Change

  I believe everything happens for a reason. Well, it's possible that "why dryers eat socks" and "the magnetic attraction between a clean floor and a piece of jelly bread" are not included in my "everything" but when it comes to the real stuff in life, what really shapes who we are and where we are headed in life, it's not just about coincidence. I believe it but I sure don't always understand.

 Last spring when we began the transition process from elementary to middle school for my second born, it suddenly dawned on me that I would have 3 kids in 3 different school buildings this year and I panicked just a bit. My husband and I decided to look into moving our first grader to the private school where his big brother goes but we were too late. We were told,  "his class is full, we'll put you on the waiting list." I had no idea how long that list was or how far from the top we were. I chalked it up as "how it was supposed to be" and moved on, schedule planner in hand.

  School started, we adjusted and all was going well. I filled out emergency forms, busing requests, and lunch menus and made it to 2 out of 3 "back-to-school" nights. Thursday, September 19th, was "Back to School Night" for my first grader. I met his teacher for the first time, visited the classroom and came home super impressed. He has a fantastic teacher! Of all the teachers, of all the years, of all my kids, she ranks in the top 2. Yeah, that good! Her behavior system was outstanding, full of encouragement and without the usual junk prize box. Her room neat and organized. Her personality fun and easy to work with. Now I understand, this is where he is supposed to be! I'm sure of it.

  Five {5} days later we received a call from the principal at big brother's school. There is now an opening in first grade, we are next in line. Seriously? It took me all of 2 minutes to make my decision. Why would we change now? He's happy, I'm happy, lets not mess with a good thing, right?  Of course if we said "no" to this opening, there may not be another in the fall but I felt like God could definitely work that out if it was supposed to happen. Surely there was a reason this opportunity only came up after I visited his class! My decision was made but my wise husband's words (to the principal) were "we'll talk about it and get back to you."

  So "we" talked about it. Well really, I blabbered on and on about all the wonderful things I learned at Parents night (the Mr. was not able to attend with me) and pretty much convinced the hubs that this was a no brain-er but the final call had not yet been made. Procrastination? Distraction? Providence? All of the above? Wednesday afternoon, I'm cleaning up the never-ending-paper-mess that goes on on the kids little project table and I find a note from the first grade teacher. How did I not see this 2 days ago when it came home? I have no idea. The paper states that said teacher will be taking a sabbatical to further her education. Beginning in January my son will have a substitute, yet to be determined, for the remainder of the school year. Wait, What? That changes everything. If the boy is going to have different teacher anyway, it might as well be the one I have met. We decided to discuss it with him and give him some say in the matter. He's a loyal boy. He's content and happy with his friends and his spot in life. Change is hard. Unknowns are scary. But after some thought, and the news that his teacher would be leaving too, he decided he was on board with the idea of switching.

 He passed the evaluation with flying colors  (not that anyone was really worried about that) and we decided the two day break in mid October would be a good time to make the transition. Public school had a 3 day break, private school had a 2 day break. I gave the boy a choice, have off or go to school on Monday. He choose to go. So Monday morning, I dropped him off for his "first" day of first grade. Again. It was harder on mommy the second time around then the first. He knew the name of one boy in his class, didn't really know him, just his name. Everybody else is already in routine. They all know each other. The rules will be different. The teacher will expect different things. Seems like an awful lot of pressure for a 6 year old. But in the end, he rocked it! He declared it a good day. He gave me a list of all the things that were better about this school. Yup, he misses his old friends, but he's moved on and it's all good. So proud of that boy!

{Thank you Mrs. T. for jump starting him off for a great year in first grade 

and for gracefully blessing our decision to make the change! We will miss you and your fantastic class!}

  Sometimes I wish I could handle change this gracefully. Maybe those socks devoured by the dryer ARE part of a bigger plan. Maybe they do shape who I am becoming. Maybe, just maybe I could use a few more lessons in patience, contentment and accepting change. Socks and sticky floors may be one of the cheapest ways to learn some of those lessons.

Farewell Summer

Such craziness around here the past couple of weeks. I thought my life would slow down a bit with the arrival of the big yellow bus, at least between the hours of 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. but suddenly out of nowhere came project after project.

So much handsomeness we had to split them up into 3 different school buildings this year.

 3 different Back to School Nights

3 different schedule systems

3 different sets of fundraisers

3 different lunch menus 

My organizational skills are already over taxed!

 First Day of First Grade

 Off to the Middle School

First Day of Fifth Grade

He thinks he's pretty big stuff!

 First Day of Seventh Grade

(this picture thing is not as cool as it used to be)

And with that, Summer officially ended. Sniff!

I'm never ready for return of homework and schedule and early mornings.

Thankfully they were (in varying degrees) so the transition has been fairly smooth.

********

So I sent them off with backpacks and folders lunch boxes and water bottles, new shoes and cool erasers. All the important stuff. :)

And I turned into house-wifey Hilda!

I don't have a garden here so I am ever so grateful for friends who share their abundance but it doesn't come with much warning.

When I arrived at church last week I found a box of tomatoes for me.

My sister bequeathed her green beans to me when she left the country.

And I already had 5 baskets of apples waiting patiently in the basement.

So there was some of 

this...

a lot of this...

a bunch of these...

and a bit of this...

 

plus 50 quarts of applesauce and 6 batches of homemade granola,
along with the usual grocery shopping and
three meals a day.
Sometimes I wonder what percentage of my life revolves around food.
I'm not complaining! I feel very blessed!
I enjoy cooking and serving my family this way and I am grateful to have plenty of healthy food to offer my growing men.
But I'm ready to think about something else for awhile now.

Maybe I should start with filling out those fundraiser papers.
Anybody wanna buy magazines or coupon books, or maybe support my 'Race for Ed' runners?

Good Bye Summer--Hello School

get up early. check.
healthy breakfast. check.
new lunchbox. check.
new backpack. check. (unless your mom found the one you used last year to be not nearly as thread bare as you wanted her to believe. sorry, kid. one frayed strap, that doesn't do anything anyway, is not cause for me to dish out another $30.)
colorful folders. check.
cute super cool erasers. check
bus schedule straightened out. check.
452 pictures to endure for your crazy mom. check.

The kids each had a different 'first day' this year. crazy yes, but kinda nice in a way. It gave Mom a chance to break in easy. Let me tell you, practice makes perfect  does not necessarily apply to putting kindergarteners on the bus for the first time. It's getting harder, not easier.

Mr. Z. started on Monday. It's been 5 years since I put him on the bus for his first day of Kindergarten, (maybe that's the problem, I'm just a little rusty. Or maybe I'm just turning into an old sap. Yeah, probably that!) My handsome 4th grader. I don't think he was all that excited about going back to school. He may work harder than the entire 4th grade combined this year, but he's up for the challenge. We only hope that Mama's patience holds out until all the homework is finished.

Once he was on the bus and on his way, my little buddy and I did a couple of errands before we headed to kindergarten visitation. The poor boy could hardly wait. He kept reminding me what time it was and asking how long it takes to get here from there. He was paranoid we'd miss it. He has been looking forward to this school thing all summer. I've been thinking of reasons why he shouldn't/can't go. We went to registration, they said he was ready. But I told him that doesn't count because the doctor has to say he's big enough too. Three shots later, without a single tear, that excuse didn't work anymore either.

Tough Guy! Anybody who gets 3 shots in one day deserves an ice cream cone!

I tried desperately to convince him that it would be boring, he'd miss his mama, and he really did not want to go, but it didn't work. Just wait until we go visit and see what it's like, said I, you probably won't like it. The puzzles, play dough, cookies, stories and games did not help my cause at all!

He has a fabulous teacher. She's sweet and fun but always in control. She had the most organized visitation ever. A whole list of fun ways to learn their way around the class room all the while sneaking in ways to see what they  know and teaching them stuff when they had no idea they were learning. I guess 20 plus years of experience will do that!

And in the end, even after we visited, he decided he still wanted to go. He was up and dressed in record time and ready for that bus. It comes at 7:05.

Mama pretended to be all brave and excited but she sure is gonna miss that cute little helper! It's a good thing she had friends to go out to lunch with to keep her mind off the subject that day too.

This guy is headed off to his first day of middle school. T.H.A.T. is crazy!! He was excited about a new year too. Last year didn't end on the best note so I was a little concerned about that. He's playing soccer this year for the first. I think that has helped him ease back in and find his place in the class a little more smoothly.

The big boy is in private school so he got 2 extra days of summer. Wednesday morning they all three  got on the bus. Aren't they a good looking crew?

Unfortunately this is far more normal (at least they think it is) than the one before it. Really guys??

I am not really ready for the land of alarm clocks and homework and must get to bed on time. I love the freedom of summer and I love having my kids here with me. But I don't get to choose. It's good to have a routine again and I am happy for the return of peaceful, quiet nap times. You win some you lose some. We'll do what we have to do and make the best of it. Here's to the best year yet!