August 17, 2022 - Wednesday (First Day of School!!!)

I haven't written since Saturday! That's crazy. Judging by the very few views my blog has had lately, I doubt many people will notice! 😂 I say that like there's thousands of people with access to my blog, but really, I think there are 6 people with the link and only 3 who typically check in so...it's really not a big deal.

Quick breakdown of the days I missed: 

Sunday - We all slept better in the tent than I thought we would. The kids went right to sleep and stayed asleep all night. Me and Ben struggled a bit, but it wasn't terrible. We went to CT and I know we stayed busy the rest of the day doing dates and hot tubbing, but I can't remember what else!

Monday - I had my staff meeting for work in the morning and we went to the library afterwards. I cooked this weird meat and potato stew that was delicious, but the kids hated it and nobody ate besides me and Ben. We took three of the kids to their open houses to meet their teachers. Fun! Everyone is so excited to go back to school and, I have to admit, I'm excited to have less people in the house again!

Tuesday - School prep day!!! I made egg sandwiches, peanut butter and jellies, and homemade granola bars for Ruby, because she's so picky and I wanted to try it. I hosted a play date here in the morning and it was a lot of fun. A lot of the ladies came out with their kiddos and all the kids seemed to have a great time going crazy with each other. Liz Jewett (John and Carla Matthew's daughter) came with her teensy, tiny, 2-week-old baby. I was so glad to meet her! She was really fun to talk to and, wow, out of the house going to mom group only two weeks after having a baby! Very, very impressive. The beginning is SO hard. Especially with the first, when you're just not sure if you're even capable of anything at all! That was super cool. 

And now for today! I honestly am not sure what to do with myself right now. Jane seems to have signed off from work for the day and Ollie is in her quiet time, and although there is plenty to be done, I'm really tempted to just sit here, catch up with my blog, and read a book for a few minutes. I feel like I'm on vacation right this second. It's beautiful. The house has been so loud for months that I almost forgot what it was like to have peace and quiet without the tension or worry of a child bursting in on me and messing it all up. 

I'm starting a new class tonight on predictive prophecy and I'm feeling pretty neutral about it. I think it will be super interesting and I'm excited to learn more about this topic, but I'm bummed to have to leave the house in the evening by myself. I'm slightly worried that Ollie will freak out too. 

Oh, and the big news, of course, is that the kids started school today! I can't believe I didn't start with that. 5th grade for Jonas, 3rd for Clemi, and 1st for Ruby. Jonas is back in the Arrow program and he even has the same homeroom teacher. He won't be experiencing too many changes this year, honestly, and I think they do it that way on purpose for the gifted kids, because they have a tougher time with transitions, typically. Clemi moved to a new building this year and she was pretty nervous about the change. Her teacher seems nice though and she's sitting directly across from a good friend of hers. I think she's probably having a blast today. Ruby was really scared to go to school this morning because she wasn't sure she'd find her teacher or her classroom. I'm not worried at all. I know that the school has all kinds of procedures to make sure the kids get where they're supposed to go. I do hope she has a good day though. Change is hard for her. I think she'd really thrive at Calumet, where she'd be in the same building for many, many years in a row. She may even be a good candidate for home-schooling when that's over. We'll just have to see what happens! 

I'll pick up Jonas from the bus stop in an hour and I made chocolate chip cookies to surprise the kiddos when they get home. I don't think I'll clean today, although the house needs it. I think I need the relaxation even more.