -- I was concerned that William not forget his daddy's face. We titled it, "Will...