First Day!

Today was the first day of school for my 2nd and 4th grader! Yikes!! Both were excited for school to start. They got up early and were ready waaay before it was time to go. Jake was a little bit nervous. He felt like throwing up all morning (cold sweats and all) and he didn't think he could make it, but he really wanted to go so he just made up his mind to do it. What a good kid! Here is Breanna with her new teacher, Ms. Hayes. (Meanwhile, Luke is in the background unshelving all of Ms. Hayes' books while his negligent mother tries to capture the moment of her Breezy becoming a 2nd grader.) Breanna has always been so easy going about starting new things. She loves adventure and loves to make new friends. Her outgoing personality made the first day of school a piece of cake! And she even got to sit by her buddy Nicholas (from her Kindergarten class)!

In fourth grade, it is deemed uncool to have your picture taken with your teacher on the first day of school. I thought Jake might die of embarrassment when I asked him if he would mind. I don't give up easily though, so I settled for snapping about a half dozen pictures of him in line with his buddies (none of which turned out...serves me right). After tolerating this for a bit, he kind of forced a smile and gave me this look that seemed to say, "Uh mom, the exit is that way..." I took the hint. I did ask for a hug, but as you can imagine, that didn't happen. Funny how when you're nine, hugs are only good when they buy you a few extra minutes before bedtime.

After school, they both reported that they love their teachers!! Hooray! Luke and I managed to have a pretty good day too! Although I must admit around 9:00 am I found myself wanting to get the kids ready for a day at the pool. So sad to realize those carefree days of summer are gone for now!

Later that day, Brittany, my good friend from NY came to visit us!! It was so fun to see her and catch up on old times. When her son was about 2, he locked himself inside my house while I was babysitting him. So when Brittany came to pick him up, she was surprised to find all of the kids and myself standing outside my front door (we had a glass storm door) looking in on her baby who was pounding on the glass, sobbing, wondering why no one would open the door for him. Our neighbor had to bring over his ladder and climb over our second story deck, to open the sliding glass door (thank heaven it wasn't locked) to rescue Aidan. Just one of the many fun memories for us to reminisce about. We used to have big time game nights in NY, so after dinner, we played Thurn and Taxis with Brittany. Although this was her first time playing, she annihilated both Jeromy and I! Just like old times!! We definitely miss Brittany and her family and the fun times we had in NY!