{ First Week of School }

I feel like I just sent my kids off for the first day of school  last year-I can’t believe that we are already into another school year. With all our summer activities and me being a bit “under the weather”-did I mention I am pregnant? we didn’t do our usual before school dates with each of the kids. It made me sad because I really love that one on one time with each of them. In my efforts to not seem like a total slug, I promised that it would still happen just not right before school started. Unfortunately, that growing-a-baby-thing really is taking it’s toll, and those much anticipated dates never happened. Luckily, the kids are so excited about this baby that they let it slide-at least that’s what they told me. We may have to do a midyear winter date instead this year.

We went the Thursday before school started to find out what teachers the kids had, and the girls were all really excited with who they got for teachers. Like every year I felt like I was so happy that they got super dedicated teachers, and it gave me hope for a really good year. 

Brooke is in 5th grade and finally at the top of the school totem pole. It’s hard to believe that this is her last year in elementary school. When we went to meet her teacher, her teacher was super excited to have her in her class. It made me feel good that she was such a positive teacher. She gets to switch classes for English Language Arts and Reading, and then stays with her teacher for the rest of the subjects.     

Erika is in 3rd grade this year, and really loves school, but man was she sad to see the summer end. She was trying to convince me that I should homeschool her so she wouldn’t have to go back. I think she loves the freedom that summer brings just like I do-but boy does she thrive on a schedule. Me homeschooling would NOT bring that consistently or schedule. Lucky for us, once she got to school and met her teacher she was just as excited to be back at school with her friends and doing the school thing again. Erika’s teacher is a new teacher at her school and had her room all set up for a fun year. Erika was a little sad that she didn’t know more friends in her class from last year, but had such a good attitude about a good year anyways.

   

With two older sisters footsteps to walk in, Abby’s new 2nd grade teacher already got a run down from Erika’s teacher last year, and was excited to have Abby in her class. When we come for meet the teacher night, we bring all the paper work with us. With five kids in school, I usually just print all the forms out at home all filled out and ready to go. Abby teacher was so cute when I gave her my papers all filled out already as she handed me a few extra ones to fill out. When I told her how many kids we had, I think she thought we were kidding, and then she felt sorry for me, and offered to just photocopy the papers I was filling out. It was cute.

   

First day of school

  

I feel like we were just having a repeat of last year for Austin-easy peasy. Go to the school, spend five minutes getting schedule, back in the car and off we go. He was really happy that he got on the same team as many of his friends for his 8th grade year-a good way to end out his middle school years. When we met his homeroom/English teacher she was SO funny. She insisted that he looked like the famous actor Rob Schneider. I couldn’t see it, but she was so emphatic about it. Austin said that she called him Rob for the first few days of school. I don’t know if she was trying to be funny, or she had really thought his name was Rob. So funny!

It’s amazing how going from 9th grade to 10th grade can be such a different experience. Many of those high school firsts are behind you, and actually knowing where to go in your school, and the routine of high school makes for a very low stress start to the year. We went to pick up Brianna’s schedule, got her lunch card/new finger scan all set up, and we were on our way. Some things do never change though-the picking out of the first day of school outfit is one of those. Brianna was happy to wear some of her new birthday clothes she had gotten, and it is always fun for me to see the new styles. It’s still crazy to me to see some of those styles coming back-wow does that make me feel old!