First Day of School

Sigh...the end of summer, the beginning of school.  While I love the structure and routine of the school year, I dread the quiet house and the end of silly games and late night talks.  I know lots of Moms do a little happy dance when school begins-and I know that feeling of just being done with all the bickering and boredom the end of summer can bring, but I quietly steel myself against the sadness.

I think the biggest difference is most of my friends still have kids at home, they send the big ones off and still have babies or toddlers to chase around the house, and load up the car with.  My baby is 9, she's in 4th grade, and the house is quiet, no messes are made, no questions are yelled up the stairs, it's just empty.  The air is still, and I miss the sounds of summer.

This is an especially momentous First Day of School-it's the last one we'll have with Kiefer in our home. That's right, he's a Senior! I got a little veclumped last night as we had our last full "Back To School Family Council" and this morning as I took pictures.  It's hard to see the end of an era.  Especially with our kids so close in age, once one leaves it's just going to domino, and I just hate that!

One thing I do love about the first day of school is mandatory picture taking, no one even argues! I always have them hold up the number of fingers for the grade they are in, Kiefer was silly-he doesn't have 12 fingers he said.  And, before you ask, no Tate's not taller than Quinn, they are standing on a slope, and Tate just got lucky that he's on the "tall" side.

Here's a snapshot of what life is like on the first day of school, 2011

For some reason Kiefer's picture keeps coming out fuzzy when I upload it

Kiefer--12th Grade
Classes: Pre-Calc, Debate, Speech, CE Communications, Drama, Creative Writing, AP Government, Seminary
*Class most looking forward to: Drama   Least: Pre-Calc
Favorite Food: Anything and Everything
Reading right now: Undaunted by Gerald Lund
Favorite TV Show: Falling Skies
Shoe of choice: Red Suede Vans-the exact same shoe he chose last year, he even bought them on line so he wouldn't have to bother going to the store & it was cheap! (he was responsible for all his own back to school purchases this year) (size 12)

 Quinn--10th Grade
Classes: AP World History, Honors English, Honors Alg. II, Driver's Ed, Sports PE, Seminary, Honors Chem, Spanish 3
*Class most Looking forward to: Driver's Ed,   Least: Spanish 3 ("dumb Utah rules" he always says, they won't count his Spanish 1 here because he took it in 8th grade, but Kiefer's counts because it was on his High School transcipt already)
Favorite Food: Mangos
Reading right now: Just finished The Human Story by James C. Davis  (his summer English/History assignment....ahem)
Favorite TV show: Falling Skies
Shoe of Choice: Gray Vans from last year-he purchased his own gear as well, and these still fit so he opted not to change it up. (size 10.5)

Tate--8th Grade
Classes: Geometry, Honors English, 8th Grade Science, US History, NAL (National Academic League), Science Olympiad (Competition team), Health
Class Most Looking Forward to: NAL   Least: Health
Favorite Food:Roast Beef Sandwiches-hot ones with melted provolone on crusty rolls
Reading Right Now: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
Favorite TV Show: 101 Ways to Leave a Gameshow
Shoe of Choice: Gray Vans, slip on (size 10)

Thane--6th Grade
Classes-switches for Reading/English, Health/Science, and Math, really excited for that! Not so sure about his homeroom teacher, he really wanted another one.  Fingers crossed it's all good!
Most excited for this year: To be the oldest grade at school!
Least: nothing
Reading right now: Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites series by Chris Heimerdinger
Favorite TV Show:101 Ways to Leave a Game Show
Shoe of choice: Gray & Blue Vans, although today he is wearing a sweet pair of Asics he found for a bargain price! He was so funny shoe shopping, he zeroed in on these in about 2 minutes, and is sure they will be his key to 6th grade domination!

Sage--4th Grade

Class-Ms. Cox
Fun Fact about her class:
They get to earn the privilege of walking to the tennis courts and playing tennis during the year! Sage thinks that will be AWESOME!


Favorite Food: Grilled Pizza
Favorite TV Show: Project Runway (watched only with & edited by Mom, in case you were curious)

Sage's Shoe of Choice-deserved it's own picture-Pink Vans with Sequins.  It was a hard choice, "There are so many cute ones!"

It was a great morning, and it's fun to take a minute and write down some funny and unique things about them right now.

I miss them already!