The Last Sunday

-
 
 
 




 
 
 
The last Sunday before school starts.  They came to me, a little too late in the day and asked if we could go to the beach.  The sprinkler was the next best thing.  Pictures were snapped at the beginning of sprinkler time...by the end of sprinkler time, the brick area was almost completely submerged beneath a layer of sludgy water and each child had mud and muck in every pore on their bodies.  Elsa was not impressed by any of this.
 
School orientation was Friday.  Our wonderful friend Patty came over with her Larchmont students and watched William so that I could spend at least one day at a new school being unembarassed.  We moved to this neighborhood for a couple of reasons, one of which was so that the kids could go to Larchmont Elementary, and after attending orientation and meeting the kids' teachers, I am even more excited for them to get started.  The building is old, built in 1930--all the classrooms have cloakrooms, but the spirit is young and progressive and enthusiastic.  Annika will have Mrs. Mitchell for her first grade teacher--teacher of the year last year.  Josiah will have Mrs. Hines for his third grade teacher and will be pulled for gifted projects as well as having his gifted teacher come into the classroom to work with the other gifted students in his class in a "cluster".
 
There isn't much else to report, really.  I've signed Josiah up for guitar lessons at Old Dominion University, which is literally in our backyard.  He'll be taking group lessons through a faculty instructor through their community music program.  Josiah and Annika will be taking gymnastics on Fridays--sorry, Josiah has clarified that his class is "Fitness & Tumbling for Boys".  I guess that is an important distinction to a third grader.  I just signed Annika up for Girl Scouts and joined the PTA and signed up for the first fundraiser, which is a 5K run for Hans, a 1K run for Josiah and a 1K walk for the rest of us.  It's called the RAT race--or Run At Twilight.  What a great way to get to know our neighbors and classmates in this neighborhood and support the school without having to sell crappy wrapping paper. 
 
We'll report back with First Day of School 2012 pictures.  Wow, this is my fourth year taking first day pics already! 

Comments

DD4 said…
What an exciting post! I'm really looking forward to Josiah and Annika's new school year. They are growing up so much and it will be interesting to read about their new experiences. Rachel and Hans, you have done a great job of preparing them for this next step.

I really enjoyed these new photos! It looks like everyone had a good time, except Elsa, of course.
September 3, 2012 at 3:32:00 AM GMT+2
Dad said…
I hope that the school system is half as good as it sounds, it will be a fantastic year for the gang. What is it about summer that makes kids sprout so fast? And your pictures, with so many great subjects, how can you do wrong? About schools. Why is it around here anyway, that any building more than 50 years old or so needs to be replaced? It ain't the building, it's what's inside, I think.
September 3, 2012 at 4:15:00 PM GMT+2
MamaD4 said…
I think you're very right Dad and there's nothing physically wrong with the school--I think it's charming. However, I believe that there are some challenges in terms of keeping it heated, cooled and technologically updated, if that makes sense and they do need more space for things like a bigger gym and lunchroom.
September 3, 2012 at 9:07:00 PM GMT+2
Sarita said…
Those kids are getting big. The school sounds awesome.

The old buildings...well, I love teaching in them, until we have days like we did last week. our district powers that be were kind enough to deliver warm bottles of water to the un-airconditioned buildings last week during the heat advisory days. Too bad they couldn't just arrange a field trip to the fancy brand new district headquarters.
September 4, 2012 at 3:54:00 AM GMT+2
Pat said…
A cloakroom!! My first school--St. Mary's in Stillwater had a cloak room. Had forgotten all about that until you mentioned it. Naughty kids had to go sit in there for a time. I never did. But I do remember it well.

Oh my--the kids are growing. I don't mind them growing but does it have to be so fast?? Darn it!!

September 6, 2012 at 3:42:00 PM GMT+2
Phil Laura said…
Are those the Roses on the left of photos? the gardenia blossoms & leaves look very healthy.
September 9, 2012 at 3:38:00 AM GMT+2
Heidi said…
I hope they all have great school years. I need to get Marshall in a pre-school. The sprinkler looked like fun! Your kids are growing up so fast. I wish I could see them more often.
September 10, 2012 at 5:28:00 AM GMT+2
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sunday

-
Moody, cloudy Sunday morning in bed with coffee and a new book.  Wrapped up reading a book that could have been so much better, had the characters had a little more...character.  It was a skimmer, for sure.  As I've gotten older, I have given up the notion that all books were meant to be read start to finish.  I've waded in as much as a couple hundred pages before letting go and putting one down.  There are too many books and too little time to waste on a book that doesn't keep my attention. If the rain holds off, I'm looking forward to hooking up this cleaner spray to my hose and spraying my windows and siding.  I know, I know...life is so exciting, right?!  Have I described where I live, the pipestem?  That is the Virginia vernacular term for a little offshoot lane that branches from the main road, upon which are a few homes--in our neighborhood, probably 4-6 houses on each pipestem.  We have four.  Next to us is Car Hoarder Neighbo...
Read more

Cherry Blossom, Part II

-
Image
Tired of cherry blossoms yet?  Oh good, because here are a few more:     These are from just a few hours ago...the cherry blossom or sakura, is truly ephemeral.  The blossoms appear almost overnight and won't last more than a few days, depending on weather.  It's important to get out and appreciate them while you can.  The Japanese actually have a term, hanami, for the "sport" of viewing sakura and there are many, many places in Japan where people flock to see sakura in breathtaking settings.   I'll settle for CFAY, since I'm still single parenting and the Japanese school children are on spring holiday, so the crush would be intense anywhere we would go.  If you saw my last post, you know I had to bribe the kids with ice cream for a two hour trip down to Miurakaigan to view the blossoms a couple of weekends ago.   It's been a busy couple of weeks.  I had a new class start up, just the other half o...
Read more

This is 45

-
I think I need to get into it a little more to really FEEL it, but this is 45.  Middle of the road?  Maybe.  Both of my grandmothers made it past 90, so we shall see. All of the most important people in my life wished me a happy birthday today, including the adorable people who made me and brought me into this world.  It is my habit now to thank THEM for my birthday, because let's be honest, if that man didn't love that woman, I wouldn't be here,  right now.  Thanks, guys...totally, 100% serious. The Captain was out of town for my birthday weekend, he got back at supper tonight, unerringly arriving just in time to sit down and eat.  It's really OK.  I started out my weekend on Friday at my favorite shopping joint, then returned home, changed into sweatpants and settled in for some trash TV watching (in this case, the completely stupid "90 Day Fiancee" (don't get into it, it's like watching a car wreck that you could see coming miles away))....
Read more