End of the School Year

Austin finished up elementary school with a bang. At the 4th grade graduation, Austin got called up 3 times for special awards. He received a librarian award for reading Bluebonnet books both 3rd and 4th grade, a PE award for good sportsmanship and athleticism, and a trophy for the Broadway award (displaying good character), which only 9 kids were selected for. He received an award for all As, and if the specials typing teacher would have given out an award, Austin for sure would have received that one as well. He can type faster than his typing teacher! (He averages 81 wpm.) Two kids in each class got called up for the highest averages for the Principal's award; we were both surprised he wasn't called up for that--he must have just missed the top two spots, but he was happy with all the recognition. He's a smart cookie, but most importantly, he is one of the kindest humans I know!

With his teacher Mrs. Gorman. Also sporting his new smile; he got braces on March 16th.

Austin went with his cousin, Morgan, to a Rockets game, and they were thrilled they ended up on the Jumbotron

One of the celebrations at the end of the year for Carter was his tennis banquet. As a sophomore, Carter played in the starting line up all year and worked his way to line 1 doubles by the end of the year. He has a 5 UTR in doubles. Next year, he should have more opportunities to play singles and hopes to continue to improve his UTR.

The varsity team

Carter was thrilled to be selected as a team captain for next year, selected for his leadership, positivity, and encouragement of his teammates.

I do a piano recital every May. Austin played Lean on Me and Cossack Ride. Bryson played Pachabel's Cannon and He's a Pirate. They played with feeling and had both their pieces memorized.

End of the School Year

Bryson graduated from elementary school.

Bryson received several awards. He got all A honor roll and a student council award (one boy and one girl voted on from each class at the beginning of the school year). Specials teachers also chose approximately 10 kids in the whole grade to earn an award for each fine art. Bryson was selected by his art teacher and PE teacher to be recognized as a student who is on-task, kind, respectful, and a hard worker. Very few kids were recognized by more than one teacher!

Carter also received awards at the Junior high level. Each subject area selected approximately 12 kids total. These are kids that epitomize leadership, growth, work ethic, and respect. He was selected by his Ceramics and Science teachers.

Carter finished up another year of percussion in the band. His heart isn't completely in it, and he does enough to do well, but doesn't push himself. I like that he's still involved with music despite quitting piano.

Caleb's Varsity tennis team (and managers)

Caleb was voted best sportsmanship

Finishing Off the School Year

Bryson did very well in 3rd grade making the all A honor roll. Going back to school after homeschooling last year, the class he struggled in the most was Reading. I disagreed with how that teacher graded frequently throughout the year though. (Short assignments so that if you missed one question you got a B, not taking enough grades, etc.) Overall, he transitioned very well though.

Bryson got the Payday Award for always working hard each day.

Austin graduated from Kindergarten. For the most part, he thought school was only okay. He's a smarty pants so the work was too easy for him, and he was often bored. But he was able to help other students when needed and enjoyed getting to know new friends. Just like my other boys, he was very well-behaved at school and never stepped a toe out of line.

Austin got the Writing Wizard award because he enjoyed writing stories when he had free time. He's the first of my boys to really love writing. We will see if that continues. Austin is also very meticulous about his handwriting and tries to write his letters extra neat.

Caleb had his Suzuki Book 6 party mid May. He spent more time perfecting his songs this time, and his very difficult songs sounded absolutely gorgeous. I was so proud of him! We invited a bigger crowd this time, and many people heard his impressive talent. He continues to practice daily and work very hard at developing this skill. I quit when I got to 9th grade, so I'm glad he's not following in my footsteps.

In true Mom Fail fashion, I ran off to serve refreshments and neglected to get a picture of Caleb at the event. I did take some videos of his playing though.

Caleb finished up his school year with all As; his lowest final average on his report card was a 95. Next year he will try his hand at his first AP class. He improved a lot on his writing this year.

After the choir Pop Show with his tennis and choir buddy, Tyler.

Carter killed 6th grade. I don't know how much of it was his own intellect, easier teachers, or his fabulous homeschool teacher last year (wink, wink), but Carter made 6th grade look like a walk in the park. One boy and one girl are chosen for the Principal's award per hallway (3 classes) for demonstrating leadership and making good grades. Carter was picked as the boy in his hallway.

Look at this kid's report card! I don't know how he could have done any better with his final averages as a 99 or 100 in every class!!! He was also one of ten 6th grade students who passed the CBE test and will skip 8th grade math next year and move straight to Algebra. I'll help fill in any gaps as needed. He's excited to move on to junior high next year and play football.

I'm so proud of how hard all my boys worked this past school year! Matt and I feel so lucky and blessed to be their parents.

The Start of School

1st day picture: Bryson starting 1st grade and Carter starting 4th

Caleb starting 7th grade at a junior high school

Austin starting preschool

The start of school has been a breeze for Bryson and Carter. Bryson has his best friend, Dax, in his class, plus a handful of friends from his class last year, including Camdyn who is enamored with him and vice versa. I can't tell you how many entries in his writing journal were about Camdyn at the end of last year. "Who is your favorite person and why? Camdyn because she gives me hugs." Bryson is doing well in school so far. He also has matured since last year and hasn't had the meltdowns right before school about refusing to go when something sets him off in the morning like last year. (i.e. Me telling him to hurry too many times, Carter saying something that upsets him, Austin looking at him the wrong way...)

Carter has the same homeroom teacher as Caleb did when he was in 4th grade. They have simplified some things since Caleb was in 4th grade including less homework. I'm so grateful for that! One less thing to keep on top of.

Caleb has had a tougher adjustment this year. There is a stupid rule that in order to be in Athletics instead of P.E., you have to play football. We have heard that if you are in Athletics, the coaches know you better and your chances increase of making the other sports teams. Caleb plans to try out for soccer, basketball, and tennis and wanted to increase the odds of making the teams so he is doing football for the first time this year. Caleb is athletic and fast so we knew Caleb would be able to hold his own, but the experience so far has been more than Caleb bargained for. He wakes up every morning at 6:15, eats a light breakfast, and leaves for school at 6:45. I run him to school because he has a few busier intersections to go through. He changes into his football gear and has to be on the field at 7:20. They practice football for almost 2 hours and then they have 20 minutes for 150 boys to shower and change for the rest of the school day. Caleb also uses a portion of those 20 minutes to eat more breakfast that I pack him.

The first 3 days of practice were extra hard. I can only assume that the coaches were trying to weed out the weak, and Caleb was ready to throw in the towel. It's very hot and humid still, and when the sun comes out, it is not fun to be outside exercising. (I feel bad for the 8th graders who practice after school!) The workouts were so intense that kids were throwing up their breakfast each morning. Caleb absolutely hates the mouth guard, which is too large for his mouth (and most of the boys' mouths). You can choose to have it pushed all the way in and having the ends irritate the back of your mouth or leave a portion hanging out the front of your mouth. Caleb is a germaphobe--he took all lessons about germs from school to heart. So it drives him crazy to have sweat and snot dripping into his mouth guard while he works out, not to mention the grass and dirt that get on it from the up downs. Because the morning workouts are so intense, he said he would have a headache the rest of the day and sometimes have difficulty concentrating in class. (Water is provided only by the football coaches in big huge jugs, but I'm sure a reason for the headaches is not being hydrated enough. He says the water tastes nasty so I bet he doesn't drink enough water like he should.) He definitely has not been on his game this year in terms of schoolwork. He's in all pre-AP classes this year for the core classes, and I've really had to stay on top of making sure he is keeping up with his classes. So after the first week, he didn't verbally say it, but I knew he wanted to quit. We had to talk about how 1) being labeled a quitter would do nothing to help him make the other sports teams, 2) the difficult conditioning he was doing each morning would help him be a better athlete and get in better shape, and 3) how this was an opportunity to rely on Heavenly Father to help him. 

Now that the boys are divided into 4 teams, Caleb says the practices aren't as hard as the beginning of the year. This year was a learning experience. I didn't want Caleb playing football but also wasn't strongly opposed to it if he wanted to try it out. I don't see him choosing to play again next year! He made the C team--we were warned that anyone who is a smaller 7th grade would likely make the C or D team, which I'm fine with. I don't want him going up against or getting tackled by bigger boys!

Starting preschool with Austin was a lot more difficult than I wanted to be. Austin is an angel and very smart for his age, but there are some challenges with some other students in the class. 8 days in and things are improving. Day 5 of teaching though was the hardest day of any of the 6 years I've taught preschool! A combination of one child absolutely refusing to participate in activities, having a meltdown 1st thing in the morning when she didn't get her way about something and another major meltdown for the last 20 minutes of preschool with hysterical crying, and another child throwing up all over my carpet right at the end of preschool. It was a doozy, but then it can only get better from there...I hope. 

First Day of School 2018

Bryson was really excited for his first day of kindergarten until he actually went to school. The day was long and a few little things upset him: the teacher asking him to stop doing something that wasn't actually him doing it and getting in trouble for lining up at the wrong time. There have been a few mornings where he absolutely refused to go to school because he just wanted a break. Going 5 days this past week was tough.

Carter and Caleb have both adjusted well, but they both don't like the number of hours spent at school each day. Carter has been very patient with biking with Bryson to and from school each day.

About 10 days before school started, Bryson finally learned to ride a bike! It wasn't his fault that it took him so long; we didn't do a good job of consistently teaching/practicing with him. Any time we did family walks or outings, he rode his scooter. He has done very well riding to and from school each day. The scary part is that there is a lot of bike traffic each morning/afternoon on a small sidewalk. He has had one accident where he rode into the grass to avoid crashing into someone, but when he tried to get back onto the sidewalk, he fell and skinned his knee badly due to the different level of sidewalk/grass at that one part. It was one of the reasons he refused to go to school the next day.

Austin and I have been adjusting to hanging out just the two of us at home. We do something fun each day (outing or playdate) and then he helps me tackle a cleaning/organizing project in the house. With a year off of teaching preschool, my to-do list is long for things I want to accomplish this school year!

1st Day of School 2017-2018

First day of 5th grade at an Intermediate school and first day of 2nd grade.

First day of preschool

(The shadow from his face makes his face look distorted. :o/)

Neither Caleb or Carter was excited to go back to school so it wasn't a great first day likely due to their attitudes. Carter complained that one of his teachers yelled at him for a silly reason (when lining up, he wasn't exactly behind the person in front of him--his shoulder stuck out...according to him) and also complained that he didn't get to go out to recess. After 3 days of no recess because the heat index was above 95 degrees, I finally decided to go to battle to get him recess. (It was the first thing out of his mouth each day when he got home!) I made a complaint about it last year as well and was told that staying inside was for the safety of the children when it is that hot outside. This year, I wrote the principal an email explaining how much my son looked forward to and loved recess. Going from playing all summer long to sitting in classes with little movement, even during PE as they establish rules/routines/procedures is tortuous! My request for a compromise was a modified recess--not the full 30 minutes when the heat index is above 95. It worked and Carter has been happier having the chance to play outside to break up the day.

Caleb was nervous about being in a new school with lockers and new faces. He has enjoyed the later start time, and has done well at getting his piano practicing done before school. The intermediate school is further away, but he still rides his bike to school with friends. He has 3 teachers this year for his core classes and has PE and his elective (choir) daily. So far things seem to be going well. I've been nervous for him!

Bryson was so excited for preschool to start. This is my first time teaching 9am-1pm with students bringing a lunch each time. The extra hour makes me feel less rushed, but it's also exhausting. I'm still just doing two days a week. Bryson loves having his friends come over for school.

In addition to my life already being busy with teaching preschool, teaching 5 piano students, my church calling (Relief Society teacher and Self-reliance specialist), I was asked by a friend to be on the PTO for Caleb's school. I didn't realize quite what I was getting into... Fortunately my position (Volunteer Coordinator) will calm down in stress-level in the next month. Initially my responsibilities of securing a room parent for each class and entering data into spreadsheets (areas where parents are willing to volunteer this year) is taking quite a bit of time.

School is off and running!
(Except for the unexpected cancellation of school on Friday in order to prepare for Hurricane Harvey. So far we're holding up fine, but the worst is yet to come.)

First Day of School 2016

 Caleb's last year in elementary school as a 4th grader. He's in a portable this year.

Carter is in 1st grade.

First Day of School

My handsome boys!

Caleb's first day of 3rd grade 

 Carter's first day of Kindergarten

Caleb's classroom is conveniently just down the hall from Carter's class, so I didn't walk Carter in for his first day--older brother dropped him off. Carter wasn't nervous at all. Caleb kept telling him all this last week, "Carter, school isn't that fun. You just have to do lots of homework and tests." Despite that, Carter was still excited to go.

Bryson bawled almost the whole way home that he didn't get to go to school too. :(

All Done Second Grade!

Caleb finished off 2nd grade with a bang! He got on the all-A honor roll each grading period, and had a 100 in math for 3 of the 4 grading periods. He tested Gifted and Talented (GT) for Math. He also won an award in PE for how many laps he ran during their running time. (Most kids walk)

 

This is his Language Arts/Social Studies teacher presenting his award for all As and Citizenship (good behavior each grading period). When she called him up she described him as incredibly shy, soft-spoken, and a really, really fast talker. I don't like to think of Caleb as shy, but he just knows the times when it's appropriate to talk and when it's appropriate to listen and be respectful.

Summer break, here we come!

Summer, Here We Come!

Caleb had mixed feelings about finishing first grade. He was excited to have a break from school, but he knew he would miss his classmates and teacher.

Caleb finished first grade with a bang! He participated in the first grade talent show playing one of his recital pieces. He finished the year making A honor roll all year long. And he was the only one in the school who won the award below from P.E. for running the most laps of anyone in the whole school. He finished with the equivalent of 35 1/2 miles for the entire school year!! Caleb is a super star. He's also probably the only first grader that finished the year without losing any teeth. He is the youngest in his grade, but Matt and I are a little shocked that he has all his baby teeth still.

Carter finished his first year of preschool! I had the privilege of teaching these 6 fun kids for the last year.

 Carter, Bryson and I enjoyed a splash pad during Caleb's last week of school. Bryson wasn't the biggest fan.

Carter had a blast. He is such a ham!

Tough Transition

We've all been adjusting to having Caleb go to school now.  Any other mother I've talked to with a new kindergartener has said how much their child is loving school and made the transition really well. Unfortunately, Caleb is having a really tough time, and I decided to record it for journaling purposes.  (I'm in the process of turning my blog into a book right now by year so that I have a hard copy of this online journal.)  This post is going to be long, so bear with me.

Two weeks in, and I've tried to be really patient about everything.  It can only get better right?  My biggest gripe about the schools here is all day Kindergarten.  I've been dreading Caleb starting school specifically for this reason because I don't agree with it.  I personally think all day school every day is too much for a 5-year-old.  I can't help but have frustrations towards this recent change (I believe 2007) to accommodate the working mom's schedule because it may be meeting the needs of other parents, but it is not meeting the needs of my child.  I am so jealous of all the out-of-state moms I've talked to whose kid only has to go half day.  Be so grateful!!!  I also have heard of some friends whose child goes every T/Th and every other Friday (while the other half goes M/W and every other Friday) or another friend sends their child to half day for the first semester, then transitions to full day Kindergarten for the second semester.  All those options sound fabulous!!

Caleb is a child who has not needed sleep to be happy as other kids seem to, so he doesn't come home tired or cranky each day.  Most every day he has come home in a good mood, excited to be home.  We've established the routine of doing something fun for the first 45 minutes when he gets home (play soccer outside, play a game inside, etc.), then it's time to do homework (15 min.), practice reading (15 min.), and then do a piano lesson (about 20 min.).  After that, it's dinner time, and too soon for Caleb, it's time to start getting ready for bed.  In his mind, there is not enough time in the day for anything fun, and he's right.  We can't go to the zoo anymore or to Pump it Up or any of the other fun activities we did every day up until now.  As the bedtime process starts, so does the complaining.  Caleb doesn't whine much through the complaining, but constantly asks, "Why does school have to be so long?"  Or I hear: "Why do I have to go to school every day?"  "I don't want to go to school tomorrow.  Can't I just stay home?"

I've been trying to do little "extra" things to brighten his days.  I'll make his favorite treats to put in his lunch (he loves banana bread).  I always have a note in his lunch box saying 'Mommy and Daddy love you.'  Matt will go into work 20 minutes later two mornings a week in order to walk Caleb to the bus stop, which Caleb loves (which Matt also does to let me get my weekday running in). We talk about the fun things we're going to do on Saturday or a movie we're going to rent for Friday night.  But going to school day in and day out has been really tough on him because it's so long. It tears at my heartstrings because he really tried hard for about the first 6 days or so to have a positive attitude and to buck up because this is what all the kids have to do.  Now his attitude is turning sour pretty quickly.

As each day passed, slowly we could get information out of Caleb of why he doesn't like going to school.  I was upset the first 3 days of school because there was no recess plus no running around in P.E., according to Caleb.  He said they practiced saying "1, 2, Eyes on You" and talking about the rules.  So the first three days of school my son got no time to run around and play and be a kid!!  After hearing that, I really started focusing on doing some physical activity every day when he got home from school.  Caleb has yet to go out to recess...I understand that schools have to be very cautious about playing outside in the heat (although I've been doing it with Caleb every day when he gets home from school, and we just know that we're going to come in sweaty and need some water when we're done).  But I know how much kids need that outside time to play as they want.  When I taught preschool, it made a MAJOR difference on the way the day went if we couldn't go outside because it was raining.  Kids need that time to play make-believe or just to run around and get energy out.  If I was concerned about the weather being too hot, I cut recess time in half and we all had cold water afterwards.  I was even more upset to learn that the three other schools close by have all gone out to recess at least a few times.  Grrr.  Instead of going out to recess each day, they've been watching "Word Girl."  Caleb was really embarrassed to tell me about it after the first few days when I asked what they did instead of recess because this was a show that I didn't allow him to watch at home.  I actually haven't taken the time to sit down and watch this show, but I also haven't taken the time to watch 'Sponge Bob' and yet I know that's a show I don't want my children watching.  I'm sure the show is fine, apparently it teaches vocabulary, but any glimpses I've seen of it, I just didn't like the cartoon-ish vibe of the show with the flying monkey.  Bottom line, there were better things we could be doing with our time.

Caleb admitted just a few days ago that he really doesn't like riding the bus.  It's something I have been concerned about as a parent because the commute time both ways adds that much more time that he's away from home. He gets picked up 45 minutes before school starts to allow for the kids that need it to get to school in time for breakfast.  He gets dropped off 30 minutes after school ends.  Matt and I asked why he doesn't like riding the bus anymore--at first he was ecstatic and loved it.  He says that the bus driver just yells the whole time to sit down and be quiet.  We talked through how buses don't have seat belts and that it is very dangerous if kids are standing up, and the bus driver might need to yell so the kids in the very back of the bus can hear him.  But I could also see it from Caleb's eyes as a small boy being terrified of an adult yelling constantly.  Along these lines, there are so many rules to remember and follow about school that I'm sure it's overwhelming at first.  Caleb is such a perfectionist and wants so hard to please adults that I'm sure he gets stressed out about it all.  Anyway, I decided that's a change we're going to try out this week to see if it helps; I'm going to drive Caleb to and from school every day.  (Again, I wish we lived close enough to walk to school!!)  That will allow more time in the morning to be home and hopefully we'll get home faster than the bus as far as picking him up from school.  We'll see if this helps...

The other day Caleb and I were sitting down working on his homework assignment of drawing a picture of his teacher and filling in the blank: "My teacher is ________."  He drew a picture of his teacher just fine, but struggled to come up with an adjective to describe her.  I threw out several possibilities: nice, kind, smart, happy, etc.  He turned down each of these, so I started to throw out more neutral adjectives: short, tall, funny, etc.  We were getting no where, and I started to get a little frustrated that he wouldn't just pick one so we could be done with his homework!  After several more minutes of back-and-forth, he finally told me the adjective he wanted to write down: bad.  Uh, red flag.  We spent the next several minutes talking about why he wanted to write that word down and how that word might hurt his teacher's feelings.  He wouldn't open up to me or Matt later on about why he wanted to write that word.  Caleb and I finally compromised on the word sad.

There have been a few other things that have bothered me about the school in general that I won't get into, but I'm still fuming about one thing in particular.  After going through the online process of getting approved to be a volunteer, I wrote to the teacher expressing my excitement to volunteer in Caleb's classroom.  She had mentioned at Parent Night that she would love to have volunteers to help cut things out for class, if parents were willing.  I wrote to the teacher after the first week of school explaining that I would love to do more than just cutting.  I explained my background: a degree in Elementary education, taught for 2 1/2 years, gave up teaching to stay home and raise a family once I had Caleb.  I explained that I missed teaching quite a bit which is why I have used tutoring and teaching preschool these last two years as a way to fill this desire to teach.  My goal in volunteering was to be in the classroom helping with pull-out groups in math or reading or anything along those lines.  As a teacher of 22 children of varying levels of learning and having been in those shoes before, I knew that a parent volunteering with my background would be a great asset.  But my assumption was incorrect.  Because the school Caleb attends is a Title I school, the school can afford to hire paraprofessionals for just this purpose, to go in and assist in the classroom.  Caleb's teacher told me she doesn't have any need for me in the classroom, but really only has a need for me to help cut things out or make copies.  She specifically mentioned that on the days I do come in to help with these needs, that I could pick one of two workrooms to work in.

I was equally shocked and crushed.  I don't mind helping in any way that she needs, but with the concerns I have about Caleb right now, I really wanted to be in the classroom.  In answer to Caleb's constant complaining, I mistakenly mentioned that Caleb would start seeing me in his classroom once a week helping his teacher.  He was so excited about having me there and asked every day since when I would be coming in.  His teacher just told me her volunteering "needs" this past Friday, and now I have to break the news to Caleb still.

Since I have a masters degree in Library Science, the other avenue I was hoping for was to volunteer in the library once a week and possibly coordinate it with the day that Caleb goes to the library.  That desire was crushed as well when I was told that the librarian was on maternity leave, and I wouldn't be able to come in until she gets back in November.  Of course I'll be having a baby in November and was planning on taking a few months off from volunteering.  So I wouldn't be able to start helping in the library until January.

I'm trying to be patient and to wait things out.  (The idea of home-schooling has crossed my mind a few times though.)  Caleb will adjust to this new schedule eventually and hopefully the complaining will stop as well as the feelings of not liking school.  I'm trying to not be so dramatic about his experience so far.  Really things are okay, and it's not the end of the world that we've had a rough start.  But as any mother knows, it's so hard to not be over-protective of your child or to be concerned when you perceive things aren't going well.

My feelings about the experience thus far are only magnified with the fact that we didn't intend on Caleb ever attending this school.  When we moved into our house, we knew it would be a starter home and that we would only be in it for about 5 years.  We've been looking at houses the last year trying to decide on the best area to move and factoring in Matt's commute to work each day.  After much searching and prayer, we found and purchased a home where everything seemed to work out just right with the timing and the deal we found.  The catch (and the reason I haven't posted about it yet) is that we can't move into it for another 6 months.  It is a model home in a neighborhood nearby, which very much appealed to me because it's already decorated/painted before you move in!  (Let's just say that decorating a home all cute is not one of my talents.)  Plus model homes always have a few extra perks.  The circumstances are that we can't move in until they are completely finished selling homes in that area; the good news is there are only two more lots to sell and build!  In the mean time, the builder is paying us rent each month at a good rate, plus taxes while they are still there.  Since we bought the home before school started, we thought things would work out perfectly with Caleb starting school in that neighborhood.  I did NOT want to transfer him mid-year.  Long story short, because we didn't have an exact date of when we would be in the home, Caleb couldn't attend school there.  (Believe me that we fought this hard, but you can't win everything.)

So my prayer, as of now, is that the last two lots sell quickly so we can start transferring Caleb to this new school, where he's guaranteed to have at least a few friends from church in his class since a LOT of members live in this neighborhood.  Right now he has no friends from church in his class, which I guess is a good experience for Caleb in learning to make friends.  Plus in the new home, we'll be close enough to walk to school together everyday!  I'm holding out that things will get better at his current school, but I'm not as nervous about transferring mid-year as I was initially.  (The new school is also not a Title I school and hopefully will be excited to have me volunteer and help in the classroom!!)

Now that I've announced about our new house, I'll post some pictures next time!  We're so excited about it!!!  (And hats off to you if you actually read this entire post!)

First Day

Caleb's first day of Kindergarten!

At the bus stop

Getting on the bus

He admitted that he was mostly nervous about going to school.  I was so nervous for him!  I couldn't answer a lot of his questions because I didn't know what to expect either!  I wish we lived close enough to the school that I could walk him to and from school every day.  He seems to enjoy the idea of riding the bus, but I was anxious about him getting on the right bus at the end of the day!

Dropping Caleb off at the bus stop, I was prepared to lose it emotionally after Caleb stepped on the bus.  In actuality, Carter was the one to bawl, and I had to spend the next several minutes consoling him!  Carter was so disappointed that he couldn't go with Caleb.

Apparently upon arriving at the school, all the kids go to the cafeteria for breakfast?  (In this school, the cafeteria and the gym are one and the same.)  I'm still not sure, but I guess he sat down and other kids were eating around him, so he thought it was time to eat his lunch.  He ate about half of his lunch, even though he had just had pancakes about an hour earlier!  Then at lunch time, he didn't have very much to eat.  He came home from school starving!  Apparently he was so hungry that he raised his hand to tell his teacher at some point that he needed a snack, but she asked him to put his hand down.  He told me when he got home that I needed to start packing a breakfast and lunch for him each day!

I spent the day trying to keep busy so that I would keep my mind off of worrying about Caleb.  (I wonder what he's doing now?  Is he making any friends?  Is he going to like school? etc., etc.)  I got a lot of cleaning accomplished, made some banana bread for his breakfast the next day, and made Rice Krispies treats to greet Caleb when he got home.  I was so relieved to hug him when he stepped off the bus!  He came home and wolfed down 2 Rice Krispies treats, 2 slices of banana bread, and a bowl of applesauce.  I initially told him no more food after his first Rice Krispies treat because I didn't want him to spoil his dinner, but changed my mind after learning that he didn't eat much for lunch!

It's been challenging being alone with Carter these last two days.  He is a grumpy kid, and honestly isn't the most pleasant kid to be around.  (He's still my grumpy boy though, and I love him!!)  Caleb handles him so well and is so patient with him, for the most part.  It has been a luxury to have Caleb play with him and help me take care of him (i.e. getting him a snack etc.).  Carter doesn't play independently and wants me next to him at every moment in the day.  Yesterday he followed me around while I cleaned and baked and was a great "helper," but the helping usually creates a lot more work.  We'll adjust to this new rhythm just in time to welcome a new baby in 9 weeks!

Overall, I think Caleb's school experience is going well.  He still wants to go back, so that's a positive thing!