Back to School

We've been in back-to-school mode for about two weeks now!  Thankfully, the kids are all in the same district this year, and their district staggered the back-to-school events.

First up was William, and he had the best time, because Enisi and Edudi were still here, so Enisi came with us to the event!  They had three opportunities, so we went to the first one, which was during working hours.

I'm the most nervous for William, because the one friend who we kept in touch with over the years, with playdates and invitations is being homeschooled this year!  Fingers crossed he finds his people quickly and has a great seventh grade year!

Enisi helped William with opening his combination locker.  I didn't find out until yesterday, but apparently, they are shot on lockers, and so he has a locker buddy that he shares with!  Kind of a weird set up, but he only has to store his backpack in there, and winter clothes when the time comes.

The twins playing with some lockless lockers.

Next up, the big girls had three days to choose from, and we went on the final day, because the time slots were all during the workday.  This was the general welcome, Emily missed out on the freshmen specific night, because she went up north with her friend Emma and her family the week before.  

Emily had spent so much time at the high school over the summer at color guard practice, that she had little to no nervousness for her first day, and in my mind, she was already a freshman, so I was emotionally set too!

Alice didn't seem nearly as annoyed this year!  She's already looking forward to her senior year, which still feels preemptive to me, so I'm just going to enjoy my sophomore!

I think she likes having Emily around!

Their lockers are in opposite wings.

Alice's locker was uncomfortably high for her to put in the combination, so I was able to email and get her switched to a bottom locker, but still in the opposite wing from Emily.

The twins welcome back night was just two days before they went back to school, and they only had one time slot, so the line was long!!!

Kona ice was ideally parked, so, as we were standing in the sun, the girls went to get us a cool snow cone treat!  We decided in hindsight that we probably could have split one, so we'll know for next time!

Once inside, there was more waiting to chat with the homeroom teacher.  Ironically, Grace and Juliet both have Mr. Allen, but there are two Mr. Allens and they have different ones! = )  They have all the same teachers, but no classes together, at least on Wednesdays.

I did take a picture of one of the twins at her locker, but somehow missed the other, so to avoid conflict, I'm not including either of them at their locker, but will add them in if I remember to take pictures at a later event!

I feel so sad for Juliet, because she and Kennedy aren't on the same team this year, and she's taking it really hard. = (  I'll do my best to keep them up on playdates!

Grace's friend is on her team, so they have lunch together at least, I'm not sure about class schedules though.

We walked around the entire outer perimeter of the building looking for the 'middle school' sign, but they don't have one! Not even the name of the school!  The girls negotiated for five minutes on their new playground.  I think they'll enjoy it more with their friends!

Not one to give up, we did eventually find a sign, and the girls gave it the state park treatment! = )  I felt like we were quite the trend setters, because as we were leaving, the family that saw us taking pictures with the sign also decided to do it. 

Using my basic phone editing software, I wasn't able to make the middle school small enough to fit on the building, so "middle school" just gets to float in the air. lol.

I don't even know what was going on here.  Just my two little sixth graders doing sixth grade things.

I felt like we were about as ready as we could be, but everyone came home on day one emptying their backpacks of things they don't think they'll need after all, and switching to bigger or better or smaller, and pulling out things that they will need after all!

Here's to a great school year, and what should be the final year of three schools!

later days

edit 8-21-25: backdated for continuity.

Back to School

This year we had 3 rounds of orientation, and 3 different first day of school picture sessions!

The twins were the first to return, despite being the last out, since the building they are in this year is set to be destroyed.  They are building the new building next to the old one, but they'll need time to remove the debris and get the parking lot in.

The day before school started, the school put up a 'photo op.'  Their meet the teacher night came the second week of school, and I wasn't able to go, because poor Alice ended up at the Endodontist with a root canal!  Billy took the twins, so they did get to go, but he didn't take pictures. = (

For the first day, of course they twinned!

Alice had freshmen orientation, to which parents were not invited. ::sniff:: So, she went alone, with all the other freshmen.  They had some upperclassmen leading them through the building in groups.  I think Alice learned quite a bit, though she said her group leader wasn't as good as some of the others.

The next orientation was for Emily and William.  I love these photo ops, though this one was hidden away!  Luckily, we found it, since I didn't take any other pictures. lol.

The twins' backpacks were coordinated with each others' outfits, so they swapped. (Grace's backpack has pink straps, and Juliet's pack is aqua.)

Alice's school did another orientation, this time for everyone.  At this one they did school pictures, had club tables set up, and parents could come walk the schedule with their student.  We saw this conflicting sign and thought it was funny.

In the flyer, they showed a balloon arch, and though we looked for it, never found it.  Alice's locker was a little tall for her, and she was struggling to open it.  I was super proud of her, because she was able to go to the office to request a new one.  Luckily, her new one is close to her old one.

Juliet wanted to pack a boiled egg for snack, she also added crackers, and to make it "fancy" she threw in a toothpick!

Emily and William started a week and a half after the twins, though, the twins were scheduled to be off that day, so on their first day, they were the only two who went!

Two days later, on Wednesday, Alice started back.  She wore her birthday dress from the Helterbrands for her first day!  Her bus comes at 6:50, which is early, but considering her school day starts at 7:30, it's not a terrible time!

Emily is enjoying the 'extra' time in the morning, since I wake her and William when Alice and I leave.

This struck me as a particularly 90s look!

Emily and William are on 'teams' at school.  The sponsor teachers sent out a flyer requesting school supplies to earn points for their teams.  I sent my mom the list, and she sent $20.  On one of our thrift shopping days, we were near a walmart, so I asked Emily if she were game for a shopping trip.  She carefully spent the $20, scoring 50 cent erasers and glue sticks, and 25 cent pencils.  However, when we scanned the first pencil pack, it had been reduced to 10 cents a pack!  So, Emily went back for the pallet box and we got 125 items for avia's $20 donation!!!  We'll turn them in at the parent teacher conference, so as we find other deals, we'll continue to add to the pile.

Alice's earth science class sounds way fun, and they got to design and execute a science experiment in class one day.  She, however, did not plan ahead, and sent me a text message the morning of asking for jolly ranchers and a pan.  I begged some jolly ranchers off of the twins' school secretary, and dug the pan out of the camping supplies (because I don't trust my 'good' pans to be used "for science." lol)

 And of course we took first day of school pictures:

I'm happy to say that we have found a pretty good routine, though robotics started last week, so we'll see how long the contented feeling lasts!

later days

Back to School, Part I

 Last week, as we recovered from our Jellystone trip and switched into school mode, we were busy! 

On Monday night, we went to an open house & ice cream social event.  I had a wagon full of things that I'd collected over the summer for various people at the school.  We were poised to walk up, when the rain started coming down!  Thankfully, the wagon fit into my car once we put the seat down, so we didn't have to carry everything around the school!

Grace and Juliet were excited to see their new classroom, and meet their new teacher, as their own! (Alice and William had him in years past.)  

After we took everyone home, Emily and I ran over to her school for a fall sports meeting.  It might have only been for HS, I never did find the email that came.  But there was a meeting, so I must have read it somewhere!  We learned that there would be no bus for XC tournaments, because HS didn't make quota (10), and the MS always rode with them. This change will make this season a little tougher than the last one.

Wednesday finally arrived, and the twins decided to match, pretty well on day one!

This was our last 'we always walk on the first day' walk! = (  

I was meeting up with some other moms after drop off at MorningLori's so, Alice came along, for breakfast.

I wasn't quite able to focus on the cool dew covered spider web that Grace and Juliet found.

The next event for the week was the orientation for Alice, Emily and William!  They were taking school pictures, so Alice and Emily dressed up.  William did not.  Alice looked very fashionable in her new outfit that she pieced together from Avia's trip and my shopping.

Emily's locker this year is in a better spot, according to her, and once she got it open, everyone except for Alice took turns cramming themselves into it.

We ran into Alice's BFF, then headed for the gym to get pictures taken, because the line to meet William's teacher was really long!

This year's experience was so much better than last year!  They broke down the times by last name, had the pictures in a much better location, sent out paperwork early, and will pass out technology on Monday to the middle schoolers!  They also moved the freshmen to a totally different night.  It was hectic and crazy, but so much better than last year!

On day 2, Avia brought donuts for everyone, since she and Emily and I were going to go garage sailing after dropping them off.  She met us in front of the ice cream shop, since we'd already left.

We pulled into the pick-up line that day by the skin of our teeth, and Avia walked home with the twins, because we had no room for them in the car, after all of our shopping!

I'd scheduled a routine ultrasound for WGJ on Friday, in Grand Rapids, before I knew the start date for the twins, so they missed the third day of school. = (

On Monday, Alice, Emily and William start back to school, so I'll have another first day of school post soon!

later days