Luke's First Day of School

We got to meet Luke's teachers and see his classroom last Friday, and he has asked every day since if it was time for him to go to school. Well, today is THE day!

He was so excited to get going this morning. When we got to his room, he tried to open the door himself and walk right through. I asked him for a hug, he gave me one with a kiss as an added bonus, and then headed on into the classroom without looking back.

Who is this child? Can he be the same one who cried and screamed at school drop-off for the first month of school last year, to the point that I seriously considered taking him out?

I guess with all the fanfare and fuss over Cody starting Kinder, the boredom that goes along with your big brothers being gone at school all day and being stuck at home alone with Mom, and the added year of maturity...well, he was just READY! Bring on school already, for goodness sake!

How'd he get so big??

Codybration 2010

This weekend we had our 4th annual Codybration. For those who don't know, this is when we celebrate the day doctors performed emergency surgery that saved Cody's life. We are so thankful for his health and for the experience that made our family that much stronger, so we celebrate it every year: our Codybration.

This year, we decided to make a family keepsake to commemorate the day.

We headed over to Paint 'n Party, and we chose a big platter. We each picked a color, painted our hands, and made handprints!

We started with this:

And here's Cody, taking his turn.

Here is our platter, with all of our handprints on it. It has been sent off to be fired, and we'll get it back in about a week. I'm so thrilled with how it turned out!

Later in the day, we visited Arbor Hills Nature Preserve. It has a playground, walking trails, and lots of big rocks to climb on...so a great place to take pictures. :)

Just before heading home, we let the boys wade in the little creek. It was running a little low, but they loved it.

Check out Lewis and Clark!

After dinner, we enjoyed a delicious Codybration cake...complete with gummy worms!

It was a really fun, family day, and we enjoyed every minute of it. We are so thankful to have Cody happy and healthy. He is the heart of our family and the bravest person I know.

We love you, Codybear! ♥

Wordless Wednesday

Jackson's First Day of 3rd Grade

Jackson was really dreading starting school up until Friday, when he got to meet his teacher, see his classroom, and find out who else would be in his class. After that, he started to get excited about it.

He's a little nervous about the big changes that happen in 3rd Grade...learning cursive, taking TAKS for the first time, more homework, etc. But he's up to the task. :)

He really likes his teacher so far, and he earned 4 Tiger Tickets already (he's considering trying to save up 150 so he can attend some special party...wonder if that'll happen?). What he talked about most was the fact that 3rd Graders have Specials first thing in the morning, and how weird that was. LOL

But he had a good first day and was excited to go back today. Off to a great start!

And doesn't he look like a stud in his picture? ♥

Cody's First Day of Kindergarten

Today was the day Cody has been waiting for all summer long. Today he officially became a Kindergartener! He has been looking forward to this with a combination of nerves and excitement since preschool ended in May. By this past weekend, he couldn't wait to start!

Cody got a very nice surprise on Sunday afternoon when one of his preschool teachers, Mrs. Stecklein, called him to wish him good luck on his first day. He was SO proud he got his very own phone call.

We let Cody choose our meal on Sunday evening, and he chose coffee cake! So lucky us, we all got to eat breakfast for dinner!

Unfortunately, Daddy had to go out of town on Sunday night, but he was still able to enjoy breakfast dinner with us before he left!

After baths, we decided to play some Lego Rock Band before getting ready for bed! Here's my little drummer boy, not letting his cast keep him from drumming.

Then we read a special book all about starting Kindergarten. We've read several over the last few weeks, but I'd been saving this one especially for the night before!

Jacks took this picture for me. Guess I forgot to tell him to make sure you could see ALL of us (especially the person about to BE in Kindergarten!) in the picture. LOL

Here are the boys' backpacks, all packed up and ready to go for the next morning!

We woke up almost an hour earlier this morning than we had been for the last few weeks of summer (all attempts at slowly shifting our schedules back so that the transition would be easier today were completely rejected!). But when I went upstairs, Cody was lying awake in his bed...he was ready to get up and get started!

Cody isn't a big breakfast eater (at least, not in one sitting...he likes to graze across the morning), but I managed to get him to slurp down some Carnation Instant Breakfast. He kept checking his NEW watch to see if it was time to go!

Then we headed outside to take the annual "First Day of School" pictures.

I just love that despite how tall he is, how very little (ok, almost none) of his baby-self he has left in his face, how grown-up his outfit...he is still holding on to BearBear, taking a piece of his babyhood on with him into the next stage of Big-Kid-hood. ♥

Cody was fine when we were walking into the school, but he got a bit teary when it was time for Luke and me to leave. But I peeked around the corner a minute later and he was fine, coloring at his table with another boy.

After a very long day of Lucas asking when it was time to go get his "budders," we headed up to the school to pick up Jackson and Cody. Cody had the BIGGEST smile on his face when he saw the car. It must have been cool for him to experience the carpool line from the other side!

We stopped for a celebratory snack of donuts on the way home. Cody was in pretty good spirits, he was clearly tired. Look at his face in this next picture!

Cody said everything in school was really fun. When I asked him to pick a favorite thing, he said he liked music best. He liked his teacher, Mrs. Jacobs, and he said he wished he could have bought lunch because the chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes looked good (next week, bud!). Also, he earned 3 Tiger Tickets!

He described PE as "pretending to be grapes and peaches," which I found very confusing until Jackson explained that the coaches use fruit names for their different directions (ex. 'grapes' means cluster all together around the coach). Jackson has been at this school for 3 years and this is the first I've heard of this....Anthony pointed out that we will probably learn all sorts of things about the school from Cody that Jackson (who rarely talks about his school day) never mentioned. Should be interesting!

So all in all, I think the day was a big success. Cody wasn't sure if he wanted to go back tomorrow because the days are "sooooo looooong," but hopefully he'll adjust pretty quickly. And I'll be volunteering with his class at least once a week, so I'm hopeful that will help, too.

It's hard to believe Cody's a Kindergartener! We're so proud of him, and we know he's going to have a great year.

PS. If you feel like taking a stroll down memory lane, you can check out Jackson's first day of Kindergarten HERE. (Something is a little wonky with the formatting, but it was 3 years ago...I guess Blogger has changed things up a bit!)

Teacher Survival Kits

In preparation for the first day of school, the boys and I decided to make "Survival Kits" for their teachers. We collected a wide variety of meaningful items, and they'll deliver them tomorrow morning.

Here's the letter that goes inside, explaining each item's use!

Paperclips: to help you hold it all together

Notepad: so you remember to take note of how awesome your students are

Marbles: to replace the ones you're sure to lose (it's hard to tell from the picture, but those ARE marbles LOL)

LifeSavers: for when you've had one of those days

Laffy Taffy: because laughter is the best medicine

Ghirardelli Squares: because sometimes chocolate is the ONLY medicine!

Sticky Hand: for when you need a high-five

Eyeball Bouncy Ball: for those times when you wish you really DID have eyes in the back of your head

Eraser: to remind you that everybody makes mistakes and they can be erased

Compass: to help you navigate the scenic (and occasionally rocky) terrain of the school year

Clothespins: to help you hang in there

Candle: so you can see all your students in a positive glow

Battery: to help you keep going, and going, and going...

Advil: for growing pains

Snowflake: when all else fails, pray for a snow day!

It was so much fun making these. I hope the teachers enjoy them!