New School & Carolina Sunrises

My children have always gotten up early... ALWAYS. No matter what time they went to bed the previous night, they were always ready to hit the day running full speed - early. Well, move across country, move their school start time up an hour and a half, and all of a sudden I have to start WAKING them up. First time ever. I have been lucky enough to live a block from their school for the last few years, but now I am about 4 miles away. That's what happens when you live in the country.

So every morning I am getting the boys up at 6:30am. Why don't I have them take the bus, it picks them up right in front of our house? Because the bus comes at 6:30am and I would rather let them sleep an extra 30 minutes, and so they don't have to sit at the school an extra 30 minutes. I'd rather be with them as long as possible before they are gone all day. So I take them to school.

I get all the kids into the car, Ella insists on carrying her brothers lunches. We are headed off to school, often before the sun is up, Colonies blasting in our ears, the kids singing along. I race to the school (speed limit 45 mph - nice!) It takes me about 10 minutes there, 10 minutes back, just as long as I time it right. We pull into the school drop off line. Their school is a tight run ship. Everything works like clockwork. It is extremely impressive. I love it, they love it. Kisses & hugs and they are off for the day. We drive back home to begin the rest of our day.

So what is so wonderful about this early jaunt to the school and back? The hectic rush to get in the car? The fact that I now have a garage to park in so no more scraping ice or chasing Ella down the street?Although great, no.

It's the ride back. I get to watch the sunrise every morning. It makes the early mornings much more delightful. What a great way to start the day! 

Now, since I am often driving when I see the sun rise, by the time I get home, I am often too late to take the most colorful fuschia sky pictures... but here are a few that we shot as soon as we drove into our neighborhood last week. Often the lake has a really cool misty fog over it in the mornings. Everything is pink, magenta purples and blues.

Then all of a sudden as the sun peaks out over the trees, everything bursts into golden hues.

No matter how crazy and hectic it was getting all the kids ready and out the door on time, it's hard not to just stop and admire the beautiful sky and earth Heavenly Father has created for us.

It's a great way to start (or refesh) your day!