First day of school...part 2...

A few more pictures from our first day of school - with our annual visitors. Having cousins over might be the highlight of the day for the kids!

First day of school...

Today was the first day of school and it was successful on all accounts. The forecast called for rain and the kids were nervous that recess would be cancelled. How bummed would a kindergartener be to show up to his first day of school and feel as though he was tricked with everyone talking of recess with no recess in sight!? Luckily, the rain held out.

When they returned home, there was talk of nice teachers, new friends, fun bus rides and good lunches. They unanimously agreed they would all go back tomorrow. Just what I was hoping to hear. I think the only one who struggled today was Cannon. I can't even count how many times he asked for "HallieHunterBennett" said very quickly so all the names blended together. He kept asking about them over and over again today in swim lessons and the teacher finally asked me what he was saying. To say he missed his buddies today would be an understatement!









Here's each kid with their neighborhood/bus riding friends. The friends they end up having a picture with year after year.

Back to School Dinner...

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that my kids start school tomorrow. I haven't even gone through all our summer photos yet, and now I'm taking back-to-school photos. And even though it seems way too early - they're ready and I'm ready. Bennett is the most outwardly excited about starting kindergarten and yet he's also the one showing the most concern and reluctance for what's just around the corner. We've talked and talked and talked some more about what he should expect. The older kids have told him what to expect and yet you can see it in his eyes, he's still a little skeptical. The thought of eating lunch at school is more excitement than he can handle, it's worrying about where the bathroom is at and whether or not his teacher is going to be nice that are making him a tad nervous.

Tonight we had our annual back-to-school dinner. This year's theme is "Bee" Smart, which as we discussed tonight covers a lot of ground. It's more than just doing well in school. It's making smart decisions when with friends. It's being smart with their money as they find independence in spending their cash. It's being smart in how they spend their time. We had a great discussion over dinner (as much as you can when you have a baby and a two-year-old in the room) and the rest of the night kept building the anticipation for tomorrow.

Props to Hallie today - she was my wing girl in the whole operation. I'm pretty sure next sure she's going to do the whole dinner and do it better than me!









See our previous back to school dinners here, here and here.

Last day of school...

It's a bittersweet day and it is every year - the last day of school. The kids are excited to have endless days in the pool but are sad that they won't see their friends for 7 hours every day.

I know there's mothers out there that look forward to this day. They dream about this day and all the adventures that they can have with their kids. I am not that mom. Perhaps its the stage of my children - when they're older it might be a different story.

Either way, I'm hear to say that you can love your kids dearly and still dread all of them being home at the same time for any stretch of time. I enjoy the schedule that school provides for our family. I like that they don't expect screen time. I like that they fight less with each other. I like that they come home from school and know that they have chores that have to be completed. I like the school year. And even though being in the "trenches" of motherhood during the summer isn't grand - it does have some perks.

My favorite perk - absolutely no obligations. Without any obligations, I'm able to take our crew to Idaho for extended amounts of time which is my very favorite part of summer. In fact if you ask my kids, it's their favorite part of summer as well. We measure summer based on when we're going to Idaho. My other favorite part - no laundry! The kids live in swimsuits which makes laundry day a breeze!

Ready or not - summer is here!

Our annual first and last day of school pictures.

Fire Station...

Bennett attends the same preschool that Hunter attended. Which means Bennett has an idea of what to expect because the teacher keeps a similar curriculum year to year. He knows that there is a reward at the end of the year if you do all your fun sheets. He knows the special treatment you get on your birthday. He knows that when you read books you get stickers. And he knows there is a field trip to the fire station. A field trip where you get to bring your very own sack lunch and the teacher makes cinnamon rolls for you. He knows this because he attended when Hunter went and he was pretty excited to have his own turn. (in which Cannon attended - you see the pattern!)

First - a throw back to when Bennett first went to the fire station. He was 2 1/2 years old and clearly was enamored with the fire alarm they sounded for the kids.


Then he went and grew up on us.





Bennett made sure to look after Cannon. Cannon wasn't a fan of all the commotion and sounds, so Bennett made sure to comfort him and lead him along with his buddies.






Give Cannon a couple more years and he'll be attending his own fire station field trip with Briggs in tow!

Hallie for treasurer...

Hallie came home from school two weeks ago with a packet of information about running for student council. She was conflicted - she really wanted to run, but she was really scared. If I'm being honest, I was 100% supportive of her running, but I was also hoping that over the weekend she would lose interest. I'm not even sure why I felt that way. I was in student council year after year and it was a great experience, yet I felt protective of her feelings and I didn't want her to be disappointed if she lost. (She would be running against kids from the grade above her.)

Monday rolled around and she came home with all the student and teacher signatures she needed to be a candidate. She had made up her mind, she was going to run for treasurer. When your kid makes up their mind in a situation like this, you become their biggest cheerleader. And Steve and I cheered her on. She practiced her speech over and over again and we made her posters.



Wednesday we went to the school to watch her give her speech. I'm pretty sure I was more nervous for her giving her speech than I ever was standing in front of my own student body. She killed it. She gave the speech just as she had practiced and I was one proud mom watching her fearless confidence on the stage (she later admitted she was scared to death and couldn't stop shaking.)

The winners were to be announced this morning during the school announcements. I told Hallie to use the classroom phone and call me as soon as she found out. I waited and waited and finally I got the call. I knew immediately, it wasn't great news. I wanted to reach through the phone, hug her and shout, "At least you tried." I could tell she was having a hard time not being emotional in front of a classroom of her peers. So I gave her my love and we hung up. I thought about her all day. Her posters were great, her speech was great, there was nothing she should have done differently.

When she got home I got her raw emotions. She wanted the position so badly. I think what hurt more than losing was having her friend win another position and then having her brag about it all day long.

As I was comforting her, I couldn't help but think what great lessons she learned in this process. She went for something and didn't get it - rejection never feels good but it's part of life and its important to learn how to deal with it. She gained confidence in her speaking in front of people. She was forced out of her comfort zone to talk to people she was't familiar with. She learned (through her friend's example) that being really happy about something for yourself can be hurtful to others.

And most importantly she learned to not give up. I asked if she thought she would run again, she replied, "Yep." That's my girl.

Howdy partner...

Cowboy week at school is always impressive with this teacher. They make stick horses and marshmallow guns and the teacher sews vests and holsters and provides hats. The kids are full-blown cowboys by the end of the week.

When I picked up Bennett, his teacher told me that he was the fastest boy in the horse race. When I asked Bennett about it, he excitedly told me it was his shoes. They're really fast shoes - faster than any other shoes he's ever had. That's why he won the race. He plans on wearing them again in case someone wants to race him.

That's what you get when you put tennis shoes on an Arizona boy - he's so used to running in flip flops that the minute he has real shoes on (which is a rare occasion) they really do make him run faster!

Star Student...

There's a big difference between boys and girls when it comes to school projects. When Hallie would get a project she would come home from school and demand that we work on it immediately because it was due in two weeks. Hunter gets a project and we're lucky if we find out before the due date has come and gone!

He was the star student a couple weeks ago and after a long week I was cleaning out his backpack when I came across a packet of information stating he was star student and a poster needed to be made and turned in on Monday. It was Thursday - four days later! I'm lucky I found it because it had important information regarding his "Star Report" which happened to be the next day and needed a parent to come present with him in class.

This is when Steve's new found flexible schedule comes in handy - He was able to be in the classroom and present facts about Hunter while I stayed home with two napping children.

I'm not sure who was more excited - Hunter or Steve!