The kids have been back in school for almost a month now. It’s a really cool feeling to be able to have them all start on the same day and have the same days off! I am especially looking forward to fall break next month. In the past, they were all at different schools. Ezie and Z had the same start day because at least they were in the same ISD, but since SJ’s deaf school was private it had its own schedule.

So far having them all in the same school is everything I dreamed it would be. Don’t get me wrong, they are not on the same daily schedule. Ezie is still half-day kindergarten, add to that the fact that Z has a weekly robotics club so I have to pick him up an hour later makes for a lot of back and forth.

Sometimes I need to hear from moms of grown children reminding me to cherish these times. It genuinely does help. I love the toddler and preschool years, but now that I am on my twelfth year as a MOP (mother of preschooler) I am salivating at the idea of getting to go exercise by myself or run some errands quickly without having to mess with buckling and unbuckling car seats and screaming parking lot safety lectures all the way into the store every single time. I want to meet up with other women from the church someday or become a two income family. Sorry, I am getting off topic with my daydreaming again. I promise you I do not resent my children! They mean everything to me and the fact that we are finished having babies allows me to see the temporary state of things and makes me want to be present even more because I know that this is it.

That was a huge tangent though. We’ll discuss my new stage of transitioning from a mom of babies to a mom of kids another day. This blog post was supposed to be about the first day of school!

We started practicing our school routine a week beforehand.

.

This is a great way to adjust sleeping schedules and tweak the routine. For the past four years we have practiced our school routine by literally getting dressed, packing lunches and getting in the car to go to school even though we really go to the park or to get groceries or something.

On the real first day of school we allowed even more time than usual because we had to do the obligatory school photos.

We even went to our next door neighbors house because they have so many flowers. Our landscaping isn’t nearly as nice, but J did plant some Zenias for the first time and they are in full bloom right now.

 

I also treated the kids to a special animal toast breakfast inspired by something I found on Pinterest.

 

The kids each got a note and a special animal. They turned out so cute and boy was I proud when I saw that my oldest had written me a note and made me an animal toast that is of my favorite animal!

I loved it! It gave me a flash back to when we made this fruit creation before he was even in school.

J came with us the first day and we prayed over the kids together and I did tear up a little.

Z is in 5th grade now. I already mentioned robotics. That is the thing he is the most into this year. I am sure you will hear more about this during competition
season. He just had his eleventh birthday. We went bowling with a couple of his buddies and he got a robot kit and the Indian in the Cupboard book series as gifts. They know him so well!

SJ is in 2nd grade. She has been thriving at her new school. I have been moved to tears many times because of her enthusiasm and how well she fits in. She has been really excited about reading chapter books for the first time. She truly understands them and eagerly tells us all the details. This is a major jump for her. We recently had another IEP (individualized education plan) meeting and discussed some of the times where hearing is most difficult for her and ways that the school can be as accommodating as possible. I am overwhelmed with how they go above and beyond to help each of my children succeed. I love our school!

Ezie is in Kindergarten. He rides the bus in and then I go pick all of them up in the afternoon. Ezie used to have an IEP for speech therapy but in May the preschool decided he no longer needed it which is fantastic. He is doing really well and just lost his two front teeth! Such a big boy.

Elle is about to turn three believe it or not and she is potty training. We’ve been diaper free for over a month now! She never wets the bed and hasn’t had any accidents at church, or in her car seat, or at the park, or on the go. So that’s great news. Except her big obstacle is the POO! She refuses to poo in the potty. I have never faced this problem before but I know it’s not uncommon. It is tiring, but having this issue with my fourth child isn’t so bad because I do realize that eventually she will get it.

 

They are all growing and changing so much I can’t keep up! As far as goals for the year, Zion will learn to code on a greater level. SJ will learn to adapt to mainstream schooling. Ezie will learn to read. Elle will learn to poop in the toilet. That’s a pretty wide range of skills we are working on, but I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s going to be a great school year.