so long summer, hello school!

marble canyon

the laviochinni's came to town!

sophie and ida

lots of "minute to win" it games

finished "the hobbit", enjoyed "the hobbit"

the haircut

new do

calgary temple, almost complete

first day of grade 5

we survived the summer.  yes, the summer of 2012.  another summer of moving in and out of homes...

the last few weeks of summer we were able to spend some time with the auvignes {AKA the laviochinni's here at our house}.  it was the biggest treat for the kids to play and play and play with new, fun friends.  truly there was a friend for everyone.  they had a great time and so did we.

over the summer eli read "the hobbit" and worked on his hand writing and math just to keep things fresh in his mind.  we noticed in march/april that he was starting to lose his hair again.  last year around the same time he had begun to lose hair and he was diagnosed with alopecia areata.  luckily the hair he lost last year began to grow back about 4 months later. this time round, i noticed that the eyelashes on his right eye had fallen out and then we started to see spots and areas on his head become sparse.  over the last few months he has became balder and balder.  it had got to the point that the remaining long hair covering spots weren't really doing their job anymore and it was more noticeable than helpful.  we decided to bite the bullet a couple weeks ago and cut most of his hair off and shave it clean.  we kept a bit up top because it still looked alright and intact.  however everyday it continues to thin and leave him.  it's kind of sad.  why does his hair loss bum us out?  it is very difficult and uncomfortable to watch someone lose their hair so rapidly that from day to day things deteriorate.  what can you do though.  alopecia is an autoimmune disorder.  there is nothing we can do.  we can just play the cards we are dealt.  eli seems to not be bothered by it.  it is a huge change for him, he has always had a great head of hair.  we have been buying hats and beanies and whatever else he wants to wear on his head.  the top of his hair will probably go.  we will just keep trimming and trying to work it out as long as we can for him.  but, don't be surprised if you see him bald.

i guess that's how it goes.

eli began school today at a new school.  grade 5.  it was very hard to leave him this morning.  he has a great school and very nice teacher.  he was nervous.  i left him sitting in his desk ready to go.  i walked out of the class and stood and watched him for a while through the windows outside of his classroom in a common area.  he nervously fidgeted, looked a bit scared.  he watched other boys who obviously knew each other merrily greet and rough house.  i was dying inside for him so i had to leave and just trust he would be fine and would make some friends.  when i picked him up today he gave me a rating of 5 out of 10 for how his day went.  he couldn't identify anything negative that happened so i'll chalk his rating up to a boring instructional/organizational day.  i'm sure tomorrow will be rated better.  here's to a new school year!