I have to admit. I have dreaded writing this post. I enjoyed my summer with my kids SO MUCH! I feel incredibly blessed that my teenage daughter loves and wants to spend time with me. I love watching my boys bond, play, and learn how to resolve conflicts. We had fun!  Whether it was playing in the pool, picnicking outside, going to Crown Center, riding crazy rides at Worlds of Fun, lounging by the pool at Oceans of Fun, going to the library, playing games, reading books, whatever...we had a great summer. We didn't take any expensively fabulous vacations. We couldn't afford it!  We didn't go anywhere new or exotic. We didn't need to!  We had plenty to discover in our own backyard.

But, school has started. We're a week into it now. It's been a highly successful first week. Emily has thrown herself wholeheartedly into her first year of junior high. She was elected to Student Council, and the entire first period of classes is devoted to that. They call this 20 minute block "Seminar," and the entire 8th and 9th StuCo works together to make the school a better place for the kids. She runs cross country. Her first meet is September 10th. She is really excited about that. She enjoys her classes, especially Advanced Comm Arts and Math. Her sub in Math was the former youth pastor at our former church. She insists on walking to school each morning. The first day of school, she was there three hours after school dismissed! Then she turned around and walked to the local ice cream parlor, where she met friends. She loves this!  Matt got the teacher he really wanted, the same teacher Emily adored in 5th grade. Mr. Moore is simply cool. He expects respect from the students (hence, Emily nominated him for Northland's Best Mannered Teacher...and he won!).  He is kind. He is understanding. He sets standards, and the students follow them. He is fun. He co-sponsors walking club and is always on the playground playing during recess. I know Emily learned a lot in 5th grade, and I expect Matt will do the same.  Mikey got the teacher he wanted in third grade. I'm not familiar with this teacher, and as a second year teacher, I was a little concerned about how she'd handle the exuberance of my youngest. She respects him, though, and in the end, that's all he really wants. They wanted to start the school year on a negative note, with a behavior chart. Darren and I were very unhappy about that, as was Mikey. He went home from Meet the Teacher and wrote an essay about how that made him feel, and how he was going to do better than last year. Luckily, they reconsidered and Mikey is having a great year so far. It doesn't seem to be all wrapped up in his behavior. I knew the chart was a problem for him. He complained about it last year, saying, "When you carry it around, people EXPECT you to be bad." Then, he worked so hard to be rid of it, and it never happened. He became frustrated, and since he couldn't win, he didn't try. I'm so glad he started off the year without it, and that his behavior has improved immensely!

So, do you want pictures?  You do?  Okay, here goes!

Emily her first day of Junior High.


Matthew on the first day of 5th grade.

Mikey's first day of 3rd grade