First Day of School - 2020/2021

 We are officially back to school.  

We are back in classrooms with real live teachers!!!!  

These three got up the second I woke them!  It didn't take long to get dressed, eat breakfast and then head to school.

Matthew worked hard at the shop since coronavirus hit the world.  He is one of Mike's best shed roofers and he absolutely loved his job!!!!  Going back to school will be a change for him and I'm praying he will dig deep into some good books and study well!

Ashlyn and Austin are each others best friends!  Sometimes they forget that fact but it's true.  They played day after day ever since Ashlyn was home from school in March.  Finishing third grade was challenging at times for her because Austin was all about the play time.  Now, the day has come that they are both off to school.  I just can hardly believe it.  My baby is now starting school.  Maybe it's time to pray about finding a day job???

I just love this kid SO MUCH!!!!

We are blessed to have a great school where the teachers love to teach and are excited to make learning fun!  I thought that this time I would be ready to have school begin and get the children back into books.  But I'm just never ready for that day, until it arrives.  We bought school supplies weeks ago but mostly because the younger ones were begging to go!  When school begins that usually means that summer is about to come to a close.  The lazy sleeping in mornings get exchanged to now setting alarm clocks.  The bedtime routines are much earlier and on schedule.  Like I mentioned, I'm not ever ready for this to begin but once we get into the groove, I'm all about it!  The house is suddenly quieter and as much as I did love having the children at home from school since March, it really is time to get them back into books, learning and teachers!

For once I thought that I would be really ready to have the children to be back into school but we've adjusted to life at home together for months upend and I loved it!  Did the house get messy?  Yes, often.  Were there spats and moments when I wished school would be in session instead of at home?  Yep.  But the day has come that three out of four of the children are now in school.

And we are off!  Matthew is riding to school with Tyler Zook because Upper School begins before the elementary campus.

Hadassah graduated from high school in the spring but now our youngest is in kindergarten.  How can this be?  Austin was both excited and nervous about his first day but mostly excited.  Mrs. Matherly is Austin's teacher and I got to spend the entire first day with him at school.  Kindergarten had orientation day.  I drove the children to school and then helped Austin find his backpack hook, mailbox, bathroom and desk. We took a bus ride together with the entire class and then finished with a story in the classroom.  Austin was able to go back home with me at 10 AM.  It was such a great start to his first day of school.

Ashlyn goes down this hall now for her classroom.

Getting to know each other and Mrs. Matherly.

Austin was to write his name and draw a picture of himself.

He is so lucky to have three cousins in his first year of school.  Two of them are boys and they are both his best friends!!!!

Here's the third cousin in his class!  Olivia is just adorable and will keep all three boys straight!

Time to color a picture.  He worked hard and his tongue proves his concentration.  It wasn't more than a few minutes though when he wanted to stop and be finished.  School work is going to be changeling for him at first because he's barely held a pencil in his hand.  He's all about characters and sports and not so much about the whole school theme!  I'm excited to watch him learn!

Watching these two be excited for school is the best start!!!!

And the four of these family members from four different families = cousins!  They all found each other the minute they walked into the kindergarten room!  What a blast!

My photos don't download in order and I don't know why not???  But here are the first steps Austin took into school being now a scholar!!!!

Thinking my mom is going to be busy on Grandparents day!!!!  :)))

Finding his backpack hook!  Funny fact ... I actually went to kindergarten in this very same room!  Very possible that these are the same hooks!!!!

Then the class went on a bus ride.

Right before we left for home, we grabbed a picture of Austin and Adrian.  It will be fun to see them in school together.

As we walked out we met Ashlyn's class in the hallway and they waved to each other.

Meanwhile, Ashlyn walked to the other side of the school now for fourth grade.  She is really loving being in Miss Kreiders class and says it's so much fun!  I know that learning will be a great experience for her this year and I can't wait to watch her thrive!

Matthew is in the Upper Campus and in tenth grade.  School has never been super fun for him but last year the amount of friends grew in leaps and bounds at school.  I was excited to see this for Matthew because so many times during his elementary years, his best friends would leave for missions or move to another state or change schools.  Matthew rolls with the punches and never said a bad word about it but I knew he was disappointed to see friends attend elsewhere!  The amount of boys doubled in his class last year and this year looks like a year of much learning, many friends and more sports!

School is back in session in school and without too many COVID restrictions!  We are just so blessed!