First Day of School - 2011

Yesterday was the first day of school. Kylie started third grade and Joshie started first grade.

At open house a few nights ago, Kylie was so excited to be there had a blast reconnecting with her teacher and getting her supplies set up. She was so excited that she had a desk this year, and that her teacher, since she looped with them, decided that she would flip the alphabet when assigning the kids’ numbers…so Kylie is number 5 this time, whereas she’s normally in the 20’s.

Joshie on the other hand was not quite as enthusiastic as Kylie about going back to school. It’s not that he was dreading it, but he definitely was not looking forward to it as much as his sister. When he met his teacher he was really quiet and shy…I think she was a little worried about him :)

We started off the first day with our second annual “cakes on the court.” We (us and our neighbors) bring our griddles out and cook up pancakes and sausage and all the kids get to play and eat a great breakfast before heading off to school. This year started out a little rocky as it had been storming since early that morning. We knew we would still do the breakfast; it would just have to be in the garage. But thankfully, it stopped raining and we were able to have the whole thing out in the court. The kids of course had a lot of fun playing with each other and getting some of their excess energy out. We then snapped some pictures and headed off to school.

Kylie tried to convince me that I didn’t need to walk in with her (fat chance!). So John and I quickly dropped her off (not without a quick kiss and a quick picture), and then headed to Josh’s hallway. Same thing, a quick kiss and picture and we were off! I’m very thankful that I’m good with my kids growing up…I think it’s because I have so many of them :) I’m so excited about everything each of them will learn this year, and I’m honestly ready for the family to get back into the “normal” routine, that I was extremely happy they were back to school! So definitely, no tears shed!

We walked back home and I put Colton down for a nap and John played trains with Ry-Ry. I made up a batch of coleslaw (I’ve never made it before because I don’t like it that much, but Kylie and Joshie love it). Then John went out and mowed and I took the boys on a walk down to the pond. By now the sun was out, the skies were clear, and it was gorgeous outside! So very different from just a few hours before…

When John was done we went to lunch at a little place in our town that we had been wanting to try. We sat outside, which was right on the streets of downtown, and since Colton was sleeping, we got to have a really nice lunch with Ryan. After lunch we headed to the cupcake shop for some dessert for that night :)

We went home and Ryan went down for a nap, John ran to the store in order to get some food for his trip, and I sat down on the floor and played with Colton. I’m so amazed at how he rolls all over the place. Rolling is his crawling, and it’s annoying because I can’t take my eyes off of him for one second! He still really has no interest in sitting by himself or getting up on all fours to maybe think about crawling, but he is definitely a rolly-polly :)

I went to pick up Josh and Kylie from school and they both had a fantastic day! They talked non-stop the whole way home! Once we got home they both went off and did their own thing – you could tell they needed some downtime to just chill. I made dinner (shrimp quesadillas that were wonderful!) and then we headed out on a family bike ride. It was Colton’s first ride (he rode next to Ryan in the carrier) and it was Josh’s first long bike ride on his big bike. It was a great ride…the only downside is that even though we were gone for a long time, we did not see a train, and that was all Ryan wanted to see (we normally see at least one while we’re out).

After the ride we talked to the neighbors for a while and then headed inside for cupcakes and baths. Kylie had already gone in earlier and taken her shower and gotten ready for bed! She was so excited for school the next day :) After the kids were in bed, John packed up for Bristol and I went to bed.

It was an awesome first day of school and a fabulous day off work for John and me.