First Day of School.....

It's crazy to realize that it's already fall. With the kids going back to school and summer winding down, I just can't believe how fast they grow. Sometimes I wish I was the homeschooling mother. They spend way too much time in school. I feel a little deprived....but I won't flatter myself into actually thinking they would want to spend all day with me anyway. They have been in school two days and of course the little ones love it!



J.D. and Nick think it's great and they love their teachers. J.D. also really thinks eating lunch at school is cool. It was hard to send him to first grade but he's loving it and he even got an extra snack at school because he was the only one who said Thank You! Way to go bud! I can't believe Nick is in 3rd grade. Every time I filled out paperwork, I would have to say to myself "what grade is Nick in? is it really 3rd?" He's way too little to be learning cursive and times tables right???? Crazy.

Abi started a new school this year, Cedar Ridge, which means she is in middle school. That's an absolutely crazy idea too. Maybe this is all a dream and they are all still in preschool and running around the house in diapers. It's nice because Josh and Abi now are on the same bus again...at least in the morning. She is loving having 7 different classes and having a locker. We decorated it all cute the day before school (girls are clearly more fun in this regard) and made sure she could find all her classes. She found out she has some of her good friends in class with her and that made her a little less nervous. She is wondering where the prestigious "a la carte" lunch line is though. I told her maybe they just didn't have it set up for the first two days of school. She's hoping to see it next week.

Josh is off to a good start. He's not exactly thrilled to be back in school but he's got a good attitude and is going to keep working hard like always. The highlight for him is of course the golf team. He's really loving being a part of something. And of course he keeps telling us he needs a new club of some sort (don't ask me, I don't really know), but Russel keeps telling him his club is just great, etc. So I told Josh maybe for Christmas he could get the "R9" or whatever it is. He and his dad were at the golf course this morning and of course Dad is a little softie at times. On the way home they called to tell me that Josh is now the proud owner of an "R9 460." What???? But of course they had the golf pro hit the ball with Josh's club and then with the R9 and it clearly went an extra 50 yards so Josh has been right all along....he can hit better with the "R9." :) What awful parents he has that made him use a subpar club for all these months. It's a good thing we got that problem remedied.

With the kids going back to school, i wondered about how Meili would do. The kids have really spent almost every second together since being home and I wondered what her adjustment would be like. She slept late that morning and was not able to see the kids leave for school. When I got her up, much to my surprise, she wasn't frantically searching for the kids. She mentioned one of the kids names a little later on and I just simply said that Josh, Abi, Nick, and J.D. went to school. She nodded her cute little head up and down like she perfectly understood what that meant. We had a great morning and then met Daddy for lunch....which is becoming her favorite part of the day. When we got home we played outside for a bit while we waited for Abi's bus. When the bus passed our house, I said "look there's Abi's bus." We walked down to the corner and could see Abi just starting up the hill. As soon as Meili saw Abi, she took off running for her. I got emotional watching the two of them. Abi dropped her bag and scooped Meili up in her arms. Two sisters entwined in love. It was a moment Abi has waited for, for many years. She often says "mom, I can't believe it, I got the perfect sister in the whole world." I wholeheartedly agree.....as did Meili. They are perfect sisters and friends. Our two sweethearts. And as Grandpa calls them "his angels."

Since I have no pictures of Meili on the first day of school, I thought I'd include some pictures from our swimming day at grandma and grandpa's before school started.