Our First Week of School

School has started!   With a slightly crazy first day for us, since that seems to be how we roll.

I've got a Senior, a Sophomore, and a Freshman in private school this year.

"179 days of school left.  Ever."

"I get to see all the friends I didn't see over the summer!"

"This is a little bit scary."  (Eli's first time in classroom school since kindergarten.)

Although my teens look slightly less than thrilled with this picture, it's mainly because it was a rushed thing.  I was going in one direction with the Little Ones, and Paul was taking the teens to school, leaving at just about the same time.

Because I was taking the Little Ones out of town, Paul offered to do some homeschooling with Jack, Hannah, and Katie for me.  Bad homeschool mama, I missed the first day of school!  But he did a great job, and finished everything on the list I left for him.

Eli had a birthday last week!

He got a couple new K'nex sets and a new t-shirt.

Or should I say "tank top"?  He likes the shirt, he just wasn't delighted about me taking his picture.

Lots of busy with our Little Ones.  Playing, eating, learning, visiting...

Lukey got new turtle jammies.  I've been doing some shopping since his clothes didn't come back, and he's grown a bit.

He got a new crib toy, too.  It plays music when you press the big fishbowl, and he's figured out how to kick it to make it work.

I worked on fork training with the 3 youngest kids in the house this week.  (I should be losing weight for all the time I spend feeding people other than myself, right??)  If I do hand over hand with him, we stab the ravioli together, and then he can get it into his mouth.  The Small Fries are catching on a bit quicker, but it's still quite the process.  I tried spoons and applesauce with the two Little Ones today.

Another new toy for Lukey.  He liked the little activity table we sent with him, and since it didn't return, I replaced it with a similar one, but I actually like this one much better.  It's more musical, and plays classical tunes.

Without the hair fluff, Luke has a few inches on the Little Ones.  One of them is quite fascinated with him.

New therapist this week.

I made them take a Second Day of School picture because the day one pics weren't smiley enough for me.  The cat had left a gift on the porch, and as I stood near it, I said, "Imagine me stepping in cat puke."  They all smiled.

Sigh.  I think Katie is going to have to go to school for K next year.  At least, if this week is any indication.  I just don't have the patience to lay a good foundation with her, and I don't want us both to be frustrated.  Maybe things will change as we get further into the year.

Here's the girls enjoying Lukey's new activity table now that it's out of the box and set up.

And this picture got tons of response on Facebook!  Everyone is happy to see our little guy, who was so miserable when he left in April, smiley and happy now.

I mentioned that one of the Little Ones is fascinated with Luke?  She will sit right next to him, on him, lay in his lap.  Luke looks at us like, "What they heck?"

Paul has been super helpful with keeping an eye on our Little Guests so I can teach, and helping Jack with his math.

It's a challenge, getting everything done.  I think it's going to take some time for us to find our school groove this year.  The dynamics are so very different from last year.

We made mammal cootie catchers.  Someone wasn't paying attention to the words he was coloring.

This was Jack's first experience with a cootie catcher.  That's what kids miss out on when they don't go to classroom school!  :giggle:

I can't believe we're almost done with August!  Time is zipping along.  Before I know it, it will be time to visit Apple Hill and the pumpkin patch.


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