The First week of school

The girls have made it through their first week of school. Some are a little more excited to be going than others. We are still struggling to get back into our routine but are making great progress. We found out Monday via a letter that Katy was going to be in an advanced math class. They tested all the 3rd graders at the end of last year and based on the results selected students for this class. Katy does not think she is good at math. When I read the letter out loud she asked if she had to go to a special class because she's stupid in math. When I told her that it was the opposite and she was in an advanced class she freaked out. I thought she was going to hyperventilate. She was so nervous. Good thing for Fathers blessings, that helped calm her down. She is also going to play the violin in the school orchestra. Xandy doesn't have much to say about the school part but I think she's glad to be back in a social hub. She also likes being "king" of the school, the looked up to, wise and old second graders. Bella seems to really be liking school. I was able to help out a little in her class this week. The only problem is she is so shy that when they tried to get a feel for which letters and numbers each individual student knew she was too shy to talk. Hopefully, as she gets more comfortable the she'll be better. Before long, the teacher may be wishing for the "shy" Bella instead of the Bella that never stops talking at home. Jacob did pretty well the first few days. I think he enjoyed having mom to himself. Today was a little harder though. He's been missing the girls a lot today. Good thing its the weekend and he'll get a few days with them. I was excited to try some little shops in town I was never comfortable taking two or more kids into. I tried to go yesterday. Jacob did pretty good in the first store but decided the second store was in his words "a girl store". He didn't want any part of the "girl store" and kept pulling me to the door. Needless to say, I didn't really get to look. I think its a conspiracy and wonder how much his Dad is paying him to keep me out of stores. Jared said it was a good thing Xandy wasn't the youngest. He shudders to think of the damage the two of us could do shopping together all the time.

Tuesday (1/2 day)

Wednesday (1st Full day)

Thursday

Jacob making silly faces

Friday- we made it through week 1

With Baylea and Kindyl- the neighbors we watch before and after school

The 4th grader, 3rd grader, 2nd grader, 1st grader, Kindergartner, and preschooler

On a side note. I think my matching days are coming to an end. The older girls were not amused at the matching clothes. They were also not amused to have their picture taken repeatedly over the course of the week. They were annoyed at the bus stop pictures that resulted from Bella's first day.

Doggy School

While the girls headed off to the first 1/2 day of school, Jacob and I headed to his monthly preschool group. This month the theme was dogs. The kids pretended to be dogs at obedience school, we read books about dogs, we made several dog crafts, and ate Scooby snacks.

Jake had a blast and continued to pretend he was a dog when we got home. I was a little bit tired of being licked by the end of the day. But it was a good reminder of why we don't have a dog!

Our little Kindergartner

One evening last week the schools were open to the public. Students could drop their supplies off in their lockers. Some teachers were there for students to meet. The Kindergarten teachers held orientation for the students and parents. The night before Bella had cried her self to sleep because she was nervous about starting school and leaving mom. After the orientation she could hardly make it through the rest of summer for school to start.

Bella by her locker

Bella with her teacher Mrs. Hellman

The first day was a 1/2 day

At the bus stop

Getting on the bus

One last look before the bus pulls away (notice her pink flower in the window)

Bella was excited to take and eat her lunch at school. She insisted on a picture with her lunch bag

Our Smokey vacation

The last weekend in July we headed to Tennessee to visit Tonya and fam. We left Thursday after Jared got home from working, arriving in the early am hours of Friday. Friday Tonya had to work but the rest of us had some fun. Dustin and the boys took us on a hike where we had a great view of some waterfalls.

After the hike, we changed into our suits and played in the cold mountain stream. We even jumped off some rock ledges into the water. This was somewhat ironic since a few weeks earlier I was in a conversation in which we were discussing potentially dangerous things we had done as highschool and college students that we would not want our children doing. River jumping was at the top of my list. Not only have my children now done this, but I introduced them to it. I did however make sure it was safe first. I have to admit that I was surprised that little Bella even participated in this activity.

We arrived home around the same time as Tonya and after a quick pizza dinner we headed to my cousin, Jacob's, wedding open house. It was fun to visit with him, his new bride, and my aunt and cousins. "My" Jacob thought it was hilarious that my cousin's name was Jacob also. He kept laughing and laughing at that.

Me, little Jacob, and big Jacob.

(They were both named after my great grandfather Jacob Ott)

The next day we went tubing down the river. Tonya lives very close to the tubing businesses. We all had a blast. Great Grandma B was even gracious to watch the kids once so the adults could go down and more rapid section of the river. Our first run down we all went and were suprised with a thunder and lightning storm. Knowing we were getting close to Tonya's house we tried to continue on. Then the lightning got worse, so I grabbed a few kids and headed towards the shore. The latest strike had proven too much for even the most daring tubers and a mass exodus of the river was under way. The other rafter were kind enough to help us all. The part of the river we were at had a rocky ledge we were attempting to climb while pulling all the rafts and kids with us. The other rafter made an assembly line and passed the kids and tubes from one to another till we all reached the top. When we rented the tubes we had the option of buying a shuttle pass. Since we were so close to Tonya's we passed on the option and just parked one car at the top and one at the bottom. When the storm started the guy who we rented the rafts from remembered a large family with lots of little kids had started not too long before. He came and found us trudging up the road and gave us a free lift back. Jared and Dustin went back out before I thought it was really safe. After the storm broke we all went back out. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
We were supposed to head to Gatlinburg in the middle of the afternoon but we were having so much fun on the river we didn't stop tubing until after 5. By the time we changed and made it to Gatlinburg it was well after 7. We enjoyed walking around and window shopping. I even did a little real shopping. I found a cute Ohio St. purse. We found a place to eat that only charged for the adult meals. The kids ate for free! We drove home through Pigeon Forge, but didn't get out there. It was a funfilled weekend. I ended up sick half way through but tried not to let that damper the fun. I paid for it the next week though when I could barely get out of bed. I still have a lingering cough.

Our little travelers

Hittin' the park Redneck style

Last week we decided to head to the park with some friends. We stopped at Sonic first. The kids had free slush coupons (also given to them by the library at the beginning of the summer program). We went during Happy Hour which meant that the total for 1 largeg real fruit slush, and 4 kid slushes was a whopping $1.18!! With our refreshments in hand we headed to the park only to find out that the playground part was closed for construction. Our friends had brought crackers to feed the fish in the pond so we decided to do that before heading to the next park. After the fish had eaten all the food the kids wanted to look at the fountains before leaving. Next thing Kirstin and I knew, they were all playing in the fountains. They were already wet, so we just stood back and let them have their fun.



The grossest part was that the fountains were clear when they started playing but after they had been playing awhile you can see the lovely brown shade of the water in the picture above. YUCK!

Freebies

I love free stuff! The kids (all 4) got all kinds of free coupons for participating in the library's summer reading program: free meal at Applebees, free meal at Red Robin, free icecream cone from Sonic, free tickets to Gateway Grizzlies game, free tickets to magic house, free bowling and free passes for the YMCA (this one wasn't as exciting since we're members, but now they can take friends who don't have a membership). Jared and I had a gift certificate for Applebee's so we were able to all eat for free!! The best part was there was no preparing, cooking, or clean up for me! We happened to go on a night that a balloon man was there. He made balloons for all the kids for.....you got it...FREE! I thought the kids choices were perfect matches to their personalities.

My active adventerous daughter wanted a frog.

Little Miss Stylin' wanted a purse

The Little Princess wanted a princess crown

Jacob wanted Lightning McQueen

On the way home we were even privileged enough to see a rainbow.