First Day of School 2008 (Photos Added)

[Note: My mom wrote this on Monday, but I wasn’t able to post it then because all the rain we’ve been getting had my grandpa’s Internet service down. So anywhere where Mom says “today” just say “Monday” instead. :) ]

Our first day back to school has been a nice one. I tried out our new schedule with us older ones getting up 15 minutes before the younger ones. This keeps down the bathroom line. We kept breakfast menus simple for this first week since it’s my husbands early week for going into work.
We decided to have our first day across the road at Granny’s (aka “Shanna’s World”) in our schoolroom. So after morning chores and devotions we loaded the backpacks in two wagons and headed across. Gerald Jr. insisted on pulling the John Deere wagon all the way…he looked so cute doing it. He kept his backpack on the whole time. We had to pack him one when he got up this morning saying “Me school too, Mommy? Me school too?”
Ryana, Sarah and Faith went right to their desks, but Gerald Jr. looked more like a bull turned loose in a China shop. He went from the blocks tub, to his bookcase, to the toy bench, to the GeoSafari tub. The girls all began asking questions about their new schedules as soon as we said our pledges. Shanna was there taking pictures. She smiled at me and asked if I was going to be okay. I told her my head was spinning at the moment, but as soon as I had everyone going on something I was sure I’d be okay.
Gerald finally settled on the blocks and we put the rest away for later. Ryana and Sarah began their Bible reading and lessons so I got Faith started on her phonics reviews. Soon Shanna and Gera stopped by to take Gerald Jr. with them on their walk (this included a stop at grandpa and Grandma Miller’s to see them and their “peep peeps”.)
By 10:00 we were all back together having a snack of Swiss Rolls and water in the schoolroom. I saved the more nutritious snacks for later this week. After all, we were celebrating. :) We kept Gerald at the schoolroom while Shanna went back home to work on lunch and Gera went back to finish laundry.
Shanna brought egg salad sandwiches over to us at 11:30. The girls had almost finished their first day of assignments by then. I opted to give Ryana and Sarah their history lessons on the front porch while Gerald Jr. and Faith ran off some energy. This was a good idea until we got so engrossed in the lesson that I failed to notice they had ran back to the schoolroom and found the purple play dough. After going over our rules with them about needing permission to get things out they stayed in the area I designated to them and we finished up our lessons.
Since we all finished up earlier than I expected I decided to bring Gerald Jr. over for a nap (and lay down with him, ‘cause I was needing a nap, too.) The younger girls stayed with Shanna to play with a bag of country curtains. They wear them as princess outfits.
As an added bonus for today, Gerald’s mom baked us a chicken pie for our supper. Then the Lord sent a much-needed shower of rain. Gera darted for the clothesline to bring in the damp laundry and I set to getting the sides ready for supper. I called Gerald to pick up the chicken pie on his way home and the girls who were stranded by the rain at Shanna’s World. I almost forgot to mention that Gera baked us an apple crisp for tonight…yum yum! So we’ve had a very nice first day of school.
God bless,
~Vicky~