First Days of School

Sunday we kicked off our first days of school with Father's Blessings from Justin. We were all puddles of tears by the time he finished giving 6 blessings. This year is now deemed a year of transition, a term mentioned several times. We all mentioned and felt that the blessings given were from the Lord, the blessings so individualized to each person. For example, Everett was told to build more in real life rather than in video games because he has a tendency to love those constructed worlds more than the real one we live in. Phillip was thanked for being a good example to his fellow Deacons. Evelyn was instructed to enjoy learning and to improve her reading skills. Amelia was told to be more kind to her family. Josie, well, just to learn and grow. Justin was exhausted after that spiritual high. We spent another 10 minutes or so writing down our thoughts and impressions given before the experience fled away. My memory is so terrible sometimes I wish we could record such experiences so those words could be repeated verbatim when we needed. 

Monday was a day of shopping and gathering school supplies. Shortly after dinner we walked to Ronald Reagan Elementary for the school's open house. The kids were very excited to go tour the school, find their classrooms, meet their teachers, and deliver school supplies. We met Mrs Kemp, she is Evelyn's teacher, down the first hallway to the left. Evelyn is thrilled to have Hailey in her class, a friend in her Primary class at church. I filled out paperwork while the kids helped sort through my bag of supplies. I was taken aback that no supply lists were given prior to the Open House. I got general supplies hoping to get what was needed. Evelyn only needed 3 composition books! Everett went ahead to scout out his classroom, he led the way for the rest of us. He will have three teachers this year with Mrs Douglas as his "home room" teacher. She will teach Science, Math, and Social Studies. Mrs Varner and Mrs Wittaker will teach reading and writing. He was quite funny! Everett was nervously chatting with his teachers and telling them hilarious stories about his summer. He is very excited to be back in school, mostly to play soccer during recess. Everett was only missing a large binder, two composition books, and quart bags. Lastly, we headed to Mrs Coburn's classroom with Josie and her supplies. I had a list from her so Josie had everything. Josie fit right into her cubby slot! She excitedly arranged her supplies inside her cubby. The kids were thrilled to walk away with a snack from Mrs Coburn. Now to wait two entire days before school starts. 

Tuesday was a working day for me. I needed to get Evelyn's baptism photos edited and announcements ordered before Wednesday so I could mail them out. The kids were thrilled to have an electronic binge day. The little girls helped me clean up and organize their bedroom after the bed switches. I ordered cute stuffy nets to hold their favorite stuffies within reach. Josie talked me into taking everyone to lunch after we cleaned bedrooms. I had 6 free sandwich/nugget coupons for Chik-fil-a so we enjoyed a free treat. Sister Titus sent over a large box of cookies from a fancy store, Crumbl. Extra yum. The kids are constantly taking over plates of cookies, bread, garden veggies, etc just to be kind and keep her company. That night I found a coupon for $6 at a fun trampoline park, um yes! 

The kids were surprised next day with the incentive of a morning at the trampoline park! I convinced Sara to join us for the $6 price tag. Thankfully, we remembered our "special" socks that HAVE to be used for only Urban Air. Groupon/Urban Air were ultra sneaky...the coupon only paid for trampoline use. That meant 70% of the facility was off-limits, including the parts most attractive for the kids. We had two options: pay $6 each to add on use of the warrior course, slide, and tunnel portion OR $14 per person to use the entire facility. My kids were content with the $6 extra per person option. Carson and Logan spent the entire 2 hours complaining and asking Sara to spend the extra $14. We mostly ignored those two and enjoyed our time getting sweaty running around the place. Josie and Oliver were hilarious! Those two were zipping all over loving every moment. 

Everett worked on making an Among Us spaceship (in real life, took his blessing words to heart) for several days. He used 7 boxes, 3 rolls of tape, lots of scissor work, and imagination to whip up his creation. He ultimate goal is to use the spaceship as a prop for an iMovie set or just play the game in real life. Evelyn and Phillip helped him off and on. 

Thursday was the day! First day of school!!!!! I've been moving bedtime earlier and waking up the kids earlier for a couple weeks to slowly accustom the kids to a different sleep schedule. It was still brutal for Amelia and Phillip to be ready at 6:45 am. Those two are amazing! Phillip uses the downstairs bathroom to shower in the morning so Mia can use the upstairs bathroom. He gets his things ready the night before so he won't wake up Everett. They got up and were ready for the day without parental supervision. Yes! I got up early enough to fix Amelia's hair, give hugs, and have family prayer. The rest of the kids got up at 7:30 to start their day. Evelyn chose to try school lunch her first day. Josie was bummed she had to wait until Friday for her first full day. Evelyn and Everett packed their water bottles and a snack as advised during the Open House. We left early because Everett lost his brand new backpack when he stayed to play at the school on Monday. Luckily, some kind person turned it into the lost and found. He was relieved about saving $40 out of his own money when his backpack was located. We made our way to the back of the school to figure out the morning routine. Each class lines up behind a cone with their teacher's name, no playing is allowed. The grades are distanced from each other to prevent bullying. Evelyn was a ball of nerves and very excited to have Hailey in her class. It was fun to watch those two bounce about in line until they were led inside. Josie and I walked home, her chatter quite animated with her coming adventure. She and I went to the school at 10:30 for a tour with 5 other classmates and Mrs Coburn. She colored a paper while I filled out paperwork and listened to Mrs Coburn talk about Kindergarten at Ronald Reagan. We all walked around the school to find the bathrooms, the gym, cafeteria, library, etc. She led us outside and showed the kids where to line up for school in the mornings. Josie was the first kid to try out the hand signal to use the bathroom. She was stoked when it worked...she got to use the kid-sized potty in her classroom! Josie and I met Justin for a special lunch at Chik-fil-a near his work. The play area was finally open, she and I stayed for an hour while she played. Amelia's first day was strange. The Highway Police shut down the school and all nearby roads because two individuals stole a car and tried to escape the police down the road in front of the school. The school was locked down for several hours, Amelia got to sit on the floor staring into space for the duration. Phillip had a great first day. Everett was nervously excited about his first day, he came home psyched about his classmates, his teachers, the amazing cafeteria food, and the library. He said some students compared the food as less than prison food, an unfair comparison, he said it was tasty...BUT not as tasty as my cooking. Ha ha, he cracks me up. Evelyn's day was by far the worst day of her short life. Her snack was not enough to cover the terrible lunch. She lasted the entire day on a couple grapes and a bag of popcorn. My guess?! She was completely hangry. 

Friday was Josie's first day of kindergarten. She was excited to wear a Dr Seuss dress for her first day. I was excited to watch her walk into the school with a bounce in her step. My neighbor goes to the temple most Friday mornings, she invited me to join her when I could. There was an open slot for the same session. I worked to clean up the house after dropping off the kids. Paula drove us to the temple for a lovely session. She told me it was her wedding anniversary the next day, that she needed someone to go with her as a friend. I was privileged to be there with her on such a nostalgic day. For the first time I was able to feel her husband present, he let me know of his presence and support of Paula. In the temple I felt him once again and was directed to tell Paula that he was standing beside a pillar for the duration of the session. Paula is deaf, the session was sub-titled, an interesting diversion for me. I got more out of watching and reading than just watching. What a great way to start off the school year. 

Saturday. We were ready for a rest. The kids were all super cranky and tired. After a lazy morning Just rallied the troops for a yard cleanup! We all chipped in to clean up our summer mess including the pool. The shed was never properly organized after we moved so that chore was checked off. Phillip was the most excited to get the tool organizer set up and in use. Amelia helped me make pickles! We cranked out 6-8 quarts of pickles! It was fun to throw in various herbs, vegetables, and seasonings to mix up each quart. The jars looked so pretty and colorful after we finished. I baked the packed jars for 30 minutes instead of a water bath because some of the cucumbers were Armenian cucumbers. This was a fun experiment. I was pleased all the jars sealed!