Back to School

Back to school was a little different for us this year.  We moved about a 1.5 miles down the road last November, and that short move, which was in the same neighborhood, had us switching schools (same district, though).  We were allowed to stay at our current school and finish out the year, but at the start of this year we would need to start at our new school.

Sometime in the summer, I talked to one of the secretaries at our new school and was told who Chloe's new teacher was.  She was thrilled to hear that she was in the same class as two friend's from church.  I was very excited for her as well- she has been very brave about switching schools, and was even willing to do it last year in the middle of a school year.  But in the back of my mind, I was always a bit worried, as a friend of mine had seen the entire class list a month or so before that and said Chloe's name was not on the class list.

The day before school started, I took Chloe and Mitch down to the school to let them walk through it and become more familiar with it.  We also wanted to find their new classrooms.  I stopped at the office to find out the classroom numbers, and I also decided to double check who Chloe's teacher was.  As the secretary looked the information up, Chloe told the secretary out loud who her teacher was, to help her find it.  It was then that we found out that Chloe did NOT have that teacher.  Chloe's eyes immediately filled with tears, though she tried to hold them back.  My heart sank.  She was devastated.  I was devastated for her.  Now knowing that she was not in the same class as her friend, changing schools just became not as much fun.  Had she known from day one that she wasn't in their class, I think she would have been fine.  But having thought for the past 6 weeks that she was in their class, she had gotten use to that idea and had allowed herself to become very excited about it. 

As we made our way down to find their classrooms, I tried to console Chloe as best I could.  She was holding it together very well.  The tears were gone and she was putting on a very brave face as we explored the school.

We found Chloe's "new" classroom first.  To our luck, her teacher was even there and we got to meet her and talk to her.

Chloe found her desk

And her locker, which she commented was so much smaller than her locker at her old school.  (It is tiny).

Chloe and Mrs. Nielson

Mitch Man starts kindergarten this year.  Our district just received word in July that 10 elementary schools in the Auburn School District had received funding for funded full day kindergarten.  Our new school was one of those schools.  Mitch was very excited to know that he got to eat lunch at school. 

With the new full day kindergarten, our school had to bring in new teachers over the summer.  There are 4 full day kinder teachers at this school.  For whatever reason, they decided not to assign the kids permanent teachers until a full week after school starts.  Each kid was assigned a teacher to report to on the first day, and then they would rotate every day after that to a new teacher until they had spent a day with each one of them.  We found Mitch's "first day" classroom entrance from outside.

We also found his classroom inside too.

The next day- September 4, Chloe had her first day of 3rd grade!

What a beautiful little girl I have!  She was so excited to get ready and look nice on her first day.

Something new for our family this year is that the kids get to ride the bus to and from school every day. Our old school was a walking school and we never had anyone to walk with so I just drove Chloe everyday.  The kids were all very excited to walk to the bus stop that first morning.

At the bus stop!

Here comes the bus!

On she goes!

Mitch and the girls waved goodbye to her.

Later that morning, we went to the school for a kindergarten orientation/meeting.  We turned in school supplies and got to meet all the teachers and hear about the new curriculum and plans for the new full day program.

After all the boring talk, the kindergarteners got to go to their "first day" room and get their bus passes and look around the classroom.  Mitch was all too anxious for the next day to come so he could start school too.

After school was over, we walked down to the bus stop to pick Chloe up. 

She survived her first day!  She told us later that night that she was still bummed that she wasn't in the other class with her friends and I'm sure it will take some time to get over, but we are very hopeful and optimistic that she will meet some wonderful new friends in her class.  She's a strong girl and this will hopefully be a great experience that she will grow from.

After the first few days, Chloe told us that her new teacher is "mean" and "unfair."  We had heard that this particular teacher is strict.  I can't vouch for mean and unfair quite yet.  I don't think a strict teacher ever killed anyone.  I can honestly say that I'd be a strict teacher myself.  I am all about order and kids being well behaved and in line in order to bring about the best possible learning outcome.  I think she will be fine and that she will thrive in that environment.  We sure hope so, as we have to have strict rules for her (and all the kids) in certain things at home in order to keep things under control and to best teach them.  It will be an adjustment for her, as her teachers from the past 2 years have been very sweet and warm-fuzzy teachers.  Chloe thrived on that environment at school too- both of her teachers thought very highly of Chloe and she was an excellent student.  But I think she'll do fine and maybe even learn some good life lessons about everything not always being fair.  Being out of our comfort zone is good for us, right?

Thursday, September 5th was the first day for the other 3 kids!  Can I tell you that the excitement level in our house that morning was through the roof?  Mitch was dressed and ready to go by 6:10 a.m.  He packed his own lunch and tied his own shoes.  I noticed he'd barely eaten any breakfast, I'm sure due to the excitement.

First day of Kindergarten!  This is one well prepared boy for full day kindergarten, after his full days 2-3 times a week at his pre-K program last year.

Waiting for the bus with Chloe

My sweet boy

He was very excited to ride the bus.  He didn't even really want me to walk him to the bus.  He's very anxious to just walk with Chloe and not have me there, I'm sure to prove that he's a BIG boy.

Back at home, we had about 30 minutes until the twins' first day of preschool started.  Wait... my babies are in preschool??  Time sure does fly.  They have become so grown up in the last year, but still hard to believe that my baby girls are old enough for any kind of school.  And boy have they been excited about this first day all summer.  They've been dragging their backpacks all over the house for weeks.

My little Leah- still my tiny baby, really. 

She was very excited to get to use Chloe's old preschool backpack from 5 years ago.

My sweet Lexi

She got to pick out a new backpack and loved it! 

How fun to get to start school (and be in the same class) with your best friend!

Best buddies!

9:00 and we were off to Ms. Cindy's Preschool- the best preschool around.

We ran into Cindy the week before at church and after telling her for the first time which girl was who, she had it down and identified the girls on the first day correctly.  I was very impressed that she made such a point of making sure she know who was who for the first day.

She showed them where to put their pencil boxes and where to hang up their backpacks.

The twins didn't give me a second look as they ran off to find toys to play with.  Oh, has Leah come a long way.  There was a time when I thought she'd never be able to attend school, as she was a wreck when I'd leave her with anyone.  After some hard love (leaving her anyways and paying babysitters extra and thanking friends profusely for putting up with her hours of crying), she has come through and is a very strong little girl who does great in new situations with new people.

Lexi and Miss Cindy- she's truly the best!

Leah and Miss Cindy

I left after these pictures and there was no hesitation from either girl about me leaving.  What big girls I have!

I had a doctor appointment during school that ran over.  I texted my friend, who's little boy is in the class too, to ask her if she could pick the girls up for me.  I was super bummed to not be there to pick them up after their first day.

Leah and Lexi with Austin- that is 3 super excited kids after their first day of school.  Austin is such a sweetheart and the girls tell me they play with him a lot at school.  Austin can't tell them apart (yet), which is really cute and funny. 

Now, 2 mornings a week for 2.5 hours, I am all alone at home.  So far, most of those few mornings I've had have been spent at the doctor's office, and one morning was running errands like crazy in preparation for baby coming.  I have to admit not having to worry about a babysitter for my doctor appointments was super nice, and grocery shopping and running errands alone was heavenly.  It will be nice to have a few quiet mornings with just me and my new baby girl here soon.  The twins and I are having a wonderful time home together on their non-school days.  Mitch sure can rile them up and make them rambunctious, but when it is just the two of them, they are very sweet and play so quietly together.  They are so fun to watch play together and make up games.  Having twins has been just as fun and precious as I dreamed.  What a blessing they are in our home.

We met Chloe and Mitch down at the bus stop after school.  My big boy made it through his first day!

I found this note in Mitch's folder after school.  I was so glad to hear that he'd had such a great first day.  What a wonderful teacher to take the time to write notes home about their first day.

Behind the note from his teacher, I found this note from the cafeteria, telling me that Mitchell owed money after his first day, even though there is no money in his account.  As it says on the side, he bought breakfast at school.  I was stunned!  "What a little sneak!" was my first thought. Upon questioning Mitchell, he confessed that yes, he did eat breakfast at school.  He said that his teacher asked who had not eaten breakfast at home.  Mitchell said that he hadn't, so she sent him down to eat breakfast.  To Mitch's defense, he truly did not remember that he had eaten breakfast at home that morning (it was at 6:30)- he didn't even remember what we ate until I reminded him.  And also to his credit, I really think he had no idea that he was being charged for breakfast.  I'm sure when his teacher told a hungry little boy that there was "free" food waiting for him down the hall, he didn't even think twice.  We had a good discussion where I told him that we ALWAYS eat breakfast at home and that he will never need to eat at school and that I didn't want anything like this to happen again.  What did $1.25 buy him for breakfast?  He told me an apple, a yogurt and some milk.  Awesome.  :)

I about fell off my chair when the next school day, Mitch came home with another note saying he now owed $4, which meant that he had charged lunch that day to his account.  I was quick to question my little sneak, who honestly thought it was a note telling me about his breakfast thievery.  As I questioned the suspect, Mitch swore up and down that he did NOT eat lunch at school that day.  I didn't know what to believe anymore, so I continued to ask him and he continued to tell me, getting a little bit panicky, that he did NOT eat school lunch.  He ran and got his lunchbox and showed me that he'd eaten his entire packed lunch, and even said "Ask my teacher!  I ate my own lunch!"  Seeing how upset he was becoming, I could tell that he was telling the truth.  I called the school immediately to try and find out what happened.  The secretary didn't know, and she couldn't even let me talk to his teacher because she didn't know what teacher he had had that day (with all the rotating they were doing).  But she promised me that the charge would be taken off the next day, which it was.

Since then, we have had no more random charges to his meal account.  Ben and I were both pretty bothered that they let students charge meals whenever they want, with no money in their accounts.  As Ben said, "It's like giving a credit card to a 5 year old!"  Yes, to a hungry 5 year old.  Luckily, when Mitch found out who his full time teacher would be, she sent home a note asking if he'd be eating breakfast at school everyday or at home.  Our little man also knows now that he will not be charging anything to his account anymore.  Here's to hoping!

A few dramatic happenings the first week of school, but the kids are all adjusting well to their new school.  Here's to a great year!