the celebration of life we held for josh's mom a few weeks ago was lovely.  we showed a slideshow of pictures of her, some of her old friends showed up, and everyone had a nice time talking and reminiscing.  the owners of the generator in garland were so accommodating and wonderful; we are so grateful for them!

a couple of days before the party, i accompanied josh, jill, and kyle (jill's boyfriend) to the funeral home to see susan one last time before she was cremated.  it was unbelievably surreal.  it wasn't exactly cathartic, or necessarily good or helpful in any way.  if i had it to do over, i do not think i would make the same choice.  i don't think josh feels the same way i do.  i think he needed to see his mom one more time.  i, on the other hand, find myself wishing my last memory was of her the last time i saw her alive - normal, smiling... can't change it now, and i don't want to dwell on the negative.  every so often the kids talk about her.  we've tried to make talking about or referring to her very normal and easy.  i've tried not to become overly upset or emotional when they bring her up; i don't want them to think it's taboo.  we have pictures of her around the house.

on a brighter note, the kids start school on monday!  micah's going into the 2nd grade at cooper elementary, the same sweet, little neighborhood school she's been attending since kindergarten.  rowan will be going to the public pre-k in our neighborhood this year.  we absolutely LOVE the private preschool he's attended the past two years, but weren't able to fit it into the budget anymore.  we could've afforded two days a week, but felt he would benefit from the opportunity to get into the swing of going to school every day.  he's such a homebody... i felt like it would've been a big jump for him from two days to five.

both kids had their porch parties at school last night; they got to meet their teachers, see their classrooms, and enjoy some snow cones.  i'm the secretary of the PTA this year so i was in charge of selling keychains in the cafeteria.  josh had to work, and i knew i'd need held with the kids since i had to man a table for part of the time, so i enlisted vesta to come with me.  she was happy to help!  she watched the table and rowie for me while i took micah to her new classroom.  mrs. reynolds is her teacher.  she seems very sweet, and experienced.  cali is in micah's class!  cali is one of micah's best school buddies, so that will be fun.