First Day of School 2011

Ah, that first day of school.  Such anticipation.  Such excitement.  My kids arose at 5 am and were dressed and had their lunches packed before Kadester and I even thought about getting up.

 Breakfast was eaten, bags packed, shoes on... all in the dark.  School starts at 7:40 a.m. here.  But they don't mean get to school by 7:40, that means morning announcements start at 7:40.  So we need to leave our house by 7:15 a.m. to be there by 7:20 ish, so they can be in their classrooms before 7:40.  This means early mornings with little light.

 In fact, my flash had to work on some of these photos because the sun had just come up.  For this sleep deprived mom - this is simply crazy.  It will be easier in a couple of weeks when Tiny is sleeping better.

 Since the elementary school is just down the road, Jan and I packed up 4 of the 5 kids to drop off Garrett and Claire.  Kaile, on the other hand, is a big 6th grader, so she is riding the bus across town.  I was hoping to get back in time to watch Kaile get on the bus for the first time, but that didn't happen with all of the traffic.  Luckily she figured it out just fine. :)

 Kaile had a great day.  They took her out of technical applications (computer class) and put her in art for this semester. Some of her experiences for the day:

* not realizing you have to know your bus number to find the right bus to come home.  She stewed about this for part of the day, then said she remembered a folder with the number 43 on it. She decided to assume that was it, and quit worrying.  It was.

* having your bus be late, and running in to your class to sit down.... only to find out you were sitting in room 197, Ms. Em's, but in the 7th grade hall instead of the 6th grade hall,  room 197, with Ms. Emmons.  I guess she'll remember where the 6th grade hall of classrooms are now. :)

* trying to find the girls restroom.  Someone had put a poster over the sign.  She had asked two teachers where it was, then ended up in a hallway of older boys that she didn't want to ask. She finally ended up opening all of the doors down the hall until she found it.

* liking the fact that they make girls dress modestly at her school.  No spaghetti straps or short shorts/skirts.

* liking most of her teachers, except the one that said that he was a homework-a-holic.  Yeah, she's not too excited about that class.  I told her to give him a second chance.

I hate middle school.  I am praying this goes well.

 Claire loved her first day.  Highlights for her included art class, getting to know you games, and seeing the big piano painted green with polkadots.

 This is Claire's teacher, Ms. Myrick.  She seems really nice.  I'm sure they will get along great.

This is Garrett's teacher, Mrs. Inbody.  She was a military wife and has lived all over, including San Diego.  Garrett liked the fact that she knew a lot of the same places as him.  He said he enjoyed getting to know her.  He said her favorite thing was to travel.  She showed pictures of her and her husband in Egypt in front of some temples, and going down the Nile.  He also enjoyed visiting the library and seeing the fish that look like "bubbles" from Finding Nemo really chasing the bubbles coming out of a treasure box.  He also said the music teacher was hilarious.

This mom, however, was on the verge of crying most of the morning.  My house was so quiet!  Call it hormones if you wish, but I was sad they were gone.  Jan said it was okay if I cried.  Pick up from school was fairly simple, even if it did take forever.

I made homemade cookies for the kids.  I remember my mom doing this for us.  Our first day of school treat. It was nice watching the kids eyes light up.  Cookies!  Can you tell it has been a while???

Kaile didn't walk in the door until 4:30 from the bus.  I was getting worried.  She is going to have some LONG days.  That only leaves her 3 hours until bed time.  It should be a good, but interesting, year.

How did day 2 start?  Mom made the lunches, Dad drove, and everyone made it... just in time.  So much for the excitement lasting.

First Football Game

Garrett had his first football game on Saturday.  It was a pre-season game, but it was fun to see him on the field.  Sorry there are lots of pics - I'm assuming grandparents will want to see - Dad, it's almost a play by play (not really).

Before the game poses.

Garrett is obviously one of the taller boys on the team.

 Playing defensive lineman

 Running off the field.

 Pep talk from coach

 Halfway done - still having a good time.

 Instructions - they have had Garrett practicing at defensive lineman (outside linebacker) for weeks and weeks.  Jan knew they only had one good center, so started teaching Garrett that position at home.  The night before this game, Garrett asked his coach to try him at center.  Jan was proud that Garrett would take that initiative to ask.  They tried him a couple of times, and Garrett played half of the game at center, as well as some time on defense.

Garrett has always had a problem with focusing on the task at hand.  In baseball, he would be playing around or not paying attention in the outfield.  It was always a struggle.  I was really proud of Garrett because he was so focused.  If his coach called "Team One" or for certain players, or whatever, Garrett was paying attention and never had to be yelled at to get on the field.  If anything, that is an accomplishment for this year.

 We obviously have some work to do, but he did great for his first try.

 Who, me?

 I love that my 7 year old is already a sweaty, disgusting mess.  I thought I had years before I would have to deal with that.  :)

 Kade slept through most of the game, being passed from sibling to sibling.

 It was a great day.  Now you know what is consuming 3 nights a week and Saturdays for us.  I may be happy once November comes.  For now, I am happy Garrett is enjoying playing football!

Week 2 - Nana Peterson is here!

So much of last week was spent napping.  Luckily after my mom left, my mother-in-law, Sarah, flew in.  Talk about a lucky girl - 2 1/2 weeks of help!  Since I was doing better week 2, Sarah took the kids from the house almost every day so I could nap.  Lucky me!

I did try and make a couple of outings.  Sarah babysat one night and Jan and I took Kade to see "The Help."  I cried and laughed... and Kade nursed and slept.  It was wonderful.

On a different day we piled in the car and went to Cabela's.  It is one of my kids favorite places... and luckily for me it is free!

 Not only is it a great place to buy camping, fishing, hunting, cooking gear.... but they have huge aquarium tanks full of fresh water fish, and lots of stuffed animals to see.

 I only made it around 1/4 of the store and I was hurting too bad to continue.  Sarah sat me down and Kade and I waited for everyone to finish their browsing.  Guess it was too big of a goal for my 1st outing.

Jan and Sarah also took the kids to Barton Springs for an outing.  It is a natural limestone aquifer that they poured cement around the edges and people swim in it.  I understand it even has a diving pool.  Since it is over 100* outside and Kade and I can't swim yet... we stayed home and slept. :)

The kids, Jan and Sarah seemed to have a great time!

 On another night we went to see the famous Austin bats that fly out from under the Congress bridge.

 What an amazing sight.  We arrived only 10 minutes before they flew.  I have heard since that it can be a pretty stinky place with all of that guano, but I think because the humidity is so low, we didn't smell a thing.  There is probably a better vantage point.  Most of them flew out over the river, which I couldn't get a good shot of because there were trees in the way.

 Just like dominoes, thousands of bats started pouring their way out, starting at one end and finishing on the other.

 And within 10 minutes it was done.  Our short excursion was accomplished and it didn't wear me out.  Bonus.

 We then drove by the capital.  It was getting late, and we were doing drive-by pictures, so the pics didn't turn out great.

 And some of the Austin skyline from the freeway.

 Thank you Nana Peterson for flying in to take care of us!  We really appreciate all of the help!

 Can you believe this is the Grandma of 9 grandchildren, almost 10???  We have an amazing family and are so blessed!

Next stops?  School starts on Monday, and then a trip to California labor day weekend to baptize Garrett and bless Kade!  More adventure to come!