A Story

I stopped by Grandma's house on the way home from picking up the girls, and filled her in on all the details of the day. She told me that when she started first grade, she was five and her sister, Eloise, was in the eleventh grade. Grandma was really nervous and kept telling the teacher she was sick and that she needed her sister, so someone would go find Aunt Eloise and bring her to Grandma or vice versa. After the fourth day of this, instead of taking her to Aunt Eloise, they took her to the nurse and gave her baking soda to help with the sickness. Grandma said she was never "sick" again. 

First day of school 2013-2014

Oh my goodness. Another year of school has started and will be behind us before we know it. I was originally planning on homeschooling this year. I had bought the books, printed the schedules and prepped myself as much as possible. 

And then our house sold. 

And I'm certainly not complaining about our house selling; that's an answered prayer. It just really threw a wrench in my planning and quite honestly, my sanity. I've really been struggling this past month to keep my head above water, to parent as I ought, to stay on top of the banking and bills, and still smile and have a nice disposition. 

Last night was especially horrible and I finally just started bawling. Thank goodness it happened at my parent's house and not in our old house where I would have just been alone with the girls. Mom and Dad quickly took over (I think they saw it coming and were just waiting in the shadows for the bell to go off) and got the older three girls in bed. Dad walked me out of the bedroom and Mom started rocking Nora. I just cried and cried and Dad comforted me in the way he has since I was a tiny little thing. Because he fathered four daughters, ol' Dad has had a lot of practice in comforting wailing women. 

And then he went to Sonic and brought back ice cream. See? He knows what he's doing.

Anyway, today was a new day and not just any old day. It was the first day of school at a new school in a new town! Did I forget to mention that we decided to send the girls to public school for a year? Oh, sorry. Well, due to a lot of factors, we did. I'm excited for them to have this experience, but I can't wait to get to be their teacher again and get back into our regular curriculum. I'm already making plans for next year. 

So...back to today. Everyone was so excited. There was a little drama this morning with the what to wear/how shall I fix my hair scenarios, but we made it out the door right on time. 

Elaina (7) Second Grade
Claire(6) First Grade
Eily(5) Kindergarten

Claire complained of a stomach ache on the way to school and was convinced it was NOT due to nerves, but rather, a result of her breakfast. Funny thing though, as soon as started towards the school building, that stomach ache vanished. Elaina was also feeling a little nauseous but she was pretty sure it was all nerve related. I agreed.  I walked with each girl to her classroom and took a picture of her at her desk. Elaina was nervous but her teacher knew where Renee, one of Elaina's best friends, was and walked Elaina to meet her so that they could visit before the bell rang. I really appreciated Mrs. Pickartz effort to make her feel at ease. 

By the time I got Elaina settled, Claire had already left for her own classroom down the hallway and was busy at her desk. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Young and she seems very kind and very friendly. The boy beside Claire is Jacob, and Claire said he is very nice.

My last stop was to deliver little Eily to her classroom. She is in Mrs. Means class. When Eily first heard this information, she was terribly upset. She calmed down once she learned that a person's name does not describe their personality. She was so nervous at first and just stayed balled up in her chair until her cousin, Clayton, walked in. As soon as she saw his familiar face, she hopped right up and began unloading her backpack. I snuck out while she was distracted but I wanted so bad to stay and be a fly on the wall. 

The day flew by. Jessica (Clayton's mama), came over and we peeled and cut up a lot of fresh peaches that we had picked on Saturday. Then I made a peach pie and it by the time it was baking, it was already time to go get the girls. 

They each had a great day. They took turns in the car telling me every detail they could remember about their day and their little voices kept getting more and more animated. Eily got to go to the library and watch a Clifford movie; Claire got to go to Art class today; Elaina also went to the library and was one of the few students chosen as the most well-behaved for the day. Eily said her nap felt like it lasted five seconds. All three said their PE was just a play day since it was the first day of school. Elaina broke her pencil in half and was embarrassed for a little while. Claire made a friend named Brooklyn. Elaina made a friend named Zion. Eily made a friend but she doesn't know what her name is. 

When we got home, we went through each backpack and I signed all the paperwork and we worked on Elaina's homework and spelling words. So far, easy peasy. Eily had homework, too. She was supposed to work on learning the circle shape, the number one and the words AM and I. I didn't even bother quizzing her. She's got this. I did go over Elaina's spelling words with her and she just messed up on one word so I feel confident that by Friday, she'll know them all just fine. 

It was a good day and I'm excited to see what tomorrow brings!

Independence Day 2013

Yes, I know, these are a little late. I have several posts yet to come that are from this past summer. Sometimes it takes a while to get around to uploading the pictures. And really, I have more pictures from this day on the big camera but it's in a box somewhere. Maybe that post will show up sometime around Thanksgiving. 

Fun fact: We no longer live in this house. Woo Hoo!

It proved very hard to get a nice picture of Nora.

Even though her eyes are closed, this is my favorite picture of Elaina.

After I had fulfilled my picture taking urges, we loaded up and headed for Aunt Leah and Uncle David's house. Once we got there, the girls started getting very hyper and silly and begged me to take photos of their crazy poses. 

I'm pretty sure I have another picture of Claire from a few years ago making this same face and pose. 

We had a big day going to the water park (and freezing!) and then out to eat for supper. Finally, it was just an our or so from dark so we set off a few of the daytime fireworks. 

This was just too cute. I'm pretty sure we were laughing at the  chicken that lays an egg. They've changed it since I was a lass. 

I mean, look at that egg. Yowza!

Leah and David live in a cul-de-sac and it was the perfect spot. There were fireworks in the sky all around us. We ended the night with a popsicle and a bath. It was a great 4th of July!

You're welcome, boys.

Our Temporary Home

So, I don't know if I ever posted about where we are living now. We are staying with my parents while the house we are going to rent is getting all spruced up for our arrival. We have taken over the back two bedrooms and just this morning, I feel like we are basically settled in and there are places for all the things. And that's an important for me; I need things to have places. This was the first morning since we have been here that I could just take my time after waking up. We didn't have any chiro appointments, we didn't have any dentist appointments, we didn't have any doctor appointments, we didn't have boxes to unpack, we didn't have items piled up to take to the storage unit, and there wasn't laundry piled up waiting on me to wash, fold, etc... I unhurriedly dressed the girls and cleaned the kitchen. I unhurriedly folded a load of laundry with Mom. I'm unhurriedly eating breakfast while typing this post and in a few minutes, I'll unhurriedly make my way to the  shower. It's been a nice, calm, quiet morning. Hooray!

It took five years but we are out!

The first day:
Well, we made it. We packed and packed and packed and loaded and loaded and loaded and then unloaded and unloaded and unloaded. Apparently the theme of this summer is It Shall Not Happen Easily or Without Drama. During the course of moving everything from the house to the storage unit, Jason hurt his ankle very, very badly. By supper time, he was in some intense pain and was unable to walk at all. He's now in a brace and using crutches to get around.

Bedtime:
It took a good hour or more of crying and discipline, but we finally convinced Nora that she had to stay in her bed and go to sleep. Then, I got the three other girls to settle down and drifted off myself. And then around three or four, Claire woke up with a stomach virus and that's what we did for the rest of the morning.

I still have to go back and clean out the pantry and the fridge. And I still need to vacuum, clean the bathrooms, etc... But then we are finished with the ol' house on Christy Lane. Blogging might be a little spotty this week because we have a lot of appointments but I promise I'm going to try to get back to it as soon as I can.

Jacob, Audrey, Michael and Allison

Look how my oldest brother, Adam's, kids have changed in ten years. Time just keeps going faster and faster.