First day of FIRST GRADE

I can hardly imagine it. . .Mason is in the FIRST GRADE!

Where does the time go?  Just the other day he was home with me.  Then just the other day (a different day!), he was starting Kindergarten.  The poor kiddo actually started Kindergarten at THREE different schools last year with the chaos in our jobs and lives, so I was beyond happy to see this as we waited for the bus:

Mason has friends.

He's a very "friend-worthy" little boy. . .it's not that.  It's just that we enrolled for one Kindergarten in Texas a year ago, started at a different Kindergarten in Indiana due to a last-minute move, then proceeded to move TWO MORE TIMES during the school year.  To two different states.  It's hard for a five-year-old to make friends when his parents keep moving him to new schools.   But his first-grade year has started very differently.  He had the whole summer to play with lovely Manaal, whose yard abuts ours, and sweet Elliot who lives a hop, skip, and a jump away, just through Manaal's yard and in the next cul-de-sac.

I hope this move is it for us for awhile.  While I'd love to live in one of the counties near where I grew up (and where my parents and many dear friends still live), I'll happily stay here for now.

And watch my big boy board the same school bus each year with his neighbors and friends.

How is it that my "big boy" actually looks so little next to that bus?  Perhaps he's still a "little boy" after all.  Just don't tell him I said that!

Who's been on TWO field trips?

MASON!

(and a very frazzled Mommy!)

Kindergarten field trip #1 was to Exploration Acres. . .a pumpkin patch, corn maze, hayride, straw tunnel, and outdoor play area hot spot. 

Ummmmmm. . .do you know how hard it is to keep track of four 5-year olds at once?  I do now.  And I know it's even harder when there are 5 miles of corn maze paths involved. I was terrified I'd lose one or all of the kiddos.  Worst.  Chaperone.  Ever.

Despite it all, I showed back up 10 days later to chaperone the next field trip.  (Against my better judgement, to tell the truth.  I tried to coerce Rip into taking my spot!  Haha.  He's a smart man and opted out!)

 

Field trip #2 was to Fair Oaks Dairy Farm. . .a WORKING dairy farm with 30,000 dairy cows.  No, that's not a typo.  Thirty THOUSAND. 

We saw two calves being born, 72 cows being milked at once on a rotary milking monstrosity, and got to taste the best ice cream I've ever had.  Yum-a-roo.  We also saw an educational little 3-D movie. . .the kids thought that was awesome.

On both field trips, our sweet little neighbor girl, Emma, was in my group, which was so fun.  She and Mason became fast friends when we arrived in Indiana, and I couldn't have imagined the day without her. 

Oh. . .and my fear about losing a child. . .totally happened at the dairy farm.  He went missing, NO ONE knew where he was or had seen him recently, and all the chaperones plus the four Kindergarten teachers were searching frantically for him.  That child? 

MY OWN.  Seriously.  How embarrassing!



The Wheels on the Bus

We talked Mason into riding the bus!!!

This may not seem like a large accomplishment, but it certainly was.  Mason was adament that he was not riding that bus.  End of discussion.  The first time we tried, everything was going great up until the bus actually pulled up.  When I stepped toward the bus to introduce myself and Mason to the bus driver, he spun 180 degrees and sprinted back up the driveway before I knew what happened!  We waited about a week before trying again, and he almost bolted at the last minute, but our sweet little neighbor Emma (a fellow Kindergartener) grabbed his hand and said "let's go, Mason."  And he went!!!  Ooooh, what a relief. . .Brody can sleep in instead of me dragging him out of his sweet slumber every morning, and I can go back to sleep for a few hours totally get up and be super-productive right away!

I sure do love that bus!