School Daze

Sorry for the long time between postings. I was off on several wonderful vacations, and returned to a house with no Internet service until yesterday.

Because it's easy and quick, I'll start back into the swing of things with the annual first day of school photos.

A few days before school starts, the kids attend "Meet the Teacher," which is a drop-in event where you can meet your teacher, see where your classroom is, get your supply list, and find out who is in your class. Charlotte is in first grade, and Anson in fifth.

Charlotte is lucky enough to have the same teacher Anson had in first grade, Mrs. Shade-Gray. She used to be in theater and has over 30 years of experience as a first grade teacher, which makes for a fun and successful learning environment.

Although Anson isn't in class with his best friends, Wes and Rhys, they met up in the hallway. I enjoyed watching them swagger through the halls as a posse to see where everyone ended up. Fifth grade is the last year of elementary school before middle school, so they are "ruling the school" this year.

Charlotte ran into her buddy Sofia (Rhys' sister), who is in second grade this year. She was the only one willing to stay still long enough to get her photo taken. There was some serious excitement pulsing through that school!

At last, the first official day came, starting with the traditional shot in front of our dogwood tree.

Surprisingly, Russell made a quick stop at home on his way from one hospital to the other to see the kids off at the bus stop.

My, how backpacks have changed. Charlotte has a little area to keep her headphones and iPod, if she had one.

I couldn't resist getting a back shot of Anson, with all of the pattern and color. This is the boy, who like his dad, used to only wear gray, black, and navy blue. Now he's all 80s with his neon and crazy color combos. The socks are an especially "hip" thing at his school. Do anyone else's kids wear Nike Elite socks?

They both have had so much fun this week (Monday was the first day). I wish I could say that I've treated myself to some free time full of relaxation, but really I spent the first day getting a flat tire fixed, the next day working with the cable/Internet repairman, and the rest of the time grocery shopping and cleaning. But boy has it been nice and quiet around here!