It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!

My favorite commercial of all time has got to be the one Staples (or is it Office Max?) does right before school starts. The Christmas song, "It's the most wonderful time of the year" is playing while it shows a parent prancing and leaping through the school supplies aisle of this store and the children follow slowly behind, head down, shoulders drooped, frown on face and we can tell both are thinking about BACK TO SCHOOL! Well...I'm that parent!! I know some parents (at least Moms) cry on the first day of school and I've heard some talk at church about how they have such a hard time when it's back to school - really?!? At times like that, I find myself sliding lower down into my seat and thinking, "Is something wrong we me? What's not to like about it?" I'm just going to get it out there and confess - I LIKE IT!! (SOO MUCH!)

Which leads me to the subject of this post - School's back in session! (YEA!)

We decided we all needed to get up at 6:45am to make the 1st day of school all work - can I just say that just about killed me (or at least made me want to kill everyone else, I was so grumpy!) But at 9:15am when I was back at home with just Katelyn & Brookelle, I was like... LISTEN TO THE SILENCE!

It was Ryan's first day of Jr. High! For the first time in his life, he asked me for fashion advise! Up until now when I tried to tell him what he should wear, it was always, "Mom! I can choose what I like!" (That's true.) I'm floored that he's now taken to shirts that have any kind of buttons on them! Instead of T-shirt only with no collars, tags, or nothing to slow him down! (I'm thrilled.) I thought I shouldn't go to school with him and follow him around taking pictures like I have every year up until now...I think that'd fall under the geeky category, but I'm not sure about the laws of Jr. High anymore. So, Matt just drove him there on his way to work and dropped him off to enter the sea of students all alone. Matt did say he was talking so fast and non-stop all the way there, like he was so nervous (but he'll not say he was). Matt just had to say, "Be Still!" When he got home, he said it was "fun." After I spent the 1st night reading 100 class disclosures, he came home with homework every other day. He came to me one night saying he needed help with English homework - it was on "context clues" in writing. Huh?! I didn't know what he was talking about - and English was one of MY best subjects! I've got to get my brain back! PLEASE don't let him ask me about Utah Studies or for help with Science - YIKES!!


The best thing about school for Kyle? He gets to wear shoes & socks again! In the summer, I made him wear sandals or flip flops (to cut down on laundry, ya know!) He spent at least 30 minutes staring at the shoe selections at the store and carefully thinking about which one to choose. He's so pleased with his new sneakers - do ya like the color? They certainly won't blend in to everything else. They have the LA Dodgers logo/letters on the side. He's in Mrs. Gundry's 4th grade class.


It was Haylee's first day of 1st grade, which meant she'll now go all day! (Refer again to the title of this post!) When we were driving to school, she announces to me frantically, "Mom! I'm not ready!" I told her she was all dressed, hair done, and back pack on - she was READY! :) She has the same teacher Kyle had a couple years ago, so Mrs. Landon was super nice and acted excited when she saw Haylee, which helped a lot. A bonus: she doesn't start homework until the middle of September!

So, I took the elementary kids to school and walked them to class and went in with them to find their desks and spent about a 1/2 hour at the school taking pictures, etc. Well, that afternoon, I happened to pass a mirror and I noticed something weird...the side seam on my shirt - sticking out! I had worn my shirt inside-out to school and didn't even notice...until like 6 hrs. later! (Refer to the title 4 posts ago!)

And to think I was trying to avoid being a geek today.