First Day of School {August 31}

There’s typically one and only one day I get up early enough to see the girls off to school and that’s on the first day of school.  Thankfully, early morning seminary had started yet so it wasn’t too early.

First off was Abigail – Freshman in high school!  Thankfully we currently have a 9th grade campus so she has a year to ease into the high school scene without being already thrust into the lions den.

Shortly afterward Carly was off – 7th grade (middle of middle school) for this one!

I had to wake both Jason and Katie up to get ready for their first day.

4th and 1st grade for these two:

And that leaves Drewbee home alone ALL DAY with just his Mama.

We’re still adjusting to Drew not having any playmates.  He still naps everyday, but last year his nap aligned with when Katie was in half-day kindergarten so he always had a playmate around when he was awake.  I’ve never been the best and playing with my kids so we’re both figuring out our new norm.

A brand new elementary school opened up this year just down the hill from our house.  While we are thrilled to have a school closer, and that our kids won’t be on the bus nearly 1.5-2 hours each day, we are so, so sad to leave Fall City Elementary.  I loved the laid back vibe at Fall City and I’m concerned that being at a neighborhood school will be too foo-fooy for my tastes.  We’ll see.

Anyhow, that meant my elementary kiddos are now walking to school each day.  I walked with them the first couple days, but honestly, that hill is a BEAST and I have no desire to do that everyday (been there done that when I was in elementary! Up hill both ways AND through blizzards and sub-zero temps).  After the second day of school Jason and Katie actually asked me not to walk with them anymore I was happy to oblige.

Here’s my little crew all ready to make the trek to school!

(Drew was sad I didn’t let him take the light saber with us)

They usually meet up with a few other kiddos from the neighborhood along the way and Jason is under strict command that he has to stay with Katie.

Funny story that happened just last week: 

Jason burst through the front door after school and quickly rushed into the bathroom.  Katie walked in exhausted, bursting into tears that Jason was walking too fast and kept getting after her to keep up.  Again, the hill is super steep so I totally understand her pain.  I felt bad for Katie, but clearly Jason REALLY needed to go and he knew he could only get home as fast as his little sister.

We were supposed to have a Meet the Teacher event the day before school started, but construction on the school isn’t quite finished so they had to cancel.  The interior is complete though so school was able to start as planned.  Since this was everyone’s first time in the school it was a crazy morning.  All the parents came in with their kiddos and adding to the craziness all of the school supplies we had to drop off as well.  Guess it gave me a chance to get a first day of school picture of the kids at their desks.

Behind Jason (on the left) is the Mom of twin boys Jason is friends with from our old ward.  Now that we attend a school in Snoqualmie my kids actually get to go to school with friends from church.  Jason’s class is packed with friends from church (mostly from our old ward) and plenty of friends from the neighborhood as well.  On the right is his teacher Ms. Coleman.  Carly had Ms. Coleman at Fall City for third grade and we were thrilled when we found out Jason would get to have her this year.

It really is a beautiful building and I’m excited to have them so much closer to home.  Added bonus is that they get home an hour earlier than in years past.  It sure is nice to have that extra hour with them before the evening rush of activities sets in every day – though it’s still taking me some adjusting to not having as long to myself in the afternoons to get stuff done.

Katie brought this home after her first few days of school.

I love that she’s happy about school.  Pleased that she feels good about math.  But perhaps she may need a little help with spelling :)

We’re off to a great start!  I’m still waking the younger kiddos up most mornings for school.  And Katie has been a bit sassier than normal as she’s adjusting to all day school, but I think we’re getting into the groove.