First day of school

We now have three kids in school! I can hardly believe it. Benny, Andy, and Lilia have all been so excited to start school for pretty much the whole summer. 

I remembered to make signs as we were ready to head to the bus stop. It took four different markers to get them done since apparently all of ours are about out of ink. 

Janie gets to join us at the bus stop, now!

The day before school started, Spencer texted to suggest I take the little girls to the children's museum or the zoo on the first day of school. I knew I would need to do something, but, quite frankly, I did not want to set the bar too high!  We settled on a bike ride to the park. 

Janie's first ride on the merry-go-round. Despite what it looks like, she did love it. 

She also insisted on a solo ride on the "big girl swing."  This little girl thinks she is a big girl and ready to keep up with her big brothers and sisters! She's just about there, too. 

And this beautiful girl loves any chance to swing in the little kid swings. I don't ever put her in them, but she has a friend we met there to thank for this ride!

After getting home we had lunch followed by nap time for the three of us at home. Even Anne slept (I am hoping for more of that this year)!! I must say, it was a great first day of school for everyone!

School stuff

The Friday that Bubbe & Papa and Grandma & Grandpa were in town was fun.  The original plan was to keep the boys home from school that day, but we found out Benny had his presentation dolphins scheduled for that day and Andy's class had their Native American Party at school.  Although Benny's presentation was scheduled for the afternoon I asked his teacher if we could all come earlier to watch and she invited us to the dress rehearsal in the morning.  It worked out perfectly!  It was so fun to be there and watch his read his report.  I remembered pretty late the night before that I had told him I would try to turn his grey jacket into a costume and I am glad I went to the trouble.  It turned out quite well!

I volunteered to help out for Andy's "party" and took him home after.  On our way out we saw his minion up on the bulletin board (his is the one with red overalls).

TEAM award

The boys' school has TEAM awards at the end of each quarter.  At the end of the first I got an email from Andy's teacher asking if we could attend an assembly where Andy would be receiving the award. He didn't know and we would get to surprise him by being there!

Anywhere from two to four kids in each class are given the award for being an all-around team player: works well with others, does their work well, sets a good example, etc.  Andy has done extremely well in kindergarten and I am not surprised he received the award.

In December I got an email from Benny's teacher telling me that he would be receiving the TEAM award for the second quarter!  Again, we were not at all surprised to hear this.  Benny is always such a great student.  That has really continued since we moved.  What I did not know was that Benny, so far, has not missed a single comprehension question on his A.R. quizzes.  I hadn't known, yet I was not surprised to find out.  We have some bright boys on our hands!

First Day of School (different camera)

Spencer's old backpack was on loan for the first day or two.  Benny's hadn't come in the mail yet.

Waiting for the boys after school.  Anne and Jane were napping.

First day of school

Benny starting second grade and Andy starting kindergarten. Where did the time go?!

They are going to have a great year. 

First grade

Benny started school last Monday. And while I did get a picture, it is on the camera. And not having the computer (another story; side note, gravity is a killer) to hook up the camera, I cannot access it to share. I need to get one on my phone because, really, he looks the same as when he started - really, he wears the same-looking clothes almost every day. With uniforms being only red, white, or navy polos and khaki or navy shorts/pants, we have limited options anyway. Add to that the fact that we didn't get any white shirts (for obvious reasons) and mostly red shirts because that is Benny's favorite color IN THE WORLD. He wears mostly red shirts and khaki shorts with his khaki belt. It works. I'll get a picture soon.

The reason for this post, however, is to share my favorite part, hands down, of school everyday. I take all the kids with me to drop Benny off (of course) and when we get to the front door and Benny hops out of the van, I always say "I love you! Have a great day!" Benny, before closing the door, YELLS, regardless of any passers by, "I LOVE YOU ALL! I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY WHILE I'M AT SCHOOL!!" All the while the other kids are yelling, "Bye, Benny! Have a great day at school! We love you!"

I know it won't last forever, but I look forward to enjoying it as long as I can. It's wonderful.

First Day of School

Yesterday was Benny's first day of school.

Here is proof:

And Faith wanted a picture of her two students:

This will be the only year we will be students together. I think it is pretty cool.

Andy wanted to get in the picture. It is kinda sad to see how much he misses Benny (can't really tell from the picture, though).

last first day...

we just had spencer's last first day at byu. this is a major event for us because it means we're that much closer to medical school starting. it's really exciting and nerve-racking too.

here's spencer's first day of school picture for this semester. i'm glad he likes having the pictures. unfortunately this is the second faked first day of school picture for spencer. last semester we forgot, so we took a picture of his second first day (tuesday classes were different from monday classes). this semester benny and i had an appointment to go to before spencer left for class, so i had him put his jacket and backpack on to stage it. we couldn't do a second first day because he doesn't really have one.

this semester is the best. spencer only has classes on mondays and wednesdays - and those aren't even completely crazy. tuesdays he's able to do some lab assisting that he really enjoys and there's really no work that needs to come home from those labs.

we're really grateful to finish up our time at byu like this. we're excited to be able to relax a little bit more and enjoy lots of free time together as a family and with our families before we leave for the midwest. what's really great is that we get to celebrate weekend-eve on tuesdays now! we had a great kick-off last night by going to the jazz game (thanks, again, dirk and lilly ann!) and staying the night in draper. and now spencer's done with classes already and ready to take it easy this weekend.