First Day of School!

**Disclaimer - the next few posts will recount our first few weeks/months in Jerome. We were living in a hotel (which I'll write about at some point) but please note that every single picture in the hotel is going to look cluttered, messy, and crowded. That's because it was.**

Less than a week after arriving in Jerome, the kids started school! It was a little hectic because we were still living in the hotel but they were more than ready and excited to begin a new adventure. I am going to detour here and say that my kids have been incredible throughout this move. They have been so positive and optimistic about all the changes. Their attitudes made things easier on me for sure. These kids of mine, I tell you, they're the best.

But, back to the first day of school!
 

The night before school started we had our traditional "first outfit of the school year" fashion show.

I love Clayton's outfit (I'd seriously wear it if it was in my size)!

This is not Sammie's first outfit of school. She actually started the day after all the other kids, but she wanted to try on new clothes too. She's pretty cute.

Since there was no bus to ride, and we weren't in our home, our first day of school morning was a little different than usual. Breakfast from the hotel breakfast bar, everyone getting ready in the same room, loading everyone in the car to drop them off. It was a little hectic, but considering all the problems we've had with the bus over the past few years, I'm more than happy to drive them (we'll see if I still feel that way in a few years - but for now I don't mind it one bit).

They do school a little different out here. There are two K-3 elementary schools, 1 4th-5th grade school, 1 middle school (6-8), and then high school. So Clayton goes to a different school than Noah and Josie. I think there are pros and cons to this. They stagger their start times, which is nice (Clayton starts about 15 minutes earlier than Noah and Jo so drop off isn't a problem), but it'd be nice to only have to go to one school to see all my kids. I'm pretty happy with both of the schools though, so I can't really complain.
 

First day of school! Noah: 2nd grade, Clayton: 5th grade, Josie: kindergarten
Pretty stylish group, if you ask me! (And yes, that's a potty chair on the floor of my van. That's how I roll with a newly potty trained kid. Judge if you must, I ain't changin'!)

I can't believe this is Clayton's last year in elementary school. It seems like his grade school years just flew by! He has a great teacher this year though who lets me come into the classroom and help out once a week. It's nice being able to spend that time in Clayton's class since this is probably the last year I'll get that chance!
I wish this picture was better, but oh well.

Pootie started the second grade. As you can see, he started strong. He has a very loving teacher who is just the sweetest. He has taken that elementary school by storm and made a ton of friends. I predict he'll be running that place next year!

Josie started kindergarten! Crazy! I was worried about how she'd do academically (she wasn't quite as prepared as Clayton or Noah had been), but she's doing just fine. We struggle a bit with her teacher (she doesn't really let parents in the class to volunteer, which kills me because I want to be there for her) and she's had a few hard days, but we're working through it together and I'm hoping that we'll come out on the other side stronger for it.

Socially though, she's on fire! She makes friends left and right and is just so confident and sparkly! I love that she knows exactly who she is.

Noah and Josie go to the same school. I was interested to see how this would effect their relationship and I'm happy to report that I think they're closer for it! They have a lot of shared experiences that the rest of us don't and I think that's bonded them. They still fight a bit, but I'm slowly starting to see a more friendly relationship developing between these two! 

I thought it'd be fun to compare all my kindergartners:
Isn't Clayton the cutest and tiniest kindergartner you've ever seen! Oh my goodness! He's so adorable! I am having a hard time reconciling this sweet tiny face to the man-child that is currently living under my roof!

 Noah! Oh poor Pootie with his poor allergic reaction. Still though, he's changed so much!

Josie. Maybe it's because I'm remembering the boys smaller than they actually were (though Clayton was actually pretty young) or maybe it's the difference between boys and girls but she seems more grown up to me starting kindergarten than they did. I love her excited/nervous face here.

Josie only goes half day (she goes in the mornings). So after her first day, we got to celebrate with lunch at McDonalds with Justin (I adore his new schedule - things get so much better after residency!).

When everyone else got home, it was time for the traditional snack of cookies and milk while we discussed their first days. Everyone had a successful day!

The next day was Sammie's turn. I miss Woodard Preschool in South Bend, but we found her a pretty good little school. It's got a Christian based program so she learns a lot of Bible stories and a lot about Jesus. It's pretty cute. She was one excited little lady to go to school!

Again, I thought it'd be fun to compare her picture against all the other kids on their first day of preschool.
Cute little Clayton (those cheeks!):

 Oh Pootie (at the height of his pootie-ness):

 Gorgeous Jo:

Sammie goes to school from 8:30-12:30 three days a week. They feed her lunch and do a bunch of activities, so she's usually wiped when she gets home. She's adjusting better now, but she would crash so hard after school at first.

I was nervous about the time I'd have to fix Josie's hair every morning before school. I usually don't fix the boy's hair for school and I was afraid that we'd be late every day because of the time it'd take to fix her hair (because it is so, so long). But it hasn't been bad. We've discovered a few go to styles that we've made work for us (like this fancy braid that I'm so proud of).

Once the kids started school I felt a lot more settled here (even though we were still in the hotel). It gave us some routine and stability that I was desperately craving (and I think they were too). It's so weird to me that all of my kids go to school now. It's a whole new chapter in parenting. I'm starting to think about the next chapter of my life and it's like uncharted territory. Kind of scary, kind of sad, but kind of new and exciting too.

I love these kids and am so proud of how well they've adjusted to this new life. They jumped in head first and have really thrived in this new environment. Watching them out here makes me certain that this is the place for us. I can't wait to see how much they grow this year!

Josie's end of preschool concert!

Another year down. Josie officially finished preschool...for good! I have such mixed emotions about this. It's nice to be done with another school year (for her - the boys still have a few more days), but this means she's officially a new kindergartner and I'm. Not. Ready.

 

Josie is so many things. She's smart, she's sassy, she's confident, she's outgoing, she's funny, she's independent...all things that tell me that, not only is she ready to move on to kindergarten, she's going to OWN it!

 

She had a really great year in preschool this year. Mrs. Monserez (her teacher) is my favorite. I have absolutely LOVED the preschool that we've had out here and am truly sad that Sammie will never get to go here. We also found out that this was Mrs. Monserez's last year. She's retiring and said that this class is very special to her because it's the last class she'll ever teach. I can't tell you how much Mrs. Monserez has meant to us (particularly to Noah - he still talks about her). Josie's grown and learned so much this year. I have loved watching her progress.

 

At the end of every school year, the kids perform in a little concert. Last year, Josie was the standout star performer and I was kicking myself because I recorded NONE of it. I made sure not to make that mistake again!

 

While, she wasn't quite as much of a standout as she was last year, she was definitely one of the most prepared and loudest and entertaining kids (I'm serious - you can hear her over most everyone in almost all of the songs). I posted the videos of each song at the bottom of the post. I realize that you probably won't watch them all, but you should watch one or two - they're pretty short and Josie's pretty entertaining!

 

Here's Josie getting her "diploma" from Mrs. Monserez.

Josie and Mrs. Monserez.

Sammie was totally entranced by the performance. Justin is trying to convince me that Sammie will be ready for preschool this fall but I'm not so sure. Once my baby (my BABY) starts school, there's no going back. I know it's totally selfish, but I'm just not ready to let her go yet!

Me and my girl after the show. Love this little ball of energy!

Justin and Jo.

First song: Sing, sing, sing:

Second song: Down by the Bay (this is one that Josie really loves - she's the loudest voice in this song - this one is one of my favorites):

Third song: Counting song:

Fourth song: Miss Mary Mack (her voice in this one is also the loudest - if you can hear it over the stick tapping):

Fifth song: Our Sticks (again, that loud voice - that's our Jo - she's also quite the hip shaker!):

Sixth song: Rain Song (she takes an interesting bow at the end of this one):

Seventh song: Rainbow Song:

Eighth song: Oh Mr. Golden Sun (I like this one, because all the kids are just belting it out, but you can still here Josie's voice over everyone else for most of the song. Plus it's cute!)

Ninth song: Musical Instrument song (Jo knows how to get down to the music of a maraca!):

Tenth song: Square Dancing! (And if there's one thing that Josie does better than singing her heart out, it's dancing her heart out!) *Also, I should mention that we're really glad that we had her wear leggings under her dress this year - her curtsey could use a little work.*:

Eleventh song: Can't catch the name of this one, but it's short:

Twelfth song: Skidamarink a dink:


So basically, I have the best girl around and I'm incredibly glad she's mine! I love everything about this little diva (even the things that frustrate me sometimes) and am so grateful to watch her perform. I look forward to watching many more concerts from this young lady in the future. So proud of my little preschool graduate. Next stop: KINDERGARTEN!!

5...the celebration!

She woke up to a modest stack of presents and was allowed to open one before breakfast.

Spoiler: it was a Lalaloopsy doll that Justin had gotten for her a couple months ago. He was working all day on her birthday and wanted to see her open it before he left. She loved it.

Then it was birthday breakfast on the special birthday plate (which she'd been talking about for weeks! Man, that birthday plate is genius. Whoever made that thing years and years ago is probably the smartest and best mom ever...).

Hands down, my favorite part of her birthday. Noah was so excited to help her celebrate her birthday. He stayed up the night before and wrote her a card. He then wanted to read it to her before he got ready for school. It was so very sweet. These two can fight like cats and dogs, but I'm starting to see more and more of these tender sibling moments between them. I hope it's a glimpse of the relationship to come between them.

Here's the note: Dear Josie, happy birthday TO YOU. This is a present for you. Then he drew her a picture of her celebrating with all the girly things she loves. THEN before he went to bed the night before her birthday, he found his old 5 year old birthday shirt and layed it out on her dresser for her. My heart burst wide open.

After breakfast she got to open her birthday shirt (which wasn't my favorite this year - by a long shot, but that's what I get for waiting until the very last minute to make it) and posed in front of the birthday sign - with her new Lalaloopsy.

She loves to pose!

Showing off the 5 on her shirt (which she loves, so I suppose it's a win).

Then she asked if she could open another present. I relented and she opened this snazzy pair of high heels from her Grammy and Grandpa.

A hit for sure! She wears them constantly and points out to everyone that she is wearing high heels (they're only about an inch high, but she walks in them remarkably well - certainly better than I walk in heels).

Then she convinced me to let her open one more gift before we left to run our morning errands.

I have a friend from HS who makes these amazing princess dresses. Seriously, amazing. They're every day wearable - not just dress up dresses (because, let's face it, sometimes girls will wear these dress up dresses as every day wear anyway). They're modest and machine washable and awesome. I ordered her two - Rapunzel and Cinderella. I'm so glad I did. She loves them.

Here she is, trying to figure out which one to wear first.

And modeling her new shoes.

After our errands we went out to lunch - birthday girl's choice. Since McDonald's is currently carrying My Little Pony toys in their happy meals, this was a no brainer for Jo.

We let this deliciously dimpled minion tag along (elbow dimples anyone!?!)

She's looking so grown up!

After lunch we came home and found several packages on our doorstep. She was allowed to open the one from Aunt Missy and Uncle Jared and her cousins first. It was projects!! A make your own headband kit and a make your own pillow kit. This is a girl who LOVES a project so these were absolutely perfect!

Then she opened the one from Grandma and Grandpa Lee. It was a cute shirt/skirt outfit and some new Minnie Mouse pajamas. She loves the outfit and pajamas. (My boys are very bored when they get clothes as gifts, but not Josie - she get so excited and wants to try everything on and model it - so funny).

This is out of order, but here she is modeling her princess dresses. I love them almost as much as she does.

Me and the birthday girl.

After presents it was on to the big birthday activity. We dropped Sammie off with a friend and I took Josie and her friend, Eavan, to this place called Club Tabby. Club Tabby is this adorable little girl's only salon where they do makeovers. The girls get a makeover and then they have a stage/runway where the girls can strut and dance and look at themselves in the mirror. They also have a lot of dress up clothes/hats/shoes the girls can try on as well as microphones the girls can use to sing along to the endless loop of Disney songs that are playing. Basically, it was Josie's dream come true.

Getting a little pre-makeover runway action.

I die.

Watch out Bob Fosse! Josie Smith is heading for Broadway!

Here she is waiting for her makeover at the pedicure station (she didn't actually get a pedicure, but she loved sitting in the big, sparkly, pink butterfly chair).

Her friend, Eavan, after her makeover. These two are two peas in a pod. Eavan told her stylist, "I think I would like green in my hair. I think that would look fabulous." Ha!

Josie getting her nails done (she wanted red and pink alternated with glitter on top).

And getting her beautiful princess hairdo (at first I was very nervous about the hair color, but it washed right out - no problem!).

Love this picture.

Getting her makeup done.

Each girl got to take home a little goody bag with their make up in it (it was just eye shadow and lip gloss, but still - exciting). Josie has been liberally applying lip gloss ever since.

These two. Beautiful! I had a great time taking them to do this. Just watching them get so excited was so fun for me.

Eavan working her runway magic.

After makeovers, we headed to a local cupcake place. As our luck would have it, they were serving a pink cupcake with a candy princess crown and pink sparkles that day. Score! Also lucky was that there happened to be tons of older women in the shop at that time and they all fawned all over these two girls.

Here's a good shot of the finished product of her makeover.

After cupcakes, Eavan came and played at our house for a while. After she went home, we (the boys were with us by then) picked up Sammie and went to eat dinner at the hospital with Justin where Josie got to choose whatever she wanted for dinner! (Which is funny because whenever we eat at the hospital she can eat whatever she wants, but somehow it seemed like a bigger deal on her birthday.)

The birthday girl with her daddy.

Then we came home and cleaned up a bit and waited for Justin to finish his shift so he could join us for cake and ice cream!

At the birthday girl's request we had chocolate cake with cherry frosting.

Yum!

After that it was time for a shower and bed. She was so happy. She had a great birthday. I'm so glad. I love that she had a great day and felt so celebrated and special (she's already planning her 6th birthday). She's one in a million and we're so glad she's ours.

Happy birthday Josie. You are going to rock 5 years old. I just know it. I love you!