Back to School

I can't believe it is already time for Allie to go back to school! Allie is excited about being in 3rd grade and is really looking forward to learning how to write in cursive this year. I'm not sure why...she can barely stand to print 10 words a night for her spelling quiz. Oh, well. We'll embrace her enthusiasm as long as it lasts. Allie really likes her new teacher and is very excited about all her friends who are in the same class.

Patience

Tonight we went to Allie's school for Parent-Teacher conference. It was, as usual, an enlightening experience. Allie has fantastic grades and is doing very well in second grade. Her teacher handed us a file folder full of papers to look at and see what they have been working on. When they returned to school after Christmas break they made New Years Resolutions. What is Allie's #1 resolution? I was shocked to find that it was to have more patience with her parents. What?!? Are we really that hard to live with? If so, don't tell us. Our ego's are a little fragile right now.

Our New Pet

I have mentioned before just how crazy things are around this house in the morning while the kids are out front waiting for the school bus. Today was even crazier than usual thanks to the discovery of a new "pet" at our house. It was lovingly named October and several kids took turns holding and petting it until I found out what was going on.

As far as snakes are concerned, they don't bother me any more (or less) than every other animal. They give Eric the creeps though. It's actually kind of funny. Anyways, I told the kids the put it down and leave it alone because I didn't want anyone to get bit and then blame it on the Swain's pet snake. Trust me, the way this poor creature was being man-handled it was only a matter of time.

A Day of Firsts

It has been an exciting day at our home. The first day of school is always eagerly anticipated by all. Allie is excited to be going back to school and I am excited to be relieved of my duty to entertain her all day long. To go along with the first day of school we had many other firsts:

• For the FIRST time Allie came cheerfully to family scripture study and stayed upright and awake without any nagging from us.
• For the FIRST time Allie took a shower in under 10 minutes. That is practically a miracle. Yesterday I let her get ready at her own pace and she took a 43 minute shower.
  
• For the FIRST time in 3 months I went to the grocery store and didn't find any "surprise" items in the cart when I went to checkout.
  

The first day of school is sure exciting! It's not without a little anxiety though. Allie asked me at breakfast what it means to have butterflies in your stomach. I explained it to her and asked if she had butterflies in her tummy. She said "No" but a few minutes later declared that she had kangaroos in her stomach. Her fear seemed to disappear as the boys started showing up to walk her to the bus stop. This is kind of a funny ritual because the bus stop is a whopping 30 feet from our front door. The same group of boys has come to get her every school day for the last 2 years. Some serious competition has developed over the years. Last year we had boys showing up half an hour early to pick her up. This lead to a new rule that they had to wait until 8:35 to knock or ring the doorbell which they reluctantly obeyed. Landon and I joined the kids at the bus stop and as usual he was the center of attention.

Waiting for the bus.

The whole group waiting for the bus.