Today, the kids began school – the beginning of their third school year in Denver.
In many ways, it feels like, after a fun summer vacation, life is cranking back up. Jayce is now in Kindergarten, Abbey’s in 3rd grade, and Cassie’s in 5th grade – the BigWomanOnCampus. As usual, we walked them to school this morn, and sent them off to begin their new routine Unlike past years, there were no tears (from either side!). But like the past two years, there were lots of emotions from us, as parents. Our kids seem to be growing by leaps and bounds.
Cassie’s really blossoming in piano, cranking out a mellow but inspiring version of Adele’s “Make You Feel My Love.” Abbey has yet to explore art or music fully, but we have a suspicion that she’ll be our actor – if she can get over performance anxiety. We’ll catch her playing by herself or with friends, in dramatic fashion only found on Broadway. Jayce is doing everything he can to age faster than his body will let him. Some of his best friends on the block are nearly in college, and we’ll often catch him looking longingly at the “big boys” on the playground, wishing they’d invite him to a hot game of four-square. It’s pretty cute.
Meredith has picked up yet another job… She’s got two part-time gigs, and one full-time one! Actually, caring for the kids all summer was the full-time job. And she’s also trying to manage two part-time accounting jobs for local non-profits. Still she thinks her gift is common, though Jason admonishes her that it’s anything but… Jason’s had a few small writing gigs lately, but nothing steady. And of course, the church continues to be his primary focus. He’s increased his focus on “outreach,” which means connecting with people outside the church, and loves it. Summertime, for churches, is usually hard. But NDC’s grown significantly, which means we’re carrying great momentum into the fall. That and a great quarterly planning session, and we’re really, really excited about what the future holds.
Since it’s nearing (or at) 100 degrees outside today, most of us are yearning for the fall and cooler weather. And shortly on her heels will be winter, and ski season. So if you have yet to wax your boards or pick your preferred resort, get on it! We hope to see you here!
Love, the Malecs.
