It's that time of year again and boy have we had an eventful back to school season! At the beginning of August, less than a week before school started in Omaha, Scott was offered a new position at Union Pacific that would relocate us back to Utah. So instead of attending back to school night and shopping for school supplies, we filled our days with goodbye play dates and I pulled all-nighters getting our house ready to sell. Mason and Brynn went out to the bus stop with their friends on the first day of school but stood on the sidewalk waving as the bus pulled away because we were loading up the car and heading out for Utah instead. Obviously a big move and change like this brings a lot of emotions with it. We have been trying to acknowledge the sad feelings, but focus on the positive things like: getting an extra two weeks of summer, an hour less of school each day, walking a few minutes to school instead of spending a half hour on a bus before and after school, already having friends in the ward and neighborhood instead of starting completely over in a new area, and of course living with Grandma and Grandpa! Overall the kids have all had pretty good attitudes about the move, but they still have their moments when they miss their old school and friends.
Since we will be living with my parents until we find a house we went ahead and enrolled Mason and Brynn at our alma mater - Cascade Elementary. It has been fun to be back in the school that holds so many memories for us. When the first day of school rolled around we were all equal parts nerves and excitement, but by the end of that first day the nerves were gone and we all could tell this is going to be a great year!!
Because of our last minute enrollment we were placed on Track 2 which means the kids go to school from 9:15am - 3:30pm. I was originally hoping to get track 1 (8:00am - 2:15pm), but after a couple of weeks I am actually really liking our schedule on track 2. The kids wake up and are able to get ready at their own pace, we get piano practicing and homework done before school while the kids are well rested and fresh and then they are free to play and have fun the minute they walk in the door from school. Having an extra hour and 45 minutes with my kids each day has been AMAZING and our life feels so much more balanced than it has the last 2 years when the bus was picking them up at 8 am and dropping them off at 4 pm.
Mason is starting 4th grade in Mrs. Ditto's class. He was disappointed to be leaving Rohwer because he will be missing out on HAL math and reading and playing the Cello in the 4th grade orchestra which he had been looking forward to for the last 2 years. It hasn't taken long for Cascade to win him over, though. He has already made some great friends and loves playing football at recess each day. He enjoys the independence of walking to and from school each day (and refuses to be seen walking with me if I walk with Brynn). He is very excited to be participating in the school wide STEM focused Apollo Project as well as the Robotics Club after school. Seeing Mason so happy and doing so well makes me so grateful for the opportunity we had to move back here when we did.
Brynn is in Mrs. Hoffman's 2nd grade class. Mrs. Hoffman is a good friend of Grandma Nancy's which eased Brynn's worry about being in a new school and new class, but she still started off the first day pretty shy and nervous. By the end of the day she had already made several cute little friends and was well on her way out of her shell. She has been looking forward to having homework in 2nd grade and is thrilled that she has a homework binder she brings home each day with Reading, Math, and Spelling assignments. After just the second day of school Brynn announced that even after we move into our own house she wants to stay at Cascade for the rest of the year "because it wouldn't be very nice for her to leave Mrs. Hoffman after such a short time".
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| First Day at Cascade Elementary |
Miles is starting his second year of preschool at Miss Annette's ABC preschool. He will be going three days a week this year on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings. Once he got past having to wear his slightly over-sized preschool shirt that all of the kids were asked to wear on the first day (he has serious issues with big shirts) then he was nothing but excited and had a wonderful day. After the first week I can already tell this preschool is going to be the perfect fit for him this year. Driving home he asked, "Mom, if we move can I keep going to this preschool because I really love it!"
It would be impossible for me to write this post without mentioning that there should have been one more back to school picture in this post. Ellie would have been starting preschool this year. I know her preschool experience would have been different because she would not be going to just any preschool I picked, but would be transitioning from the birth-3 early intervention program into one of the school district's preschools for special needs that incorporate the child's physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy into their school day. A lot of times they have spots in the classes for typical children as well and I had always imagined that I would enroll Miles in the same school for this year so he and Ellie could be together.
This picture of Natalie and her older brother Elijah on her first day of preschool was one of the first pictures I saw of a fellow 4p+ kiddo after receiving Ellie's diagnosis. I fell in love with it and it became my dream to see Miles and Ellie walking down the hall together on the first day of preschool. Now I look at this picture and my heart aches. Just another dream I've missed out on along the way.
To end on a positive note, though, at least I get to spend my days playing with this chubster all day!
