First Day of School

Yesterday, in addition to being Alice's 16th birthday, it was also the first day of school, for everyone! 

It was early and overcast yesterday morning, so we had to 'stage' Alice, Emily, and William's pictures afterschool.  They came out super cute, so I'm not mad.

It was light enough by the time the twins were ready to go, so their pictures are time appropriate, as well as adorable.

And now for all of the bonus pictures.  Grace and Juliet always twin on day one and picture day, and then as they feel during the rest of the year.

We had a slight panic at the bus stop for the big kids, as a bus passed right by us about 3 minutes before their actual bus, which also came a few minutes early!  Sadly, this will be the case all year, so hopefully we'll be able to gauge our time appropriately each morning!

The twins' bus came a full 10 minutes before the posted time yesterday, and we were standing on the wrong side of the road, so the bus driver had to help us cross.  Their stop is the opposite direction from our house to where the big kids wait, but we're making it work!

And now the flashy, dark, not as aesthetically pleasing, early morning pictures.

By the time I got to Alice's I had already decided that we would be redoing it, but I wanted something, because sometimes something is better than nothing!

It was a pretty good first day.  Emily had band camp afterwards, and there was new paperwork to fill out and sign, plus the great supply swap, so it was kind of a late night too.  Hopefully we'll catch a bit of a break tonight. ; )

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

First Day of School, Part II

The Monday following the twins' first day, my big kids were up extra early to catch a bus for their first day!

Everyone had a good first day, though Alice isn't in any classes with her BFF, and Emily shares every class with one of her friends.  I was the most nervous for William, being in a new school, with all new people, but I think he had a great first day too!

Here's hoping for an excellent year for all five of my dear ones!

later days

edit 9-8-23: backdated for continuity. 

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