But it was time. Only Arlington got up this morning without me having to drag her out of bed. Our girl who seems to need very little sleep was up and ready to start the day right on time. Mat stayed home from work this morning to see the kids off as well - a special treat.
We had yummy warm cinnamon rolls as a treat for the kids for breakfast. The put on their outfits they picked out special for the first day. We did their hair, and packed their lunches. And before we knew it, they were off to start another year.
Arlington went first - 7:30am her bus comes for her. Mat walked her down, and after about 15 minutes, I thought he had stopped to talk to a neighbor on the way home. After 30 minutes, he walks through the door and I asked who he had stopped to talk to . He looked at me strange - had no idea how much time had past. Turns out we have a new bus driver and she was 1/2 hour late this morning doing her rounds. That.....was a first.
Finley and Cainan didn't have to be on their bus until 8:30, and because we had no idea when to expect the bus driver, we headed down at 8:30. It was 8:55am before the bus pulled in for them - about 5 minutes after school started for the day. Ah....the first day. And of course, the bus on the other end of school was no different - Arlington and the two littles didn't arrive home until 1/2 hour later than normal. Poor Arlington was on the bus for almost 1 hour, and we only live 3 miles from the school. Hopefully the bus driver will have things together by weeks end, we will be on track.
All three kids had a great day. Arlington gets home first, and told me that her teacher is very young
(probably mid twenties) and has a 15 year old sister. This is not her first job, but my guess is it is pretty close. Arlington loved her right from the start. Surprise! Not. My hope is that a young, novice teacher, being in 5th grade will get these kids where they need to be for middle school. I am pretty confident. At least she doesn't have one foot out the door like Arlington's last year's teacher. He was great, but he had given up the ghost about 1/2 way through the year.
She is in class with a lot of kids she knows - including one of her best friends. She she was very excited. She jabbered on and on about her day and it was great to see that it was such a success. She is nervous about not being able to keep up with the work, but I know deep down, that she has nothing to worry about. She is smart and spunky, and she will be great.
Finley and Cainan came home next and they were both so excited. First thing Finley showed me was a bandiad on her finger. Shocker. That girl loves bandaids. Also a shocker that she visited the nurse on the first day of school. But she had a run in with a pencil sharpener that had gotten a piece of her nail.
Finley had a great first day. I have expressed on here before that we are always on edge when it comes to Finley and her classroom teacher. And this year was no exception. We have heard mixed reviews about this teacher and I just didn't know what to think. But after meeting her last week and then again yesterday, I began to relax. Finley told me that she loves her teacher and that she is very funny. She said it was her best first day ever. Success! She is sitting next to her best friend and a little boy she has a crush on. (Lord help me). So she was in Heaven.
Cainan told me he had a great day. He isn't as forth coming with the info like the girls, but he was able to tell me that his teacher is very nice, and that he had a great time at recess. He didn't remember much beyond that. He did say he was excited to have two recess periods and an earlier lunch than last year. Does that count? What a meatball.
Day one - done. 184 to go. Here are some pictures of the lovies before school today:
