The FIRST Day of School!!!

The boys were SO excited about their first day of school!!! I am SO thankful not to have a crying child holding on to my leg - it would make it so much harder I think. We had such a wonderful year last year and the boys were thrilled for the year to be starting up. I really prayed this summer for Jacob and for whose class he would be in. That his teacher would love on him and see all of his potential. Jacob was ridiculously excited - he was ready to go to school, to get to have all the fun that his brother has always had, and to just go! I was excited for him - and a little bit emotional that now I was going to have 2 at school all day!

The boys popped out of bed this morning - we started using an alarm clock this year for them since Jacob tends to be "slower" in the mornings. It worked like a charm!!! I had been up early doing my run and spent a LOT of time in prayer for the boys, their teachers, the other kids, for Callie & Caleb. I was excited too, I must admit! :)

Getting their lunches packed...new lunchboxes, new thermoses, pretty exciting. They took gogurt, chocolate milk, and fruit. Jacob had a ham/cheese melt and Josiah took leftover pizza (a new discovery for him - that he likes cold pizza). Josiah's was a compromise - he really wanted chili (because I got them new thermos food jars) but I didn't have the stuff to make it for dinner the night before. We had a pool party with pizza the night before - so he was good with taking that for lunch. Whew. Both got notes in their lunch with some new cool stickers on them :)

READY to go!!!

Josiah - My big 2nd grader!

Jacob - My big (gulp) kindergartener!

Best friends!!! (and their new backpacks that they picked out)

Both spent a lot of time picking out which style they wanted. They even picked different monogramming styles for their initials - go figure!

This is our principal Mrs. Mitchum. She's out there every day holding the stop sign at the crosswalk. She loves getting to see the kids FIRST every day - and they LOVE her. We LOVE her - she's wonderful. (This picture is REALLY for Judy - Mrs. Mitchum reminds me SO much of your mom!!! I know it's not a great picture - but I was trying not to look like a stalker!)

Callie was my helper making the after-school snack....

We had a fun day together. I loved getting to REALLY focus on the younger two. To get to do things totally age-specific for THEM...and not just have them "along for the ride" with the older boys. Here's what my day was like:

Played trains with caleb and callie in the morning.

Put together a princess puzzle with callie (found at the dollar spot at target – yippee!) when caleb took his morning nap.

Finished getting coupons together while callie watched dora (NOT batman or star wars!)

Went to publix with only 2 KIDS (sooo nice) and got back on top of normal grocery shopping again after all that vacation ($250 worth of groceries for $100!!!)

Callie ate princess soup for lunch

Getting ready to put two to bed

Have a plate of brownies ready for bus driver

Have 3 heart-shaped brownies on my “You are Loved” plate for the boys (and callie) when they get home.

Heart-shaped brownies...they've become a tradition...

Waiting at the end of our court for the bus...and our boys! :)

This was a BIG deal - last year I picked Josiah up everyday. He was emphatic that he did not EVER want to ride the bus. The bus that comes home in the afternoon ONLY comes to our neighborhood, so often times I was stuck behind the bus coming home in our car. The kids are literally on there for about 5 minutes, and they get dropped off right at the bottom of our court! So this summer, the boys started talking about how cool it would be since they'd be together, and they decided they wanted to ride the bus. As we met more neighbors and I talked with more people about it, we decided to let them try it. They were SO excited about it...I was a bit nervous...that they'd get on the right one and it would be okay.

Hooray - here it comes!!!!

Both boys got home just fine! They LOVED the bus - it was their "high" for the day. Whew - big relief for mom! It's nice for me because I can leave the little ones sleeping at home and just walk down the court to meet them. Last year, I had to wake them up at least 3 days a week to pick up Josiah from school. Hopefully this will makes things easier! :)

Walking home, they were already in their own world telling each other all about their day at school! :) Happy, happy boys!!! And a happy mommy - whew!!! First day down, 179 to go!! :)