First Day of School (and some bonus footage)

Well the day had finally come, the first day of Pre-K 4 and 2nd grade.  We had some excited boys and some excited parents.  This marked the first time the boys would be at the same school for an extended period of time.  Did you hear me?  Do you know what this means?  1 Drop off..1 Pick up.  I think we might be in HEAVEN.

So Day 1 was ALL SMILES while we were at home and even when we got to school.  UNTIL we tried to walk out the door of the classroom.  Bennett was definitely that kid that was crying for his Mom.  And I was definitely that Mom that was fighting back the tears as I "just walked away" like we were instructed to at Open House.  The thing is at Open House I was thinking about all the other sappy Moms there and laughing to myself thinking there is no way they are "just walking away".  And here I was on stage all eyes on me and I had to do it.  I felt like a giant a-hole, but I did it.  Surely my ribbon is coming in the mail.

***Since I'm posting this about 2 months after school started I can report that Bennett is doing awesome.  Day 1 was tears, but by Day 2 he was hopping out of the car and walking himself to class.  I think he might be a little bit of a social butterfly but that's no different than at his last school.  Bennett has no problem making friends, and getting those teachers wrapped around his little finger.  God help us.  

I'm not very timely with anything these days, "first day of school" pictures included.  But I'm committed to my project of taking a picture with the old desk for every school year so I finally did a little photo-shoot with Nolan to document his "first day" of second grade.  Sure, it was about a month and a half late but I figure I got it in the first semester so it's a win.  You'll note that I didn't make Bennett partake, partly to be nice to him...partly to be nice to me.  I'll torture him for the next 12 years, he got this one off.

And a couple of outtakes, because these are Nolan's favorite where I let him "be creative"...

Lake Visit

To say we had a busy summer would be the understatement of the year, but we couldn't let the summer pass without at least one trip to the lake.  So we planned to go down a weekend when both my family and Chad's family would be down there.  Two birds, one stone, two families...both happy.  It was a crazy fast weekend but we got to hit up a few of our favorite spots and get in some good quality time with both families.  One day when our lives slow down (you know in like 15 years) I hope to spend a lot more time at the lake.  For now, I'll just have to be satisfied with one whirlwind trip.

 

Open House

Well, it was that time again...back to school time and that means Open House.  An opportunity for the boys to meet their new teachers and for us to drop off our 1 MILLION school supplies.  Yes, I said 1 MILLION.  I swear I bought the entire Target school supply section this year.  But by God, they should have enough crayons and glue to get them through college.  Anyway, we started with Bennett meeting his teacher and checking out the classroom.  At first he was a little standoffish, but then he dug into some toys and coloring and decided it wasn't such a bad place to be.  Then we headed over to Nolan's class where it was a lot quieter.  In fact, we were the only ones in the classroom.  A lot different from the preschool room where there were 20 kids and 40 parents.  Next year Nolan will probably just want us to drop him off and pick him up in 20.  It was a successful trip though and we were getting excited for the first day of school!

Patrick 6 Months

Oh the Meyer Family, they never disappoint.  The last time I took their pictures Megan told me she was pregnant, now they show up with a 6 month old precious little boy.  Patrick is so freaking cute, I can't stand it.  Like want to pick him up and pinch his cheeks like an old lady.  Throw in the other two model children and well...pictures aren't so difficult for me!  This session was really to document Patrick's 6 month milestone, but we just couldn't resist throwing the other two in for a few shots and you'll see why.  Cuteness overload.

Twofer...almost.

Bennett has been pretty in to riding his bike as of lately, something that Nolan never really expressed an interest in.  So one day Bennett decided he really wanted to try riding without training wheels.  Secretly I thought this might inspire the first born to also ditch the training wheels even though he never expressed interest and has barely even gotten his bike out.  The next-door neighbor recently learned how to ride without training wheels also and there has been a little more curiosity coming from Nolan about this activity.  So i thought a lot of things were in our favor for a two for one special on this particular day.  Two kids learning to ride their bikes on the same day.  I mean do things happen that simply in life?  The answer is no...no they do not.  But the kicker is, Nolan ended up just hopping on his bike and taking off.  No help, no issues...like he had been riding a bike all his life.  Bennett, well Bennett got frustrated.  He could do it, and was doing it...but his nerves I think were getting the best of him (and his temper) and he eventually decided he wanted the training wheels back on.  Oh well, one down...one to go.