Back to School

Try as we might to make the long and 'lazy' days of summer last forever, back to school snuck up on us again.  But some of us were pretty darn excited about the first day of school, which was on a Friday this year, weirdly enough.  I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't optional.  

These boys were up and ready to go well before the usual 7:00 wake up time.  And I'm so grateful for them.  Adam has always been like his daddy- early to rise and late to bed and somehow no worse for the wear- and his eager bright eyes and bushy tail first thing in the morning have rubbed off on Noah.  Most mornings all of the boys are up and dressed and taking the pup out before any of the girls are rolling out of bed (Mom included sometimes!). 

 Finally!  Time for first day of school pictures.... in which we were too excited about all of the friends rolling by to look at the camera.

Come on.... nope.  Still no luck.  Too excited!

The first day of kindergarten was here and Noah was ready.  His October birthday makes him an older kindergartner, and he has been ready to go for a while now. 

 Adam's taking on the role as big kid at school this year (our neighbor Cami graduated to the middle school with Leah this year) and he has taken his role as escort to Noah very seriously. 

   And my sweet Emma.  Ready for a new year with one of the toughest teachers in the school- or so we'd heard!  But if anyone can charm their way into a grouchy heart it's Emma. 

The weather is still so beautiful when school starts, so bikes it is for as long as possible. 

 We tried taking off Noah's training wheels but he's not quite ready to ride without them.  

Soon enough!

Oh my heart was trying not to think too much about this huge milestone day- all of my babies in school all day long!

 There are throngs of people in the school on the first day, so I said good-bye to Adam from Noah's classroom doorway and sent him off to fourth grade.  School is old news by now- he knew just what to do!

 Noah with Mrs. Vortherms- the same teacher Leah had for her final six weeks or so of kindergarten when we first moved here to Iowa.  She is a wonderful teacher and exactly who I was hoping Noah would get (although, no teacher requests at this school).  

 Emma helped her buddy-boo get situated

 and he was ready to dive in.  He's in the same classroom that he was in for preschool last year, and I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.  Familiarity is nice, and he assures me that the class is waaay different than it was before.  No complaints from Noah!

Next up was Emma- locker decorated,  

teacher met,  

and she was ready to learn!   That smile says, "Mom!  I'm fine.  You are dismissed."  She knew just what to do!

 And I had a few minutes to spare, so I headed over to the fourth grade hall (fifth grade actually, since Adam's class is displaced from the rest of the fourth graders) and pulled him out of his classroom, much to his chagrin and secret delight, I'm sure, to take his picture with Mrs. Halstead.  Leah had her in fourth grade as well, so this year feels familiar and not all that challenging, to me anyway.  No homework and a lot of extra time spent in the extended learning program doing programming, logic challenges, VR goggles and advanced reading has made this year a good one for Adam so far!

 Yes!  I am that embarrassing mother that takes pictures of her kids at their desks for as long as I can.  

Love that face- Mom!  Go!  Away!

 And then back at home it was Leah's turn for a front door seventh grade picture- look at that smile!  She was ready to go.  

The huge learning curve that came with starting at a new school last year has definitely been paying off this year with calmer nerves and a better sense of all of her responsibilities as a middle schooler. 

 And Laney was definitely sensing that something was up by this point.  Where were her playmates all disappearing to???

 She tried her best to jump out of the car with Leah, and ended up scrabbling at the door and whimpering for her to come back!  What a sad day for both of us. 

And now, six weeks in, I can definitely say that we are settled right back into the familiar marathon routine of the school year- early mornings, busy days, a race against the clock at bedtime and a happy sigh of "we did it!" on the weekends.  

I love all of the things the kids are learning at school every day- academic, emotional, and social.  They are all responsible with their homework and their school projects and even though there are moments when they say they don't want to go to school, not one of them has taken me up on the offer to homeschool them.  :)  It's been a good start to another great year!