First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school.  You may wonder why we started so early, but by the end of this entry you won't.  Everyone was very excited.  The girls each got a bag of the necessary supplies such as pencils, erasers, glue, scissors, and so on.  We learned last year to either color-code or label each girl's items to avoid confusion.  The day started simply and quietly with Bible and breakfast.  Things quickly digressed.  Our four-year-old, who was thrilled to begin kindergarten, decided that she wanted to go play when the language arts lesson began.  Our six-year-old second grader stomped her feet when she saw that her sister sat in the chair that she wanted to sit in.  Before I could say a word, our ten-year-old fifth grader was negotiating a compromise with her now cross-eyed sister.  Eager to avoid disaster on what was supposed to be a wonderful day, I attempted to   derail their discussion and get back on task.  When my attempts didn't work, I decided it was time for a break.  We had two unexpected errands that needed to be run that morning, so we all hopped in the car and smoothly, but slowly accomplished our tasks.  We had spent the night at our friends' house and by the time we returned, it was time to return home.  We ate lunch with them and loaded up to return home.  The older girls did some book work during the drive, but my new kindergartner thought it was nap time.  Not only did she sleep for the hour's drive back to Grandpa's house, but climbed into her bed and slept another four hours!  Eager to claim some of the remaining day, the rest of us gathered around the kitchen table and made dinner (wonderful lessons in math, culture, nutrition, etc).  After dinner, the girls and I went in their bedroom and read Genesis 1-3 and had a good discussion and prayer time before they went to bed.  We are ready for day 2!  We have plenty of work before us!