My Boys

Isn't that such a sweet picture? On Sunday night for church I put Eli in his rockstar shirt that Uncle Jeff bought him and it was so perfect because almost all the guys were wearing black. Eli fit right in!

He looked so adorable in his new little jeans and shirt and shoes... that kid... I could just eat him up!

It's been a lot of fun actually to see the guys with Eli. The whole band is so sweet with him. It's easy to picture girls being mushy gushy with a baby, but it's just so fun to see all the guys be the same way with him!

Eli really hasn't been too big into the separation anxiety phase so he usually will go to most people, and he loves hanging out with the guys in the band and all the friends that go along with that.

It's almost daily that I am reminded of how extremely blessed we are to have such fantastic friends! I think about my kids at school that are kind of loners and don't have many friends that they see outside of school. My heart sometimes physically hurts to see them outcast or left out or ignored. At any age level that happens, but many kids will find a group by the time they get to high school. For the ones that don't, or are new, or have different responsibilities than other "normal" high schoolers, it is really difficult.

Two years ago, Rachel's Challenge came to our school. Rachel was the first student killed at Columbine and her family has used her legacy to speak to thousands of students all over the nation. After they spoke at our school, a Friends of Rachel club was started to welcome new students to the school and basically just spread kindness to put it simply.

I love teaching high school. I love my kids and the age group that they are in. But sometimes working with that age group is very trying. They can be mean and cruel and vicious to each other. Trying to reason with a 15 year old is maddening, and letting meanness slip by is harmful, so it's this crazy cycle all the time. But, I do think that there is redemption for all of us, hopefully, and that we can all be better than we are. Including high school kids :)

All of that to say, that I am so thankful for all of you friends! I love that we are all so different but the same! It's a good reminder to be thankful for you guys and to continue to teach kids to think outside of their not completely developed brains to reach out to others, even when it doesn't benefit themselves.