Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2006

Well, today was a big day in the Gilley household. Our oldest child started high school! She was up, showered, and dressed early and out the door on time. It was only after I had made sure she had everything she needed and seen her head out with her dad that I realized what a monumental moment this is for her. I wanted to call her back and give her an extra kiss and cuddle and reassure her that the day would be a good one and tell her that I was proud of her and on and on. Instead, I stood quietly in the kitchen and whispered "Wow" to myself at the passing of an important day. I picked her up after school and she had positive things to say but tonight the tears started flowing as the reality of being in Anchorage, away from all her friends, not having friends here yet, and starting high school all hit her. She cried and was so sad saying that she didn't belong here and that she didn't want to make friends if we were only going to move again in a few years and how everything is different. It broke my heart. Shaun cuddled her. Then I sat with her and filled out school paperwork and helped with homework just to be near her for a little while longer. When I left she sat in my lap like a little girl and we prayed together for peace and comfort during this transition time. JB called her early this evening and that made her day, I think. (thanks, JB, if you are reading this) She is auditioning Friday afternoon for the school play "To Kill A Mockingbird" so if you think of it say a prayer for her.

The other two kids are tucked safely into their schools. Dharma's teacher is young and seems really nice. There are 15 other kids in her 1st grade classroom. Dharma told me as she was drifting off to sleep tonight that she has made two new friends in school today. She always seems so contented to settle wherever God plants her. May she always be that way. Sullivan reluctantly went to his school today. Yesterday he qualified for Anchorage's select highly gifted cluster program. This is for kids whose needs can't be met in the regular classroom or through pull-out programs so they group these kids at one elementary school in Anchorage. He is in a class with 14 other 6th grade students. This school is not in our school of zone so he is not going to be in school with kids that live near us which he was very unhappy about. But his teacher is a guy, and Sub thought he seemed like a pretty neat guy. Apparently he was a journalist for 15 years before deciding to teach the highly gifted. Two people I ran into today said that this guy is an amazing teacher and we were lucky to have him.

So it looks like the year is off and running. Yesterday Chris was wonderful and entertained two kids at a time in the car while I took whichever one was left into their school to check things out before starting today. We went to all three schools and got everyone individual mommy time. Then we went to a fast food restaurant called the Arctic Roadrunner which serves the best burgers, fries, and homemade milkshakes in Anchorage. After a yummy lunch, we drove across the street to the Alaska Wildberry Chocolate Factory and bought some treats to celebrate the day. We arrived home exhausted but glad with all we got accomplished.

While I ran children around today and took care of errands, Chris had a quiet day at home. She woke up this morning throwing up and looked a little too glassy eyed to do any site seeing. I think the long nap she took, the peacefulness of today's rain, and the chill (48-degrees here today) made it great snuggling weather and I came home to find her wrapped up in blankets on the couch feeling a bit better. We will see how she is in the morning and then plan our day accordingly.

Before I close, I want to tell you about our coming out of Wal-Mart this evening. We had gone school supply shopping and came out to more rain. But we looked up at this bright patch in the sky and were met with the most glorious rainbow we have ever seen. It was so huge and vivid we could see each color as if crayola had painted it with watercolors on the hillside and sky. We called Chris at home and told her to go out on the porch and look at it and I took a picture of it with my cell phone. We got in our car and headed home only to discover that the end of the rainbow was just a short distance up our hill from our house. We pulled into our driveway and just were amazed by it for a few minutes longer before it disappeared. I wish you all could have seen it because if that is what shows up at the end of the rains here, God has certainly fulfilled his promise of loving us when we see the rainbow. It was so pure and wonderful.