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!!

Pumpkin Patch

**This is my second post of the day ::pause while I wait for you to stop applauding:: so scroll down to see my earlier post about Noah's gross tongue.**

We went on a field trip last week with Josie's class to the pumpkin patch. This is our fourth year going on this field trip and I love it every year. It's my absolute favorite! This year I was worried about the weather (we've gone in both great weather and in nasty weather - I prefer the nice weather). The day seemed like it was going to be a cold one so I made sure we were extra bundled. I'm glad we were. The weather was cold, but with all our layers we were nice and comfortable!

Since pumpkin patches are pretty self explanatory, I'll let our pictures do (most of) the talking!
Hay ride (me and the girls with Josie's super cute friend Ruby)

 Love these sweet excited girls!

After the hay ride we went through a corn maze. I wanted to take pictures of it, but Josie was running so fast and so far ahead of us that it was all we could do to keep up with her!

Jo with her prize pumpkin:

Sammie (who wouldn't look at the camera) with hers (she loooooves that pumpkin, she wouldn't let it go for anything - even though she struggled to carry it):

 The kids in her school (this is four classes worth of kids):

They also had a playground and a petting zoo but I didn't get pictures of that either. Hmmm, maybe my pictures don't tell that great of a story after all. Oh well, it was still a great time - even if I didn't photograph it all! We also picked up some cool pumpkins for Clayton and Noah. If you stay tuned (hopefully tomorrow) I'll post about what we did with them!

Apples!

This week we had the annual preschool apple picking field trip. I love this field trip. I love going to the apple orchard with my excited little preschooler, I love picking apples, I love that it's usually a little crisp outside but not cold, I love apple cider and baskets of local fruits and veggies for sale. Basically, I love it all. Since it's a pretty self-explanatory field trip, I'll let our pictures do the talking:
Josie and her cute friend Brady. Mattie (Brady's mom) and I were getting our babies out of the car and when I turned around Josie and Brady were sitting there making faces at us. Classic.

Josie was all over the place at the orchard. She was in her element. Picking apples and socializing like crazy. It was hard to get a decent picture of her. These two were about all I got.

Sammie was my buddy though so she was much easier to take pictures of. Cute little apple picker.

Josie and her good friend Eaven.

Yum, snack time!

I attempted to get a good picture with my girlies. This was the best one we got. Neither of my girls was really loving this.

Yum! I delicious apple for the ride home. (Apples last year were a disaster. Such a disappointing crop. They were MUCH better this year. Very juicy and delish.)

Josie and her friends playing in the field with the tractors.

Finding treasure.

Finding her inner cowgirl.

Sharing the wealth with our boys.

Yum!

 

I had asked Josie what she wanted to do with all our apples. She was very adamant about making an apple pie. So we waited for Sammie to take a nap and we got to work.

 She's waiting oh so patiently for me to get everything ready.

 Josie was a pro with the apple corer peeler slicer this year.

 Sometimes it's a two handed job though.

 She was blasting through those apples almost as fast as I could cut them.

She was also very helpful making our pie filling. (I was so impressed. I'd expected her to get bored and quit on me but she never did.)

 Pinching our pie crust.

 What a lovely helper!

 And how did our pie turn out?

 Delicious (as if there was a doubt).

I love fall and I love apple season and I love (almost) everything associated with it! I don't know what we're going to do next year when we don't live here and go to this preschool anymore (sob). Hopefully there'll be good apple picking wherever we end up!