Beatrix's First Day of Kindergarten

Beatrix was so excited to start kindergarten!  She could not understand why everyone else got to start a couple of days before she did.  I don't think she was scared at all, she was counting down the days and kept talking about how excited she was.

We went to her classroom about a week before she started and saw the school and her desk.  Then she went again to talk to the teacher without all the other kids there.  It is why she started a couple days later.  They like to do a slow start kindergarten where all the teachers meet one on one with their kids and parents before the first day of school.  I think it helped Beatrix.  It was so nice to send a child off to school who wasn't scared.  I've had kids excited to go and I've had kids crying hysterically that I had to pull off my leg, and a couple in between.

After school she had nothing but good things to say about her first day.  I'm glad it went well for her, and just a little sad that I don't have anymore kids at home.

Tucker's First Day of School Through the Years

I diligently took pictures of Tucker every year since kindergarten wearing the same shirt to track how he grew.  Check it out!

First Day of School '24-'25

We survived the first day of school!  It was a lot of work figuring out every's schedules and the bus schedules, not to mention the shorter day Thursday schedule.  The kids even have sports and work and seminary all today.  There was a ton of paperwork and using the calendar and making sure everyone knew who was driving where and who was riding the bus. 

Today the kids went to three different schools with three different times that the earliest (counting seminary) started at 6:20 and the latest 9:10.  That is about three hours of me getting people off to school!  I also started my new job today at a fourth school, where I'll be a paraeducator.  I started at 9:15, so once the last kids were on the bus I hopped in the car and drove to work.

One of the hardest parts was that Beatrix doesn't start Kindergarten until Monday so she was still home and not happy about not going to school like everyone else.  Bob went to work early in the morning and then came home by nine to grab Beatrix.

Actually the hardest part might have been the endless questions from kids about what school was going to be like and their classes.  Penelope started high school and Leon middle.  The jump from elementary to middle school is big and Leon had tons and tons of questions.  I swear he asked them over and over again for the past week.  He went as far as to draw a map of his school and draw out a path as to where he will walk from one class to the next.

It is crazy to me that I have both a Senior in high school and an kindergartner!

Here are the high schoolers!

Tucker will be driving to school for the first time this year.  He is not thrilled about it.

Penelope is not too worried about high school, she felt ready.

Scarlett and Leon will be going to school together again.  Scarlett wasn't worried at all and Leon was very worried.

Calista was a little worried, but I'm not worried about her.  I know she will do just great, mismatching socks and all.

My first day in the school what pretty much what I expected.  It was very different compared to my last two jobs.  Not stressful at all and pretty calm.  I think things will pick up a bit for me in a couple weeks when we have all the small groups figured out.  I'll be working with kids in sped, the reading room, and I'll be one of the lunch/recess monitors.

Navy Federal Credit Union

I put in my two weeks notice and had my last day working at Navy Federal Credit Union.  It was bitter sweet as I really did enjoy working there.  I was there over two years, I learned a ton, I got to help many people on a daily basis, and see a lot of interesting things.  The fast pace environment was right up my alley, and my co-workers and managers were great.  

Ultimately the schedule was not working for me and it was time to try something else.  I'm ready for my next work adventure!

House Building and In-Laws

I wanted to give a quick update on how the house building is coming.  And I am happy to report that it is coming along.  After so many months waiting it is fun to see it start to take shape.

While Bob does about 99% of the work the kids and I are happy to leave our mark and do just enough that we feel like we are building a house too.

Bob has had some trouble with the scissor lift he rented and a couple time he got stuck at the top and couldn't get it to turn back on.  This time he was able to climb onto the roof and get down that way.

I did spend a good amount of hours putting the roof on with Bob.  It is cool to see it finished.

If you look close at the next picture you can make out where our front door and windows will be.  The garage is the right half with the lower roof.

I looked over one day and saw Beatrix happily drilling.  All the kids can now successfully use a drill.

Bob's parents flew out to help.  We were so happy to have them come!

We spent most of the time carrying these trusses over and putting them in the house. They are what goes between the first and second floor and they are heavy.

Bob's brother Ben also flew out to help for a couple days but I failed to get any pictures.  They were at the property working the entire time.

The house is a little further along than this picture.  It has the house wrap around most of it, but other than that this is where we are at.  Still have a long way to go, but I'm hoping to have it all enclosed before the weather gets worse.