Back to School, Back to School...

Last week was the start of a new school year for us. I started back to work for my week of professional development and the Kaden and Halle started their new school.

Brock is taking the kids this year, so he was told to snap a picture for me. He said that Kaden was happy and went in without even saying bye to him! Halle cried a little bit, but was fine! When I went to pick them up each day, they were having a good time and seemed perfectly happy. Halle is already learning so much! It is amazing how spongy kids are and how they soak EVERYTHING in. We are very happy with their school. We will see what this year brings!

Jaxson and Connor with me on the first day of school! We had a CrAzY first day and I will explain all about that in another post, but I made time to get a picture of us on the first day of school.
My sweet 1st and 4th grader in front of the Hays sign at the front of our school. I have taken a picture of Connor here every year since the school has been open which just happened to be his Kinder year. Jaxson joined in last year. It is crazy to think that I have just two more years to do this with my Conman. I think they are extremely handsome!!!
Connor with his fabulous 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Barineau. I can't begin to express how excited I am that my BFF is my sweet son's teacher this year. Not to mention that I am also his teacher this year. We are departmentalized in 4th grade and Debbie and I team teach...so he has Debbie for half a day and me for half a day. It is going to be interesting, but I am very excited to get to know my son as a student.
Jaxson and his fabulous teacher, Mrs. D'Alessio. I was very excited that Jaxson got Mrs. D. She was my long term sub when I had Halle and then got a full time position at Hays the following year. She is an amazing teacher and I couldn't be more excited! Jaxson needed the right balance of love and discipline from a teacher and I know that Mrs. D is the perfect teacher for the job. He needs to know that she will make him tow the line, but that she loves him at the same time.

I am very excited about my classes too. I have a very sweet class and I can't wait to get to know the kids better. There are several challenges that I can't wait to tackle as well. All and all I am very excited about this year and where God is leading my family! Remind me of this in February!

So Many Emotions!!!

Today I am filled with so many emotions! Tomorrow I will go back to school and Kaden and Halle start...daycare. I have been so lucky to have been able to keep my kids out of daycare for the last 10 years and I could of this year, but it just seemed like the best thing to do.

Connor will be 10 next month. After I had him, I started working with my in-laws at their insurance office. For about a year and a half, I took Connor with me to work. As that got harder and harder, I started sending him to Mother's Day Out and my mom would keep him. I had started back to college, so mom kept him while I was at school. Mom continued to keep him and then when Jaxson came along, she kept him too.

Just when it was time for Connor to go to Kinder and I would have only one in need of care...along came Kaden. Mom kept saying each year that it was her last to keep kids, but I kept having kids, so she kept keeping them. We were both in agreement that there was nothing wrong with daycare, but that we didn't want them to go to daycare until they were old enough to let us know if something was not right.

Of course, just as mom was sure that she had kept her grandbabies for the last year, SURPRISE, I was pregnant....and so she helped again. The 3 little kids went to a MDO four days a week which did help matters.

The next year Jaxson started Kinder so I was back down to only needing childcare for 2 kids again. Mom was for sure done and I was so lucky that one of my good friends that I go to church with and teach with decided to stay home with her two kids and that she wanted to keep my 2 kids. We were very blessed to have her keep my kids and our kids became so close. I loved knowing that she was taking care of them and that I did not have to worry about them during the day. We had a great year!

This year we decided to make some changes. There are positives to the kids going to daycare and I definitely think that they outweigh the negatives, but it is still hard. Again, there is nothing wrong with daycare, but for some reason it is really hard.

I am really looking forward to Kaden going because he will actually be in a Pre-K class and learn a lot! I really think that he needs that interaction with the other kids. I will also be able to pick a day or two to stay late and get what I need to get done instead of feeling like I always have "unfinished business". Another big plus is that Brock can take the kids to school so that is one less thing that I have to think of or deal with in the morning. (I am a bit concerned about Halle's hair though.)

On the other hand, I LOVE my job! I love the beginning of a new year and the excitement of getting to know the new kids. I love where I work and the people I work with. I totally believe that I am working at the best school in the world and there is no other place I would want to be. I have no problem starting school...it's the fact that it is 9 months of waking up early, missing quality family time, and stress!

I will be fine and I can't wait to pick them up tomorrow and hear how their day went...and see how Halle's hair looks....yikes! lol