School Begins

Jeffrey has now completed 3 days of first grade.  After his first day, he said that his favorite thing was that "at his new school he actually had time to eat everything that he wanted to out of his lunch!  He seemed to be completely amazed that this blessing was even possible.  It made me wonder what was going on with the lunch period over at Loveland Classical, because I certainly did not pack large lunches.  Anyway, I think Jeffrey is going to have a really good year because he seems to have a really good teacher.  She actually has been doing fun stuff with the kids, like having them write letters on the desks in shaving cream, and painting with chocolate pudding.  I realize this may be just her starting the year out with a bang, but I hope it will at least continue occasionally.  I think a lot of Jeffrey's ability to succeed in school will depend on his attitude, and right now he is happy about going to school because he says that it is fun.  He says he has made a couple of friends in class but he doesn't know their names.  I also noted that there are !two! boys maybe a quarter inch shorter than him in his class!  Of course, Jeffrey could be up to a full year older than them, but still, it will be good for his morale.

After uploading my photos onto the computer, I discovered the following selfies:

Sometimes the messes these kids create are more than I think I can bear to deal with.  Taking a picture really does help.  She was fine with the mess, she is crying because I told her she had to stop.  These were supposedly "washable" markers, but they seemed to absorb right into Charlotte's skin.  I scrubbed her in the tub and was able to get the color to about half this original potency.

Aaaaaand some kids quotes:


Arabelle:  I want to go to a store that is called "It's filled with puppies and baskets and that's it."

(After a fight) Arabelle: Jeffrey!  I don't want you to be in the family anymore!
Jeffrey:  Arabelle, you know Mommy won't let you do that because Mommy loves me.

A Princess on a movie the kids were watching:  You know how sometimes you want a dream so much that you can feel it in your heart?
 Charlotte (very emphatically):  Yeah!!!

(a year or so ago a few weeks after I got a speeding ticket).  Arabelle:  I wish I were a super hero so that I could kill all the polices so they wouldn't give Mommy tickets and make her sad.


Also from a while back, but I don't think I ever got around to writing it down:

Arabelle had a Dora the Explorer "Backpack" toy that she wanted me to find so she could play with it.  I couldn't find it and realized there was a possibility I had gotten rid of it.  As luck would have it a week or two later we ran into one at a thrift store for a dollar so I bought the replacement.  Arabelle was very happy until she realized that there was some minor difference between this backpack and the original backpack.  She said she wanted the old one and I told her I wasn't sure where it was, but maybe it was somewhere in the basement but I couldn't find it.  That night after the kids were supposed to be asleep I heard Arabelle crying in her room.  I went in and asked Arabelle what was wrong, to which she replied, very dramatically and between tears, "I'm just thinking of my backpack, all alone in the basement, lost and damaged!"  I think she was just tired and I know that she didn't care that much about that toy.  Such a drama queen!