Back to School!

As I mentioned in my last post my daughters went back to school this week. This is their first time in public school so it was kind of a big deal for our family! {and first time riding the school bus too!}

Last week we got to go visit Hope’s middle school {I still can’t believe she’s in MIDDLE school!} and she was able to meet her teachers, find her classrooms, get her schedule and test out opening her locker. It was great to see her excitement! I took a bunch of pictures that day because I didn’t want to follow the school bus to school come Monday and risk possibly embarrassing her. ;)

She is such a kind and caring person and is turning into a BEAUTIFUL young lady – both inside and out. She’s a hard worker and I just KNOW she is going to do SO well in school.

Their first day was Monday so on Sunday we made sure we had everything prepared – backpacks, lunchboxes, clothes pick out, etc … Then we got prepared to go to bed early so they could start with a good night of sleep. My girls and I haven’t done much reading together this summer, they’ve read on their own a lot but mostly in the car or on the go. We decided we needed to begin this important habit again and we began on Sunday night.

So, we snuggled up to read together. When we finished a couple chapters I said something {I can’t even remember what} and we ALL cracked up laughing SO hard. I literally got tears in my eyes from laughing. Then it hit me all at once how much I was going to miss the girls when they went to school. I had to get up quickly and leave the room so they wouldn’t see my tears coming on! We got them all tucked in and I did spend a little time crying and telling my hubby about my feelings. I didn’t feel ANY nerves about their schools, I just felt sad knowing they wouldn’t be home with me every day anymore. :(

Anyway, the next day dawned bright and early! I made them a special breakfast of pancakes and we started our day with devotions and prayer. {At the end I’ll share what we use for devos right now.}

The girls did great getting ready on time and we took a bunch of Back to School photos …

Watching for the bus!

They go to 2 different schools – one in Elementary and one in Middle school. So their buses come about an hour different from each other. I get up with Hope, spend time getting her all ready in the morning, and just before she needs to leave I wake up Joy. Then I get Hope on the bus and focus on helping Joy get ready. I really LOVE that I get separate time with each girl in the morning! It’s been such a blessing already!

Once Joy’s bus came and picked her up I snapped this last quick picture of her waving to me as it drove away …

Then I walked back into my house and bawled. I let myself cry for about 10 minutes, knowing that we had chosen what was best for the girls, but also just needing that time to grieve over these big changes in our lives. Then I knew it was time to move on and suck it up and not wallow in tears all day. =)

In the past 4 days I have been SO proud of my girls! They have come home each day and told us all about their days and they are doing fantastic in school! My youngest is doing awesome, and I am so proud of her … she is the one I was most worried about and she is just blowing me out of the water every day when she comes home. Her confidence is soaring and she’s already bonded with a few friends. She even told us the other day ‘I answer lots of questions in class!’ … I totally thought she’d be SUPER shy and was so surprised {and proud} when she said that! My oldest is realizing that middle school IS tougher and she’s already had homework almost every night, but she’s tackling it all head on and doing so great with it all. She’s also made a bunch of new friends already – yay! She even came home yesterday with a ‘High 5’ card which are special cards given out to kids who do a good deed or always listen or things like that in school. {PROUD MAMA MOMENT!!}

Below is a verse we talked about today … the devotional we use is FANTASTIC for girls this age, it has all kinds of applicable truths for dealing with school friends and situations. We talked this morning about what we want our reputation to be with our friends, teachers, etc.

And this is a book I would HIGHLY recommend to all public school parents. My friend Sarah told me about it and I love it. I’ve been reading it every chance I get lately and as you can see by the second picture I’ve been highlighting tons of stuff and writing lots of notes. You see even though my kids are now in public school, I still have LOTS of opportunities to teach and train them in God’s ways while they’re at home. I’m very thankful for the years we homeschooled, for the firm foundation it gave my girls. And I’m thankful that NOW they get to shine their lights in public school!

In the coming weeks you’ll probably see lots of bragging about my kids from me … this blog is basically my journal since I rarely remember to write things down. So consider yourselves warned that this proud Mama will be sharing lots of things about my awesome girls! =)