First day of school!

On the way to the big first day of school!

 

The kids started school on Monday and all were excited to go back (including me)! I know that sounds mean but after a really busy and great summer, I am just ready for a little routine and structure again. And, the kids were starting to fight and nit pick at each other so it was good for all involved. They were all so excited about the first day. They had their clothes picked and layed out, their backpacks were all ready to go by the door and a couple of them had a hard time falling asleep. I went down to check on everyone at 10:00 and Jordyn and Kaleb were fast asleep but Morgan had snuck in to Regan's room and there they were laying in bed visiting about the day to come. The morning went great and everyone was out the door and on the bus in good time except for Kaleb because he's a Kindergartener and they don't bus them until the 2nd week of school. He was rearing to go and practically pushing me in to the van at 8:00. He's so excited about his teacher, Mrs. Schuster. She used to be our music teacher at the school but unfortunately the music program was one of the programs cut last year so she applied for the job of Kindergarten teacher and she is AWESOME!!! Jordyn is in 2nd grade this year and has been excited all summer for her new year with Mrs. Funke. She's in our Stake and she often attends the children's baptisms that are in her class so Jordyn has already invited her to her baptism in October and is quite sure she'll attend.:) Jordyn spent much of her summer reading and was constantly begging to go to the public library. She's so excited for the AR program at the school and is hoping that she'll pass her 200 points that she earned in 1st grade. Morgan is in 4th grade this year and has Mrs. Jenkins for her teacher. She's also in our Stake and just a really great lady. I'm excited for Morgan because she has some of her good buddies in her class this year finally. Of all of our kids, she's pretty content to be on her own but I can tell that she's excited to have some kids to hang out with that she knows really well. Morgan does really well in school and also loves to read, in fact, she finished the whole Percy Jackson series this summer and she's rearing to go with the AR program again this year. I'm excited to see what this school year will bring for Morgan! Regan is in 8th grade this year and every time I say it out loud I get shivers up and down my spine. It's crazy that we'll have a High Schooler next year. Regan was so excited to go back to school and was much more relaxed than last year at this time. She's got a great group of girls that she hangs around with and the fact that she's figured the middle school scene out, helps a lot. Oh, and one of her best friend's, Lindee Andrus, transferred over from the Charter school to Rocky Mountain this year so she and Regan have spent the whole summer talking and planning out their year together!! I'm sure it will be another busy year for her between her involvement in sports and her busy schedule which includes some honor's classes.

Saturday evening, DJ gave the kids blessings in preparation for the school year. I'm thankful for the Priesthood that he holds and grateful that he's such a caring father. It was so cute because after he gave the 4 kids blessings, Porter ran right up and plopped himself up on the chair for his blessing. He was not going to be left out. Kami was being a grump so she didn't care to have one but the kids all thought it was so cute and Porter was just beaming. I think one of the kids asked DJ when he'd get his blessing for school and when would he be having his back to school night for his Doctorate Program? :):)

I stole my sister-in-law, Sara's idea of interviewing her kids after the first day of school so this is what they had to say:
Kaleb: I love it, mom. I gave my teacher hugs. She's nice. We went to recess and then we got locked out so the duty had to call Mrs. Schuster. She saved the day and let us in. she used her walkie talkie. No kids said bad words, dad's blessing worked, MOM!! Have you seen my classroom? I feel like I've been here before. It's weird. We went to Mr. Lord's office. He's the principal and his name is Jason but I shouldn't call him that. We also went to the library and it was fun seeing all of the books. We didn't get to sit on the couch and my legs hurt and I was thirsty. There was no hard work, I'm SERIOUS mom! We just did lower case letters.

Jordyn- It was Mrs. Funke's B-Day and we got to have root beer floats! I don't have homework. I did spelling. We go to go in the loft and read. We did math and I ate my lunch. I played at recess 3 times. I was going to walk the track but I got a major thing, my hair got stuck in my dress but my friends kept pulling and pulling and finally it came out. I love my friend Alyssa. There are lots of new girls, TONS! We took them on a tour of the school. My favorite thing was the root beer floats. I won't get a stomach ache because I didn't drink too much. School is the best!

Morgan- I'm boy trapped in my classroom. I sit between Justin and Gage. I turned in my lunch money and we had to write a poem in cursive and print. We could say it aloud and get a kiss, not a kiss, but a good kind of kiss, the chocolate kind. You don't have to get in the reading bathtub if you don't want to but I really want to (Mrs. Jenkins has an old fashioned bathtub in her room and they call it the reading tub) You just have to ask to get in and you get to switch someone every 15 minutes. We're already working on Idaho History. Sebastion didn't do anything bad today. He was really good. Actually, Tanne broke Cassidy's colored pencil so she sharpened it and it was really tiny so we all laughed. I'm going to to really like 4th grade.

Regan- I didn't actually interview her but she came flying through the door declaring that 8th grade at RMMS is the best!! She loves all of her teachers and she's so excited because Lindee is in lots of her classes. She says she's way more organized than she was last year because she's got an awesome binder that she vows to keep clean and organized. She's already got plans to run for student government and to be involved in as much as possible. She also said told me that she wouldn't call the 7th graders "Sevies" because that drove her completely nuts last year.

Here's to another great school year!

First day of school (August 30, 2010)

I can't believe we're in school again.  It seems weird that 4 out of the 6 kids are in school, man, I'm getting old.  Actually, Kaleb has one more year of preschool but he's gone 3 days out of the week from 11:30 until 3:00.  He gets to ride the bus which makes it nice for me but I have to admit, I get a little sad when I see him leave.  He just seems too little.  He enjoys preschool so much and the teachers are fantastic so I'm not going to complain.  Really, I've never seen Kaleb quite so excited to head out the door for school as he was on the first day.  He was up at 6:00, clothes on, backpack out, smile on his face, and wondering when his bus would be here.  It was all I could do to break the news that he still had 4 long hours to wait for the bus.  He handled it pretty well and planned out the morning like this:  first I'll eat breakfast, then I'll watch the Letter Factory, then I'll play with the babies, then I'll ride my bike, and then I'll have a snack and head to school.  He's a fun kid and I'm loving that he's growing out of the little "mouthy" stage he was in for a short while.  Love you, Kaleb!  

What a handsome little guy!

Jordyn is in 1st grade this year and has Mrs. Walker as her teacher.  She's so excited and ready to stay all day but is most excited about eating school lunch:)  She was so excited to pick her outfit for the first day and stretchy pants were sure to be in the mix:)  I've said it before and I'll say it again, Jordyn LOVES getting dolled up in the morning, right down to the last piece of jewelry.  Some of her favorite items include, stretch pants, skirts, rounded toe shoes, necklaces, new hair do's, jeans, tank tops with shirts underneath, to name a few.  She's getting better at choosing things that match so I guess I can live with her obsession. 

My two Elementary school girls!  Morgan's the big sis at the school now!  She has walked Jordyn to her classroom for the last 2 days per Jordyn's request.  I think she enjoys feeling like a little mother.  She's a great kid but definitely the one who's emotions I can't quite figure out yet, actually, I don't think she has them figured out either so at least we're on the same page.  Anyway, she'll be a busy girl for the next few months as she's involved in Soccer which she LOVES more than probably anything and she's starting piano again after a 4 week summer break so we're off and running again.  Love you Morgan!! 

Morgan is in 3rd grade this year and has Mrs. Willis as her teacher. 

I love this kid, she's beautiful inside and out!  It's so interesting how my girls are all completely different.  Morgan is slightly camera shy, partly in due to her braces which I think she looks adorable in!   She's happy with one pair of favorite shoes, a pair of jeans, and a couple of cute shirts.  She would also live in basketball shorts and t-shirts if I'd let her.  Soooo completely different than the little diva up above.  But, I love each one of them the same and wouldn't change a thing. 

This was not a great picture of Regan, she looks a wee bit stressed for her first big day of Middle School.  Although, if she had taken a picture of me Monday morning, I would've had the same expression on my face only 10 times worse. Yikes, I can't believe I have a daughter in middle school.  I actually went to Walmart to buy makeup today and walked out with "age defying foundation" hoping that it just might help cover the bags under my eyes and little wrinkles that are showing up:)  It's a sad commentary if you ask me!

;

Sitting in the car on a very rainy first day of school waiting for the bus!  She's looking a bit more confident!  DJ took one look at her and commented on how pretty she looked and how scared he is that the boys might notice her.  I think he'll probably come home with a supply of gunny sacks for her to wear for the next 9 months. 

I think we've officially entered the crazy stage of our lives.  We're up at 6:00 for our family time, the little girls leave to catch the bus at 7:25.  Regan leaves for the bus at 7:45, I scramble to clean up the house and run a few errands.  Three days a week Kaleb catches the bus at 11:30 which means an earlier lunch than usual.  The babies and I hang out for an hour before their afternoon naps.  I play catch up while they sleep, plan dinner, do laundry, devise plans for getting all children to all activities just in time for the kids to arrive home at 3:00.  Then starts homework, piano, soccer practice, activity days, Y.W., picking Regan up from Cross Country, play practice for Jordyn, and whatever else we can squeeze in for the week.  No wonder I've graduated to "age defying" makeup:)   To make things a little more crazy, its canning season and I'll be guilt ridden if I don't squeeze it in.  So far we've done 24 jars of applesauce and some freezer beans.  My neighbor just called to let me know she can get peaches for canning for $12.00 a box, I can't turn that down!  This is life, and I love it!! 

Back to School!

The girls started school yesterday and both had a great days! Morgan is in 1st grade and has Mrs. Walker and Regan is in 5th grade and has Mrs. O'Donnell. How did I get so old? As I was taking pictures of the girls as they were heading out to the bus yesterday I took a look at Regan and couldn't believe how grown up she looked! She's really changed this summer and is becoming a young woman instead of my little girl. Okay, I know that sounds really cheesy but it's the truth!! Anyway, it was a fun morning because the girls were giggling and chatting down in their bedroom as they were picking out their "first day of school outfit" (I remember those days!) They both looked adorable and as sad as I was to see my 2 helpers walk out the door, I couldn't help but be excited for them! Hopefully it will be a great year for both. I have to say that it was a very long day for me with no extra arms around to hold babies besides little Jordy. She's a big help it some areas but unfortunatly can't carry around fussy babies. She did climb up on the bed with Porter this morning and talked to him for a good 20 minutes while I was getting ready and he was more than entertained with all of her singing and talking. This afternoon I gave her the job of taking all the grapes off 2 huge packages of grapes so I set her up on the bar where Kamryn was hanging out in her bouncy chair. Kamryn started to fuss so Jordyn was trying to calm her and after a couple of minutes of Kamryn not calming she said, "Shush Kamryn, I need to concentrate (as if taking grapes off the vine takes a great deal of concentration) hmm....... I wonder where she's heard that before???