First Day

It felt like school couldn't come soon enough. Our supplies had been purchased and put in backpacks weeks in advance. Each child had new school clothes. Summer activities had come to an end.... and we were all starting to get a little crabby with one another.

This year, Rylee is in 9th grade.... HIGHSCHOOL!

She said the highlight of her first day was, seeing all her friends and going to seminary.

She's lucky to have "release time", but I'm bummed she doesn't have it every day because of the alternate scheduling (A & B Days).

Taylee is in 7th grade this year.

The highlight of her day was Drama class. She likes the teacher and looks forward to what she'll learn.

She also talks about how weird her math teachr is, Mr. Brasier. He says and does quirky things. On Friday, he got up in front of the class and proclaimed it, "Zumba Friday", then he made all the students dance with him. Taylee says she doesn't believe he really knows Zumba, but they get up and follow his moves anyway.

Treyson is in 5th grade... the top of the school.

His highlight was finding out that his teacher is actually NICE. He told me that his teacher gives out candy each time she teases a student. He would like to be teased each day... if it means CANDY.
Abree is in 1st grade this year.
The highlights of her day were, seeing her old teacher Mrs. Matthews (in the hallway), seeing old friends from last year and eating lunch at school. She also impressed with how many recesses she gets.

All of our kids are in school ALL day, this year.

Treyson asked me, "Mom, what are you going to do all day?.... I bet you'll at least take a nap."

To which I replied, "I just might. Thank-you."



Jason came home early from work that day. We went to lunch and ran errands together.... kid-free.

I could get used to this. I have plans of exercising early, organizing and crafting. So far I have mostly just cleaned and kept up on laundry, but a clean house and laundry are good thing.

Tales of the First Day

This is how our first day of school went......

Leading up to the first day of school, I heard underground rumblings of Rylee not being so excited about Taylee going to HER middle school. I guess being in 8th grade makes you SO mature and SO NOT a 6th grader. Taylee seized the opportunity to push a few of Rylee's "buttons". I heard things like;

"You don't want to ride bikes to school, JUST because you're afraid you'll mess up your hair!"

"Are you afraid I'm going to embarrass you?!"

"You know you don't have to look PERFECT all the time!"

Even with these rumblings, I also overheard plans being made about getting to bed early, outfits being coordinated and details about the hairstyles for the first day of school;

"Do you think I should wear the black flats or my converse?"

"Should I flat iron my hair or curl it?"

"Which necklace looks good with this shirt?"

The night before and the morning of, they were giddy. They got up WAY early, like 4 or 5am, got showered, dressed and then got to work on hair (and make-up). Rylee let Taylee wear one of her new necklaces and did her hair in ringlets. I thought it was an interesting combo, but what do I know. Taylee loved it and felt pretty and that's what counts.

They debated back and forth whether they would walk or have me take them to school. It was finally decided I would be driving them to school. They posed for their "first day of school" pictures and then we were off.

Rylee came home bummed about a math test they had the very next day. Taylee reported she had received compliments on her shirt and necklace. Then Rylee asked, "Didn't anyone say anything about your hair?" "No." I assured her it was lovely and that people probably thought she looked that fabulous every day.

From a young age, we noticed that Taylee was her father's daughter, in many ways. No exception when it came to being directionally-challenged. As I said in a previous post, I physically walked Taylee through her schedule, pointing out signs and clues to help her get where she needed to go. I was a little worried she would get mixed up, turned around and then frustrated. I wanted her to feel as confident and relaxed as possible, on her first day of middle school.


Taylee reported with a chuckle, "Guess what Mom. I accidentally went to my last class twice and totally missed my class with Mrs. Storey." Then she continued to tell me the funny details. --It wasn't until the next day, she finally realized she had been in the wrong keyboarding class, on the first day. She said, "We wondered why I wasn't on the roll?"

Even with the mix up, she seemed excited and still confident. Whew!


For the first time, in the history of Treyson, he is the oldest sibling at his school. With this position comes great responsibility.... getting Abree and himself home, safe and sound.


At his school's meet-n-greet teacher night, we walked through the route he would take from his classroom to where Abree would be waiting with her class/teacher. He assured me that he could figure it out, no problem. The Kindergarten teacher told us he would have to physically talk to her, before taking Abree home. She had to be checked off the list. Again, no problem.


After school, I decided I would meet them. I found Abree and waited in position, hoping I'd see Treyson soon. As I was talking to Abree about her day, Treyson showed up and said, "What are you doing here? I told you I would pick her up." I high-fived him for a job well done and assured him I was there so I could hear about their first day of school, right away. :)



I have to admit, I get a little antsy around 3:45p each day, but am excited (and relieved) when they BOTH walk through the front door. :)


Way to go Treyson!

Although Abree was WAY excited about Kindergarten, I wondered what the actual going-to-Kindergarten would be like for her.

We got there a little early, so she could remember where to put her backpack, where to line-up and give her the opportunity to play on the equipment if she wanted to.

She did a little playing, but mostly hung out with me.

When Mrs. Matthews came out and blew the whistle, she grabbed her backpack and quickly got in line. She looked a little nervous, but mostly excited.

As she walked in her line and through the doors, I expected her to glance over her shoulder and give me one last look. She didn't. I keep watching for this look each day. She's hasn't done it even once. Guess I need it more than she does. :)

I can report I didn't cry. I did have a tiny moment of thinking I might start crying, but being behind the camera lens and snapping lots of pictures distracted me. I'm so proud of her. It's hard to believe, my baby's growing up!!!

Abree's highlight of the first day of school; drinking PINK strawberry milk.