Back to School for the Big Kids - 2015

This start-of-school felt different than all the others.  We learned shortly after moving that we are one of three houses that fall within our neighborhood school boundary.  All of the other kids in the ward attend a different elementary school, but they have to be bused there.  I LOVE having my kids close enough to be able to walk, and the old original town school seemed charming, so we decided to stick with it.  The school was under construction the entire summer, and we weren't able to register until a week before class, and didn't know our class assignments until the night before.  The whole process seemed terribly disorganized to me.  Not the BEST first impression!  At back-to-school night, we waded through a sea of people around a very confusing floor-plan to try to find classrooms and desks and hooks.  The school has been under several renovations, each one kind of creating a new piece to create a hodge-podge of hallways and wings that don't make much sense!  The kids were pouring over the map the night before to try to make sense of it all.  

School starts at 9am, so it leaves a nice chunk of time in the morning to have breakfast, do chores, instrument practice, scripture study and prayers before they leave.  I really like that!  The big kids started school on the 20th, which was an earlier start than we've ever had. They were pretty nervous at the start, especially not knowing anyone in their class

 Boo's in 5th grade.  It's hard to believe she's the same age of the kids I used to teach.  She's smart and determined.  She said she "wasn't too nervous" the first day of school.  A classmate ended up introducing her to all of her friends, so she met a great group of girls the first day.

Size 7.5 shoes!

 Yaks is starting 4th grade.  He was almost in tears this morning, and suggested that maybe homeschool would be a good idea.  He's had a harder time making friends and meeting people.  I pray he'll find someone who loves to write stories or build amazing lego structures, who likes following rules and staying on-task til the job is done.  His teacher seems really nice, and I know they do a lot of fun Utah History things in 4th grade, and we've already learned a lot!

Size 6!  He grew so much this summer!

I love our porch and these goof-balls!  

We have a new "prop" in our photos!  Isn't she a cute puppy?
Mags was pretty bored with the kids gone all day.
It was a joyous homecoming!