A Cowgirl Kinda Night

Evelyn's first school dance was on Friday evening and it was a western theme.  She and Maggie headed to Charli's after school and I met them there to take pictures before the dance.  They looked SO ADORABLE.   Our five-minute photo shoot was pretty successful, thanks in large part to the awesome "props" that could be found within a few yards of the Wolken's house. 

Their matching pink hats were the sweetest.

Howdy pardners! Time to head into the shindig!

And they're off! Have a blast, ladies!

After the dance, they kept the theme for the evening going, and actually played the part of cowgirls, instead of only dressing the part.  Sean and Alicia invited the girls over to ride horses on this beautiful night -- they had so much fun!

What a great night for Evie and her friends!  She is loving middle school so far, and I can only pray that this continues!

First Week of School Fun

The kids enjoyed a great first week of school and seem to really be enjoying their classes so far.  The first weekend after school started, we stayed busy, having fun with friends and family.  We met up with Kyle & Sara's family at the Dorsey's house to celebrate our August birthday boys, Russ and Bryan.  It's always fun hanging out with this crew! 

It was a beautiful evening for a swim in their beautiful back yard!

Oliver and Violet had to take off early to get back to Wellsville for the back-to-school dance -- Violet's first high school dance! We weren't sure if she'd really want to go, but she REALLY wanted to go!  It was sponsored by the Mentors, so Oliver had to be there early to set up.  There are no pictures to prove that Violet had fun, so we'll just have to believe that she had a great time.

Then early Saturday morning, Grandma Cheryl picked up Evelyn and Charli from our house for a spontaneous Silver Dollar City adventure!  This was very last-minute, but the girls were so excited. 

It was a hot day, so the Mystic River Falls was the perfect way to get cooled off. . . In Grandma Cheryl's case, the perfect way to get completely soaked!

 

They ate lunch in the shade and were excited to get to ride Time Traveler before the day was over.  What a fun final hurrah to summer! Thanks, Grandma Cheryl, for being so awesome!!

At church on Sunday, Pastor called all of the kids up front to bless them and their backpacks as they embark on a new school year.  They received cross-shaped carabiners to add to their backpacks as well.

Calvin's first day of class was on Monday and I loved that his House Mom took pics for us moms left at home! Here's Calvin by himself, and then a group shot with his pledge class, ready to formally begin their college education!

The weather has been so perfect all week, we've taken walks every evening and enjoyed some gorgeous sunsets.

It's been very weird not having Calvin at home this week, but I'm so thankful he's been willing to FaceTime with us almost every day.  He's had a great week, winning a cornhole tournament and playing some flag football. There's always something going on and I know he's going to love college.  Meanwhile, Oliver has been recruited as the "drone flyer" for the football team, which is super-fun because he gets to go to practice each day and hang out with the team, without getting destroyed at practice each day :)  Violet just found out she made the school musical, "Beauty and the Beast" and she is PUMPED about that.  And Evelyn is really having fun with all of her new classes and teachers and the freedom that comes with Middle School.  I praise God for the great start to a new school year!

First Day of School

We have started another school year, and this one feels very different. Last year began with lots of emotions as we had milestone graduations coming up (5th, 8th, senior).  This year begins without any of that emotion, but lots of others.  I was excited for the kids to start another school year, yet sad that things would never be the way they used to be.  After 13 years, I'll never drop off a child at Wellsville Elementary again.  This makes me sad.  The biggest void, though, is obviously that we are missing one of our kids at home on this first day of school!  It felt so weird and I'm still not okay, in case you were wondering.  But alas, life goes on.  Evie requested French toast for breakfast and we all chowed down before it was time for pictures.  

As a Mentor, Oliver had to be at school by 7:15, so we got an early start.  Look at that pretty sunrise behind that pretty high school girl!

How in the world is she in high school?!?  Thankfully, I think she'll always be my goofy girl.

Oliver beginning Junior year and Evelyn in Middle School!

She's so cute.  But yet, looks so grown up all of the sudden, too.  Time is a thief.

We sent this pic to big brother in Manhattan.  Violet's "sad" face is cracking me up. Because she herself was trying so hard NOT to crack up.

And Violet always insists on the silly shots.

And we're off!  We've traditionally taken the pics by the school the evening before, because we've always had a "Meet the Teacher" or "Pack the Locker" night in the past.  But we didn't have any of those this year (no kids in elementary and middle schoolers don't really want lockers anymore for some reason), so we just snapped a couple of pics before drop-off.  Here's the final Dwyer kiddo starting Middle School!

And we've got Violet and Oliver beginning a great year at WHS!

I'm so thankful I don't have a Senior this year.  Oliver will have a great Junior year, I'm sure, and I can relax a little (until next year, anyway).

And I'm thankful that Violet's school experience really doesn't change at all this year, other than missing Hannah, who graduated :(.  She's so blessed to have a fantastic life skills classroom with teachers she's known since 6th grade.  She's taking art and choir and lunchroom aide and PE, and most importantly, she gets to start riding the bus home again.  This is all I've been hearing about lately.  She's VERY excited for school to start back up!

While the kids were gone and the house was empty, I used the opportunity to get Calvin's room organized.  I'd been missing him. Just a little.  With his permission, I re-homed the fathead Jayhawk that had lived on his wall the past 9 years, and hung his senior banners instead (they'd been chillin' in the shed since his graduation party in May).  Then I made his bed with the amazing t-shirt quilt Grandma Jo gave him for graduation.  I sent him a picture and he replied, "Perfect."  The crazy thing is that now his room will just be clean (until he comes home again).  Maybe I'll throw some towels on the floor every once in awhile just for old time's sake.

Speaking of my firstborn, he's such a good boy. Today is his first day at K-State and he sent me this picture.  Made my heart so happy!

Have a wonderful school year, Dwyer kids! Take care of all of those gifts (friends) God gives you this year. And always remember Matthew 5:16, Ephesians 4:32 and Philippians 2:3 -- we love you millions!!

Calvin's K-State Move-In Day

I knew this day was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier.  Sunday was the day we moved our firstborn son out of our house.  On Saturday he got hugs and goodies from his godparents and grandparents before he left.  Calvin is SO loved!

His move-in time at Delta Upsilon was 10:30 a.m., so we left around 6:15 a.m. to get to Manhattan in time for early church at St. Luke's. Evie wanted to make sure she was awake to say good-bye.  I was already having to hold back tears and we hadn't even pulled out of the driveway yet!

We had a little extra time on our drive so we stopped at the scenic overlook coming into Manhattan.  

It was a peaceful Sunday morning, perfect for a stroll.

We made it to church early and everyone was very friendly, which was awesome.  Before church, we were able to meet their Director of Christian Education, who leads the campus group, and he was excited to meet Calvin and tell him about their upcoming activities. After church, we met another incoming freshman guy from Marysville who is on the cross country and track team at K-State.  Like Calvin, he wasn't very talkative, but I could see the two of them becoming quick friends.  We also talked to the Pastor for awhile after church.  It was a great start to our day!  

We had about an hour to kill before move-in, so we found a delicious breakfast place in Aggieville, the Bluestem Bistro.  It was a gorgeous morning, so we ate outside.

Then Calvin needed to exchange a couple of t-shirts at Rally House.  I can't believe how HUGE this store is!  I've seriously never seen so much purple in my entire life.

Calvin made his first great decision of the day in exchanging two t-shirts for one polo. He determined that he'd probably be getting lots of free/cheap t-shirts this year, but no one usually hands out free polos.  He looked so handsome in it! 

We got to the house and proceeded with possibly the easiest freshman move-in experience in the history of the world.  He had 3 suitcases and bedding, which took about 5 minutes to take in and unpack. 

 And unlike the dorms with the long lines of cars and hundreds of people everywhere, this was super smooth and easy.  In fact, his roommate and other parents were trying to help us every step of the way!  Here he is with his roommate, Kelly, a sophomore also studying Industrial Engineering.  He seemed like a really great guy!

Kelly gave us a full house tour (I'd never been inside before).  The library was recently renovated and was super nice.

The gym in the house was also renovated with all-new equipment.  I'm sure Calvin will go to the Rec Center to play basketball and stuff, but for lifting weights, this gym has all he'd need!

Here's my boy in front of his new House:

And here he is in his room. Kelly brought all of the big stuff, including a couch, TV, and fridge.  Like I said, it was easy-peasy for Calvin.

They had a parents meeting where we got to meet all of the leadership in the house, the House Mom, the chef, and all of the new pledge class.  Everything went really well, I think, and we enjoyed visiting with other parents.

After the meeting was over, we took Calvin out to a late lunch at McAllisters.  As we finished eating, we could feel the time coming, but were trying to soak up as many of these moments as possible.  We headed back to his house and began our good-byes.  Russ and I determined that this whole process would have been a whole lot easier if Calvin wasn't such an awesome kid.  He's so easy to love and so hard to let go.  Eventually we got the job done and headed back home to Wellsville without him.

Don't let that smile fool you. I was a mess leading up to the day and I've been a mess ever since.  I'm sure it will get easier, but as my friend Grace said, "Even the thought of it getting easier makes it seem sad."  I know that ultimately, our job as parents is to raise our children so they don't need us anymore, but it still just doesn't seem right that he's not here. I'm sure he will love K-State, his house, and Manhattan. He'll probably stay so busy that he doesn't have time to miss us, which is how it should be.  In the meantime, I'll continue praying every day for my boy, knowing that God has him.  

We all wrote letters to Calvin when he left.  As part of my letter, I told him that I pray he always remembers how much God loves him (Romans 8:37-39), and that God is FOR him (Romans 8:31-32).  I told him to always be secure in his identity as a baptized child of God because nothing in the world can change that! Calvin's school experience at Wellsville was as good as we could've ever hoped for, and I pray that I can say the same thing about K-State in 4 years.  We love you so much, Calvin, and will be praying and cheering you on every step of the way!