On the 2nd Day of the 2nd Grade...

Does anyone else know this song (from Jonah Veggie Tales)? It has been going through my head all day! Today is the 2nd day of 2nd grade. Obviously yesterday was the 1st. Yesterday I didn't get myself together enough to take a picture and document...therefore we have documentation of the 2nd day of the 2nd grade.


Last year's 1st day was a little bit more exciting because he moved from Timbertops (the PreK and Kindergarten) to the elementary school, but this year it was rather anticlimactic. 1st and 2nd graders line up together and as soon as we arrived to the schoolyard yesterday he ran to his line without even a goodbye. Although it is a little sad that he doesn't need me as much anymore, I'm thankful for his independence because at the moment my hands are full. The girls are both in a challenging period. At the same time.


Today is the first day of PreK (again) for Hannah. She's in the same class with mostly the same friends. She's been in this class for 1 1/2 years now and the way it is set up, she won't repeat any of the units this year. She is a little less excited about school beginning than her brother has been and we have the documentation of that as well. As her dad pointed out this morning, I could document this day any time (for all she knows and the rest of the world waiting anxiously for that first--or second--day picture). It didn't have to be this morning. I didn't have to force her to get out of the car and take a picture when she didn't want to do that at all. I didn't have to get frustrated with her for not wanting to take the picture. Yeah.







She actually woke up fine. She got dressed on her own. Comparatively, we had a nice morning. (It has been rough around here lately, guys...I mean rough). No one was screaming or biting or hitting or fighting. So what happened? We got in the car and then remembered the forgotten photo. That was it. One child obediently got out of the car put on his backpack and smiled pleasantly. One did not.







And then there's this one. She was home alone with me yesterday for the first time in a while. I didn't make an effort to put her down for a nap (as I have just done today) and I paid for it later. During the day she wasn't being bad which is why I opted for no nap. With Nathan in school and Hannah playing with a friend, she did have a moment of sadness that she was all alone, but suddenly she realized that all of the toys were left unattended. Good times. At some point it must have occurred to her that she might not get her word quota in for the month. The kid can talk.


So we're back to school and back to schedules. Our last weekend of summer was a little more stressful than we had planned. We enjoyed our sushi date night on Friday and then on Saturday decided to switch the girls' room with the guest room to give them more space and alleviate some of the fighting. This project was not as easy as it sounded and involved a trip to way too crowded IKEA on a Saturday. It took all day Saturday and then all afternoon Sunday. In between we did the weekly shopping, made up several different kinds of salsa to take to our annual neighborhood bbq, went to the bbq, and went to church. The weekend was completely gone. Date night was fun. BBQ was nice. Girls having more space is nice. We also managed to get all of the closets cleaned out in the process of moving the girls. All nice, but it was too many activities and not enough weekend.


I've got lots of things on my mind, but what is weighing the heaviest is thoughts of our sweet friend, Lissa. After a whirlwind of a month, discovering she has breast cancer, quickly deciding to move herself and her kids back to the US for treatment, dealing with her home and all of her things being here, figuring out how to manage her husband's job which is also here, she is going in for surgery tomorrow morning. Then recovery begins. She has no idea what that will look like for her and I have been praying constantly for her family. They have been so sweet to keep us updated as much as they can on top of everything else. Please add Lissa, Chris, Libby, Lee and Wes to your prayers.


Thoughts about Lissa put all of the other things on my mind into perspective. The little challenges at our house are just little. 2nd grade is going well so far. Our 2nd grader is happy. Once she arrives at the school, our little Prek-er is also happy. Another mom got a cute smiling picture of our daughter's first day. She was happy to hug her friend and smile sweetly for that mom's camera. This same mom told me how easy it is to have our Hannah at her house and has offered to take her again this week. I know I should be happy that she saves her good side for others, but (and I'm whining here) why can't I have more of the good side?

After a nice break from all 3 of them this afternoon, I'm hoping to be a bit more refreshed and handle the evening, dinner time, homework time, and bed time a little more gracefully than I did yesterday. We're only on day 2. We've got a long way to go. Hong Kong is creeping up on us though (also adding to the stress a little bit). 24 days from now, we'll be on a plane! Exciting!