Kind of a Big Week

A lot has happened this past week, with everyone going back to school, Eric starting kindergarten, and Alaina turning 10.

Eric was pretty excited for the first day, although he only had a 10-minute meeting with his teacher (and me) to get to know her and see his classroom.

Our elementary school added an extra kindergarten class this year, and Eric was put into the new class, his teacher "TBA." At first I was kind of upset that he didn't have one of the teachers we already knew (having been at the school for 10 years!), especially since he'd been literally the first student to register for this year's kindergarten, but then the thought occurred to me that he might have an even better teacher--and that is exactly what happened!

The new teacher hired had team taught with Alaina's Grade 3 teacher and Janae's Grade 4 teacher. She is really nice, easygoing, fun, and enthusiastic--and with this being her first class of her own, I'm sure she will be excited to make it a great year for everyone.

Eric already knew her a little bit from seeing her around the school, too.

The meeting went well, and Eric wanted to start kindergarten right away, although he had to wait until Thursday to do a half day with some of his classmates. Friday was also half a day with half the class, but Monday will be a little longer with the whole class, Tuesday will include lunch, and Wednesday will be his first full day.

So definitely a big week for our little guy! I wasn't expecting to have a hard time with the whole thing, even though I'd been sad about my baby starting kindergarten. I hadn't cried last year when he'd started preschool, but something about this year was different, because as soon as he lined up to go inside the school, tears started falling down my cheeks--and by the time I got to the car I was really bawling. Luckily, he came out two hours later, saying he'd found a friend and had a great time.

I think it was different last year because I was so busy writing dialogues for my freelance contract that I'd just dropped Eric off and hurried home to get as much done as I could, even on his first day. 

This year having him go to school also means I'll be starting work outside our home, too, which is going to be hard for me after so many years. I'll miss being home with little kids!

Eric is really ready for it, though.

And if that wasn't enough, my second youngest baby turned 10 yesterday :)

Alaina is kind of obsessed with small, furry creatures, like Max (her hamster) and all the mice at the pet store that I won't even consider buying for her ... ever.

She recently read the novel The Rescuers and loved the story, so I made her a white mouse cake, patterned after Miss Bianca.

She wanted to barbecue hamburgers for dinner, so we did that, inviting Grandma and Grandpa over, too. 

Then there was Ben starting Grade 10, sporting an actual mustache (he's been watching Victoria with Jason and me and claims to have been inspired by the Coburg cousins). 

Originally, I said he could grow it until school started, but then we made a deal that he could keep it if he went to seminary every day. He agreed, so he's just got a mustache now. One of his teachers told him he looks five years older than he did at the end of June, so if he needed any extra incentive to keep it....

Janae started Grade 7, but she's in a Grade 7/8 split class, so she is happy about that, too. It seems everyone wants to be so grown up, and there's not much I can do about it!

So, when I say it's been a big week, I really mean it! Hopefully it will be a good year for everyone.