School is Back in Session!

I love my children.  I really, TRULY do.  But by the end of the summer, I am always MORE than ready for school to start back up.  The good thing this year, was that THEY were ready for it, too!  Hahaha.  I think we all do better with a little more structure and routine in our lives. ;)

 Shoo Shoo was up nice and early for the first day of school.  He must have really wanted to see Ethan and Grace off.  :)

School started a week earlier than usual this year, and as a result they're almost finished with their second full week of school and they're still loving it!  We fell into the swing of things almost immediately (which I was thrilled about), and the only really hardship to endure is the extra early wake-up calls for each of the kids, starting with Ethan.  As a freshman in high school, he is also starting his first year of early morning seminary for church and since it starts at 5:50, that means he's waking up around 5:15 each morning to start getting ready for the day.  And with cross country practice after school often lasting until 5 o'clock in the evening, he is powering through some extra LONG days. 

 Ethan -- 9th Grade

 

The first day of school was on a Wednesday, and seminary didn't start until the following Monday, so Ethan and Grace got to ride the bus together for the first day of school.  (The Junior High and High School are right next to each other and the buses pick up both sets of kids.)

Grace is up next around 5:45 to get ready for the bus which takes her to her first year of junior high, which she is L O V I N G.  That girl.  For the first week and a half of school, she has come home with her tongue flapping a mile a minute as she's filled me in on EVERY SINGLE DETAIL about her day.  It is legit verbal diarrhea, but I love it.  I really do.  She LOVES her team.  She LOVES that she has so many classes with friends from her elementary school.  She LOVES her teachers -- especially her ELA teacher, who is HILARIOUS, according to Grace.  And she LOVES getting home from school an hour earlier than the younger kids so she can watch whatever she wants on the television before they get back.  ;)

Grace -- 7th Grade

 

Sophie is now the oldest of the elementary crew and is taking her responsibility very seriously.  Haha.  J/K.  That only last for the first week and a half of school as she helped Alex and Jane get their lunches made and their outfits picked out and breakfast eaten before it was time to head out to the bus each morning.  My budding fashionista was ecstatic to find the PERFECT wedge-heeled bootie to wear with her first day of school outfit, and for an added touch of glam, she accessorized with a choker from Justice and some bracelets she picked out in Canada on our road trip.  To top it all off, she researched different hairstyles for me to try out on her to complete her first day look.  I cannot emphasize enough how differently Sophie and Grace approach clothing.  Hahaha.

 Making lunch for the first day of school.

Sophie -- 5th Grade

 

 That choker, though.

 Dutch braid on top, curls on the side.

 Bracelets.

 Wedge-heeled bootie.

 Pose.

Twirl.

Jane had her own field day with our "back to school outfit shopping date" and tried on a dozen different looks at Target before finally settling on what I like to call her "fiesta" shirt and a denim skirt for the first day.  Of course, when she saw that Sophie got new shoes to go with her outfit she insisted that she needed new boots, too, so thankfully we found what sparked joy for the both of them at DSW the day before school started. 

 Jane -- 3rd Grade

 

 Flower clip accessory.

 Ruffles.

 Boots.

 BFFs.  :)

Alex is all about Mario, so that's really all he cared about showcasing for his first day of school.  Hahaha.  Aside from an almost daily declaration from him that he doesn't want to go to school anymore, he seems to be doing well in the 1st grade.  Hahaha.  He has a couple of friends in his class from last year, and was excited to make a couple new ones, so overall I think he will survive being at school all day long.  Even though he tells me all the time that he doesn't like being there for 7 hours.  (Because yes -- he is counting.)

Alex -- 1st Grade

 Mario watch.

 Best buds.  :)

As for Dumplin', well, he still has a couple more weeks before his stint at my favorite little preschool starts!  He'll be doing the "Parent's Day Out" program twice a week and I think he's going to LOVE it.  As much as he enjoys the one-on-one time we've been having since the older kids are all back in school, he really does like it better when there's lots of people around and lots going on.  Hahaha.  Cute little sixth born.  ;)

 Isaac -- PDO (Parent's Day Out)

 He likes to wear Alex's clothes.  Hahahaha.

 He also likes to "help" me make cookies for the kids for their first day after-school snack.

And then there's me.  Ahhhhhh.  I'm livin' the dream, folks.  I'm livin' the dream!  Once the kids are all out the door in the morning, I can clean up the breakfast mess and tidy up the house without it being destroyed again in mere minutes.  And once our morning errands are done, I can put Isaac down for his nap and enjoy 2 blissful hours of peace and quiet while he sleeps.  And THEN, when the kids start trickling home around 2:30, I'm excited and eager to hear all about how their days have gone before it's time to start making dinner and ending the day.  Obviously, we're still in the honeymoon phase of Back-to-School, but after the high-stress summer I managed to slog through, I will take it for as long as I possibly can!!  Hahahaha.  :)

Alex is 6!

He's had a birthday, shout hooray!  Alex was SOOO excited about his birthday, that he kept begging and pleading to celebrate it several days early.  In the end, we went with the original plan which was to celebrate ONE day early, so that we'd have a little more leeway with a Saturday party than trying to do anything on Sunday the 13th.  His main request for the birthday was for it to be Mario themed once again, and after obsessively searching through Pinterest for ideas, he finally decided on Yoshi for his cake. 

 (This shot is hiding a LOT of the flaws with the execution.  It was certainly not my best effort.)

 

{Isaac dug into the cakes while they were cooling.  The Love Bug loves cake.}

I have to be honest, at that point in time -- with the summer droning on and stress levels at an all-time high with the kids being home all day long -- I was not really in the right, patient and loving, frame of mind to create this year's birthday cake.  Everything about the celebration itself felt a little last-minute-thrown-together, with Scott taking the others to Target that morning to pick out Alex's gifts and me slapping this Yoshi cake together without really trying all that hard.  I definitely opted for the lazy way out because I just couldn't care anymore, and skipped the crumb coat/popping it in the freezer to set up, and as a result it was kind of mess to frost and decorate.  And if you look TOO closely at the cake, you can definitely tell.  Whoopsie!  Hahaha.  Nevertheless, Alex was thrilled and that's all that really matters, RIGHT???  Hahaha. 

 

Since gifts are Alex's love language, it was present opening time that mattered the most anyway.  Luckily, the kids found plenty of Mario themed offerings to make his heart sing.  :)  After pictures were taken, and cake was devoured, the rest of his Saturday was spent playing with his new game on the Wii U, scootering around in the basement, and constantly checking the time on his new watch.  Hahaha.  I'd say he had a pretty good birthday. 

 New Mario hat -- although I'm not sure why he's holding up Elephant.  Hahaha.

 Mario themed Rubik's Cube that's impossible to solve now that it's mixed up.

 A watch.

 His very own scooter!

And the piece de resistance -- a new Wii U game.  (Super Mario Maker)

And that's all folks!  Have a happy weekend.  :)