First Day of School!

The first day of school was a rainy day, but the kids got up on their own--lots of excitement especially for Ben--the kindergartener! Ben and Olivia love their new school bags: red backpack for Ben, and black book bag with butterflies for Olivia. Sam carried a book in his arm for this picture, but he has a blue bag with his name on it that he takes to Carrie's house each day.

The kids get up at 6:30 each morning so they have time to eat breakfast before we leave the house at 7:15. Olivia is used to this routine, but it's the first year that Ben has to eat breakfast so early. He is getting the hang of it!
Ben and his friends Maci and Hunter from daycare walk from Carrie's each morning to school and back in the afternoon. Maci and Ben are in the same class this year. They get to see Hunter at lunch and recess!
Olivia, Jackson, and Ben walk with the younger kids to school. Olivia and Jackson are in the same class again for the fourth year! Ben is a 6th grader this year.
The wet walk to school. John and I walked with some other parents the first day. We didn't have umbrellas:-(

I snapped a quick picture of Olivia sitting in her new classroom next to Logan (he has been in her class every year since kindergarten)! Olivia likes her teacher and her classmates. She is enjoying the social studies unit on explorers. She is still an avid reader.

Ben sat down at a table and started coloring. I think John and I were feeling more teary-eyed than Ben! He didn't cry when we left:-) He really likes school so far--he was the first student in his class to get 10 stickers (awarded for good behavior). He loves gym class and recess, of course!

Sammy Celebrates Birthday #2!

Sam had a fantastic 2nd birthday! It's hard to believe two years have already gone by. He is such a sweet little (tall) guy--we love him so much!!

The birthday cake was his favorite part of the day!

His sister, brother, and cousing Millie posed for some pictures and then the opening of presents began!

We didn't make it to the swimming pool--because of the birthday boy's nap, but the kids had fun playing in the sprinkler (Dad played with them--but I left those pictures out) :-)