First Day of School, part 1

Thursday was the dreaded/blessed first day of school for the first three of our five kiddos.  They were all pretty nervous Wednesday night!!  Thank goodness for Father’s Blessings to calm the nerves and make everything OK!

Emily survived her first day of 8th grade at a much larger school than what she’s been used to.  No one pushed her in her locker, she found all her classes, and she made it home on the bus!

 

Josh also made it through his first day, and even said, “It was AWESOME!!”  I think it’s safe to say he likes school!  He also escaped locker imprisonment, 8 teachers, and riding the bus!

 

Rachel practically RAN the entire way to first grade!  She loved having three recesses on the big playground, but she wasn’t a huge fan of school lunch.  “It was disgusting!”  She walked into her classroom a little timidly and came out as excited as can be and with a huge smile on her face.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this episode, featuring Caleb’s first day of Kindergarten!

Back to School

I have been seeing lots of Back to School pins on Pinterest lately.  I have been wanting to do a fun Back to School dinner for our family, so I was appreciating many of the pins I saw.  As I started looking for ideas, I found what I was (unknowingly) looking for.

Jared and I decided that we needed a family motto for the coming year.  So we had a fun family dinner…

 

…complete with lunch tray plates, Capri Suns and a few fun school things!

 

I used our family motto as part of the centerpiece on the table, and the kids really had no clue!  They were too involved in the excitement of something completely different.

 

We talked about our family motto at home evening, specifically about having courage to do what is right.  It was truly enlightening to hear their thoughts about courage and strength.  We watched a movie clip about Capt. Moroni.  He was so courageous, and obviously God was with him because of his righteousness.

I also made some keychains for each of them that have charms to remind them of courage.  There is an arrow, which represents Capt. Moroni, as well as staying on the straight and narrow.  A lion represents Daniel in the lions’ den, who was a man of great courage.  There is also a storybook charm, representing a fictional character who had great strength and courage.  (None of this was my original idea.  I copied from a blog I found, and I’m so glad I found it.)  The kids loved the keychains, and I hope they look at them every day and remember what we’re striving for this year.

Tomorrow is the big day for all the kids except Caleb, who has to wait a week to start, and Daniel.  It’s such a big year for everyone and I’m terribly anxious for them all.  I’m sure I’ll find myself reciting our motto all school year!!

Daniel’s Busy Day

Little Mister has turned into quite the busy boy.  We have definitely hit the 2-year-old phase: he’s into everything and let’s us know when he’s not happy!

Yesterday was the most mischief this kid has been into.  Ever.

It started when some children – who shall remain nameless – left a jar of jam on the kitchen table.  Seeing as how Daniel is an expert climber, it was a given that this would happen…

 

Apricot jam – less than 24 hours old – all over the place!

He found the spoon that was left behind and gave it a shot, but the paw in the jar seemed to work the best.

Mmmm…licking every last bit….

 

I’m not sure if he’s blaming Dad, or if he’s wishing Dad would rescue him…

 

Pretty hard to get upset when this is the mug smiling back at me!

 

After documenting the mischief, I put him in the tub and cleaned him up.  No joke, it was less than 20 minutes later when he pulled the cutting board, KNIFE (!!), and loaf of bread onto the kitchen floor, bonking himself on the head in the process.  He helped himself to fistfuls of my homemade bread before I could get to him.  Thankfully there were no injuries from the knife.

The rest of the day was filled with minor mischief.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Until it was time to start Family Home Evening.  One of our children – who shall remain nameless – left the cabinet lock off and he found the container of grease I use for frying.  I’m not sure if he ate any of it, but he sure had fun splashing and pouring it!  The kitchen rug, that is less than 2 months old, was completely saturated!  As sad as it is, I don’t think we’ll be able to salvage it.

Daniel, Daniel, Daniel.  I shouldn’t be amazed at what you’re capable of, but really, I am!!  You’re giving Caleb a run for his money.  We really don’t need 2 tornadoes crashing around this house.  (But, between you and me…way to go, little man!!)

Josh had a Birthday!

Oh my!  Josh is 11 years old now!  Look out world, ‘cause here he comes.

And this just happens to be the greatest miracle ever…

 

A SMILE!!  An authentic, natural, honest-to-goodness smile!

This is the kind of smile we normally get from this kid…

 

…and even those are rare.  Usually it’s just a look of sheer torture and misery.

I guess all it took was turning 11.  Such a magical age!

Poor Josh had to deal with a mostly regular day, complete with visiting teachers and hour-long phone calls dealing with medical issues.  He even had to go to swimming lessons (which I think he loved, but would never dare admit).  He did get his requested meals of blueberry muffins for breakfast and hamburgers and fries for dinner.  And don’t forget the apple pie for dessert.  He is definitely his father’s son!!

Here are 11 fun things about Josh:

1. He wants to be an engineer.
2. He says he’s going to go to MIT (we’re taking donations…)
3. He LOVES school.
4. He was one of only 6 fifth-graders in his school to receive the Hope of America award.
5. He loves to play baseball and basketball.
6. He loves geography.
7. He has only had one broken bone – his wrist, which happened at school just a couple weeks before Daniel was born.
8. When he was about 2 years old, he pulled a huge Costco-sized can of shortening onto his big toe.  His nail was purple for a very long time.  He cried a little and then was fine.
9. He has always had an amazing memory.
10. He recently earned his Webelos and Arrow of Light awards.
11. He is an awesome, funny, smart, and amazing kid, and we love him tons!