Back to School 2019

Grade 5:

Grade 7 (First year of Junior High):

Grade 10 (First year of High School):

Second-year at MacEwan:

Back to School 2016

Now that Shae has graduated, we're back down to three kids in school.

Grade 7:

Grade 4:

Grade 2:

Back to School September 2015

Today all four of my kids headed back to school. Hudson's at his first day of Grade One, with the same teacher Maira had in Grade one. Maira is in Grade Three with a teacher who's brand new at the school. Connor is starting Grade Six, his last year of elementary teacher. He has the same teacher Shae had in Grade Six and Shae and I are both a big fan of hers so I'm really happy for him. Shae (sniff, sniff) is starting Grade Twelve. Here is an adorable picture of her when she was four years old, thrilled to be heading off to her first day of kindergarten. Look at those cheeks, I want to eat her up! Her backpack was half as tall as she was!

And here she is, heading off to her last year of high school:

She decided she wanted to dye her hair purple for the first day but she didn't want to bleach it first and her hair is so dark that it didn't show up much (darn...) 

And here are my other three cuties, all set for their first days:

Back To School 2012

Shae was the first to leave, bright and early Tuesday morning.  She's headed off for her last year of Junior High - this was her first day of Grade Nine.

Maira was the next one to leave.  This was her first day of Kindergarten and she was very nervous.  Terrified, actually.  Can you tell?

We tried to get her to smile for the camera but it wasn't easy.

I took her to her bus stop and by the time I waved good-bye to her sad little face looking at me through the bus window, we were both in tears.

Connor was next (crazy woman that I am, I've got all four kids in different schools this year).  Connor walks to the school down the road so he doesn't have to leave until five minutes before the bell rings.

He wasn't super excited to start school but after his first day, he told me he had a GREAT day (which I believe is the first time he's ever told me that after a day at school).

Here he is, settling in at his new desk.

At lunch time, Jess, Hudson and I went to wait for Maira at the bus stop.  Hudson definitely missed having Maira around, they really are best friends.

The bus was late so we had quite a wait...

Finally, the bus arrived and Hudson ran right up to Maira:

And thankfully, Maira was all smiles - she LOVED her first day of school.  In fact, by the end of the week, she told me she was sad that they had to have weekends because she wished she could go to school every day.

At home, we sat down and she told me all about her very first day of Kindergarten.

Finally, a week later, it was Hudson's turn for his first day at Playschool.  After two years of having to drag him kicking and screaming OUT of the playschool after dropping Maira off, he was thrilled that it was finally his turn to stay and play with all the fun toys.

During his first unparented day at school, it was a strange feeling to be child-free.  I decided to go and run some errands and while it was definitely much faster to go on my own, I actually kind of missed having my little shopping buddy with me, chattering to me while I shop.  Definitely a bittersweet experience.

Back to School and Other Stuff

Shae started her first day of Grade Six. She had a good start to the year: her best friend is in her class, she got the "nice" teacher and she gets to be in the oldest grade at her school. Personally, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that this is her last year before Junior High (a time in my life that I am so glad to be done and am not looking forward to for her). At least I'm learning to really savour and enjoy every minute with the younger kids because time passes so quickly...
Jess walked her to school like he always does but this year, as they got to school, she saw her friends and asked him, very nicely, if he could please go now, she would rather go on her own. Sure, no problem, (sniff, sniff).

She's a crossing guard this year and she's taking art classes where she's learning to paint with water colours and she is absolutely loving it.

Connor had a rockier start to his school year. I expected kindergarten to be easy since he did playschool the last two years in the same building, just a different room and teacher. And he knew 4 or 5 of the kids in his class already. But I forgot that he doesn't like transition. He was very nervous the first day but went happily enough...until it was time to say goodbye and follow his teacher into class - his lower lip started to quiver and he tried really hard to be brave but he did cry a little as he turned away (it broke my heart!). But then the next day, he woke up and started crying, saying he hates school and didn't want to go. And it was the same every day that week. The next week, he protested more and more mildly each day and once he got there, he happily went to play with his friends so I think the transition is almost done. I just hope he doesn't get stuck in the mindset that he "hates" school...
And Maira and I have been playing school in the basement each morning after the older two go to school. She gets her backpack, packs her snack, and then sits in a chair in front of the chalkboard in the basement. She absolutely loves that and it has helped her transition to being more alone in the mornings now.

Here's a picture of Hudson, just because:
I think my kids look the most alike when they smile. This picture could be any one of my babies, he looks so much like the others at this age.

And here's a picture from this morning: Maira and Connor watching Veggie Tales while pretending they are robots.