The First Week

And so it begins.  Tuesday morning started bright and early with alarms going off in every bedroom and all members of the family shifting back into the routines of school mornings.  We will all adjust, but those first few mornings felt very, very early.

Anna began 6th grade this week, making the big transition to middle school here in McFarland.  She has come a long way in the last year, but has a long way to go before she could pass as a typically developing middle schooler.

 Kate was bummed about the school year beginning, again.

However, this kid has surprised us more than once in the past week with her positive attitude about school, her chattiness at the end of the day, and her increased confidence and independence.  Her goofiness does not surprise us, though :)

Ethan still had a couple of days before his school routines began, but he was cooperative with posing for pictures anyway.

And then Matt photobombed the silly picture.  Of course.

The girls have done remarkably well in terms of their energy levels and attitudes at the end of the day.  We had to make a few adjustments throughout the week in terms of who does what when, what route we take in the morning for dropping kids off at three schools, and what time things need to happen at the beginning and end of the day.  But, by the end of the week, we had found our rhythm ... for now :)

Ethan and I made the most of our Tuesday and Wednesday together before his school year began.  We managed a bike ride on Tuesday afternoon since more rain was predicted for Wednesday.  The lake levels around us have now reached the highest levels ever recorded.  The beaches have all been closed for several weeks due to the high water.

And our favorite local park is not available for playing.  These pictures were even taken before we got an additional 2-3 inches of rain on Wednesday.

Wednesday Ethan and I traveled across town for the last Bible Study that he will be dragged along to.  We stopped to get donuts on the way to celebrate the occasion.

And then on Thursday this boy started Kindergarten.

Ethan is probably the most ready and prepared for kindergarten of our three children at that milestone.  But he's also older than either of the girls were, and he has two older sisters who have taught him many, many things.

Ethan's first two days appear to have gone well and he has had something good to say about each day.

Then on Saturday, this boy had his first soccer game.  So far, he gives the soccer experience a thumbs up.

We all decided to attend his first game as a family.  Since this is our first kid to have any interest in participating in organized sports, it was a new experience for us, but we enjoyed ourselves.

After more than 11 years of having one or more children at home with me, the last two days of the week were certainly different.  Not only have I managed to can pears, tomatoes, and applesauce since school started, I also went to a dentist appointment by myself and had a lunch date with my dear husband ... just the two of us.  Whoa.  I suppose there were big milestones met by all members of the family this week :)

Except maybe the chickens.  Sunshine is still the only one of the girls who is laying, but we hope the others will join her soon.