First Day of School

Wow! This is practically a blog in real-time! I can't remember when the last time that happened was! Today was the first day of school for the girls. First day was actually in jeopardy for Miss Gracie. Wednesday morning she woke up with a fever and cough, so she did not get to go to her information day event to meet her new teacher. (It also meant that I did not get to go the the same event to gather volunteers for the library - ack!) I took Gracie to the Dr. on Thursday, and he said that since her fever was gone, she was okay for the first day of school, even if she does have a cough that curls your toenails.

We have a new middle-schooler in the house, so the girls start school 30 minutes apart - Maggie now has to get up 30 minutes earlier. Well, 15 will probably do it, because she gets ready a lot faster when her sister isn't there to "help" her and vice-versa. If she rides the bus though, it comes early - 45 minutes before the first bell, so I think we'll be a parent drop-off, if only because I don't want to get up that early. We practiced riding bikes to her school yesterday, so she has that option, but we haven't figured out how to deal with a musical instrument yet.

When we picked up Maggie's schedule last week she was scheduled for both orchestra and band. Not quite sure how that happened, and since I'm only planning on shelling out money for one instrument, she got her schedule changed. She's decided to play the violin in the orchestra, and is eager to get her instrument.

So, this morning the girls posed for their usual first-day pictures by the door. Maggie is ready to walk out, but Gracie still has 30 minutes, so she didn't have on shoes:



And here's a close-up of their bright shining faces:



But Gracie wanted to remind Maggie that, although she may be in middle school, she's still going to be keeping an eye on her:



Ah, sisters.

Jerry wanted to mark the memorable day of starting middle school with Maggie - she's almost as tall as he is now:



And then we were off. The middle school has a double line for dropoff, which is a little nerve-wracking, since Maggie has to cross the other line to get to the school. I took the camera with me, but she escaped into the building before I could get a shot. Then I zipped back to the house to make Gracie's sandwich for her lunch, and it was off to the bus stop. The bus was a bit late, as it always is on the first day, but we found out why the bus route number changed - they have a sparkling new bus for the route!

And now I must get to my own schoolwork. I still have that last assignment from my summer course hanging over my head, and I want to finish it before fall's classes start on Monday. And away I go!