School begins

 

While Nicole and I were in DC, Jim and Brandon took all the kids to the zoo with our good friends Sheri and Nick and their girls. Sounds like a wonderful and wild time. Diana and Evelyn were pretty cute together. I admire the bravery involved in that expedition!

 

I also missed meet the teacher so Jim took pictures for me of Mike with his 1st grade teacher.

 

Nicole gets to have class in a "cottage." :) I love how they arrange 3-5th graders having two teachers that teach different subjects. The kids learn to take certain supplies to a different classroom and have to be more responsible. Great prep for middle school.

 

Jake doing some skateboarding with his helmet on backwards and his shoes-as always- on the wrong feet. He is so cute and determined. A new skate park opened in our town and twice Jim has taken the kids at 6am to go ride scooters before anyone else shows up.

 

First day! The kids loved the first week and I feel great about their teachers and friends. Our school starts even later now- 9:15! Since I have three kids doing piano practice I don't mind, especially since it gives them more time in the morning to play in the backyard before they have to go to school.

 

Diana riding a skateboard her style.

 

Jake and D spent a lot of time playing when Nicole and Mike went to school. Jake starts officially this next Monday (the new K only attend one assessment day the first week to ensure the classes are academically balanced). His class has a drinking fountain that is attached to the side of sink that has a regular faucet too. His teacher said they told him he could get a drink and he went over, turned on the faucet and put his mouth upside down to guzzle. They thought it was hilarious and I joked that of course nobody ever drinks from the faucet at our house ;)

 

Mike's birthday was the first day of school. He was pretty lucky because he got to bring cupcakes to school. Top of the world would easily describe his day! It was hectic for me trying to get cupcakes, presents, make a cake, etc after going through the craziness of first morning back to school.

 

He got a cop and racer remote control car. They are endlessly having cop chases in the back yard.

 

 

Michael and his requested birthday cake- monsters, dragons, paladins, rangers, etc. And all chocolate :)

 

Our kiwi plants have grown 6 feet this summer all the way to the trellis! I am really looking forward to next year and hopefully a harvest!

 

 

We had the scouts over Tuesday for a campfire and skit. My kids were voracious s'mores consumers while the scouts were more interested in the zipline and skateboard swing. It's fun being able to just plunk down a campfire ring and light a log :)

 

 

Farewell dinner for Daniel at La Cocina. They put us in their "party" room. 11 kids is definitely a wild and crazy something! Daniel fit in so easily to North Carolina it felt so strange that he is leaving to finish up at the Y. He is so fun to have around, such a great role model for the kids, and brings a good spirit with him. When I asked Diana if she wanted to eat with Daniel at a restaurant, she lit up and said "Yesssss!!" She ended up sitting by him to finish her meal too. We will really miss Daniel and look forward to hearing about his senior year.

 

Diana really liked the salsa. She dumped the majority of the bottle in her bowl to enjoy. Crazy girl! Jim and I feel blessed to have this little firecracker in our lives and hope we can help direct her energy and enthusiasm to positive and happy channels. Similar to Michael's nonstop vibrance :) I really, really look forward to seeing her play soccer in a few years.

 

After dinner we came home and all played some basketball and chilled with some Grasshopper dessert Marian made. The kids ended the night with rolling on the front grass.

 

Sweet Jake going to "Meet the Teacher" on Friday. When he had his assessment on Wednesday, I dropped the kids off at carpool. He jumped out of the car like he normally does but his huge backpack of supplies- which probably weighed half as much as he does- tipped him right over onto his back. Brave boy got right up, and, surrounded by his much taller and bigger siblings Nicole and Mike, walked into school. I am really going to miss his sweetness around all day, but he is so ready and happy for this time of spreading his wings and growing.

 

He chose these for the photo booth at his class. His teacher seems great. The assistant principal put her kid in the class, so I'm assuming she's a good teacher ;) His assistant teacher has worked with both Nicole and Michael in the past two years and had kind things to say. It's fun being in a school where you get to know the teachers. Which is nice because we will have 4 kids in the same school when D enters Kindergarten. For now though, D meets her preschool teacher next week. They gave D the same teacher that had Mike (I listed her abundant energy on "things we should know about your child" haha) Many adventures ahead!

 

Today we had three soccer games. We missed Jake's game because I wrote the wrong time down- oops! Mike got hit right in the face blocking a goal kick, which is awesome. They iced it for 10 minutes Jim said and then sent him back in the game. When he got home he didn't even mention it to me. I laugh thinking about how I would have shared the dramatic tale with my mom if that had happened to me. For the rest of the day, I ordered free replacement plants that didn't make it from my spring planting and then we played a little basketball. Based on our play, if Mike plays this fall it will be interesting to see if he fouls out of games. Jim tells me that he and Luke were something else in church ball. I believe those genes have transferred! We turned on the car wash sprinkler my brothers made and had a fun time getting wet. We watched a surf Scooby Doo movie and Jim took the oldest four swimming. First week of school- survived!