First Day of School!

Well it has begun: a new school year. Same school, and the same classes.  Bode has his old teacher, Teacher Traci. Gianna has a new (boy!) teacher, Mr. Trent.  Some old friends, and some new friends.  It will be a great school year!

You can see from their sleepy, glazed expressions in these photos that school was kind of an abrupt change to their summer routine!  Plus, all the new faces around them in a familiar setting had their attentions.

They both had a really good first day.  They came home in good spirits, and tired! But it will be awhile, I think, before the reality of "school-is-the-new-norm" will sink into their heads.


The second day was just as startling. I had to wake them, and they seemed surprise when I told them to get ready for school.  We got Gianna into a pair of (new) pants. I guess, since she agreed to wear them this morning, that she is conceding that yes, it is indeed chilly in the mornings and we must dress appropriately!  Bode insisted on wearing the same outfit (???) as yesterday.  I washed it last night but we had to do a speed dry this morning.  Ugh, it was all tears and protests until I produced that *&#@ lightening bolt shirt and orange shorts from the dryer! Nico is the only one that is cheerful in the mornings. He loves going to school. Maybe it is because we take a walk through the farm and see chickens and goats after dropping Bode and Gianna! 

It will take awhile for our routine to become...well, routine.   I'll try to take more snaps and report more next week. Hopefully the children will get more sleep and look more rested over the next week!

I do hope that I will be able to blog more with the children in school.  Nico is not quite ready to nap in the mornings. He kind of dropped morning naps over the summer. But I'm hoping that he too will settle into a nap routine so that he can rest while his sibs are at school.  I missed reporting on our summer adventures (we did do a lot off our summer bucket list!) and I missed capturing milestones  and special events (Nico's milestones, and baptisms, in particular).  Hopefully, I'll be back to this blog regularly!

Hope that your back-to-school week has been fun!

xo

Bode: First Day of Kindergarten

Bode had his first day of Kindergarten on Thursday and all is well.  He really likes going to "camp" (he went to camp at this school over the summer, so he is calling it "camp").  He likes his teacher, Miss Lyn. And that, my friends, is all there is to report.

I made French toast and bacon for his breakfast, and he seemed happy about that.  And I made him 'dress up' for his first day, even though this is not a dress up type of school. He is at Forest Kindergarten, which means he is outside all day.  So as soon as I took the obligatory (obligatory for me)  photos at school, we went inside and changed.  It was damp and chilly, so we changed out of his Polo, into 2 shirts and rain gear. 

First outfit change

Miss Lyn, Bode's Kindergarten teacher

It really was...calm and easy (and still the morning seemed to rush by super fast and I was left with all these emotions for several hours until I picked him up).  His transition back to school was easy. I am not sure if it's because he really thinks that he is just going to camp or if he's familiar with some of the kids, or what. I guess time will tell.

His teacher reports that the past 2 days went "great" and Bode ate a ton at lunch. On Thursday, he ate brown rice and veggies.  On Friday, he couldn't tell me what he ate, except that it was a vegetable I had made before that he didn't like.  Friday night, Bode told me, "I rike eating at home better because the food is sweeter." 

On Fridays, Miss Amy (Bode's preschool teacher and Gianna's future preschool teacher) assists in the classroom.  So it was a lot of fun to be reunited with Miss Amy on Friday morning. Bode had a huge smile on his face when he saw her. Gianna got to say Hello to Miss Amy before the first day of school, which is nice, too.

After school, I suggested that we get a treat to celebrate Bode's first day.  He wanted to go to the bookstore cafe (ugh) and get a stuffed pretzel, milk, and a treat.  He picked out a chocolate cupcake for his treat.  Gianna picked out a pink cupcake for her treat. Nico got nothing but a rice cracker. And he was not happy about that, believe me.

And next is little Miss Mia's big day. She is so excited. Miss Amy told me on Friday, "I don't think you're going to have any problems with her! She is READY."  Yes, I know. But I am not. In fact, Thursday and Friday, I was so emotional about her, about what *I* am losing. I had such a good time "alone" with her while Bode was at school. I think I am always hyper-aware that these minutes are precious, but more so this past week. Everything that she said and did just shone brightly. She is such a beautiful little girl, so full of love and smiles, often saying, "I love you, Mommy" (and PING! goes my heartstrings. every.time.)  I will cry on the inside when I drop  her off on her first day. But I will make sure that her first day is happy, and special.

And then, after that (is this my life, now, or what?!) is Sir Nicholas.  Yes, this jolly baby is turning one. I can not believe it. The fastest year of my life.  I will try not to be sad. (are you noticing a theme here?) But again, I will put my emotions aside and be happy for this lovely little boy. We will have a party to celebrate this little guy's first year.  Celebrate we will!

Party on, people. 

xo