On August 19, the whole family began a new school year. Nathan went off to teach 8th grade English for the 4th year and I started teaching Kindergarten for the first time.
Will began another year at his preschool by moving up to the "older 2's" room. He was excited to have a new backpack and lunchbox! He has transitioned well and is learning a lot. He is also now fully potty trained with the exception of night time.
Madeline reached a huge milestone by starting kindergarten this year! I really can't believe she is already in big school. She was nervous and excited all at the same time and Mommy and Daddy were a little teary. Her Nana offered to walk her in for her first day as I had a group of my own kindergarten students to greet.
Madeline was very excited to see so many of her friends from preschool! Here she is with her friend Miriam. She had a great first day and really loves school. Her grades are good and she is really reading well already!
On the night of the 1st day of school, just as I was collapsing into bed, we got our first foster care placement call. So, very late that night, we took in a 4 month old baby boy. It turned out to be an unexpectedly emergency over-night placement, so we didn't get a picture of him. One week later, we got our next call, this time for a 4 month old baby girl. We thought she would be here to stay for a while, but she ended up leaving after one week. We were so sad to see her go but enjoyed the time we had with her.
One week later, we were asked to take a newborn baby boy. We knew this one would only be temporary, as he really needed a placement with one stay-at-home parent. We took care of him for 2 weeks and Madeline really enjoyed having a baby that was so easy to hold!
During that time in September, our precious girl turned 6 years old. She was most excited to have her name announced on the school intercom as they do for all students on their birthdays! 
She had a fun day at school and even brought Popsicles for her class to share as a birthday treat. Here she is with her favorite gift, Bitty Twins from her Nana and Paw-paw. Later that weekend, she had a joint party with her best friend, Haley, at an indoor swimming pool with all of her friends from school. It was a blast!
At the end of September, we got our 4th foster placement. A 9 month old baby boy. He stayed with us for one month before going to live with another family member. At this point, he is the last placement we have taken. After 4 very quick placements, we realized that being foster parents was too much for us with 2 young kids and 2 jobs. We plan to continue again when I stop teaching after this school year. We have really worked the Dave Ramsey plan and are finally ready to take the one-income plunge. I am excited at what the future will bring to our family!
Both kids really enjoyed Halloween this year. Madeline knew right away that she wanted to be a black cat and Will got great use out of the costumes he got for his birthday!
Some friends invited us to join them on a trick-or-treating hay-ride and the kids had such a good time with their friends. Here is Madeline checking out Miriam's costume.
Will was excited to ride with his friend, Clara Beth.
Sadly, I did not take any picture of Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday with Nathan's family and it was wonderful!Finally, we celebrated Christmas! We had a great time setting up the decorations and buying gifts for children on the Angel Tree. Now that my parents have moved so far away, we were on our own this year. So, we had a nice small family Christmas. Here are Madeline and Will all dressed and ready for Christmas Eve mass.
Madeline insisted on a funny face picture and this is what I got. Will does this a lot when he gets overcome with shyness.
Nathan took over my dad's tradition of reading "The Night Before Christmas" before the kids went to bed.
Then, in the morning, the kids were so excited to see what Santa brought! Here are Will's gifts.
Here are Madeline's:
The bikes were a big hit and they had to try them out right away! We later exchanged Will's helmet for a bigger one:)
After a few turns, they were ready to open some more presents. As always, our family gave them so many thoughtful and fun gifts. Here is Will in his latest dress up outfit, a Disney race car driver outfit!
We always celebrate with Nathan's family the weekend after Christmas and were able to also do a dual New Year's Eve celebration. As usual, I forgot to take any pictures as I enjoyed all the fun! Happy New Year to everyone! It was pretty eventful for us and I am excited about the coming changes for our family. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in 2011!!!
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