8.19.2009

The Survival Post

I followed a school bus this morning.


And felt a little pang of sadness. For about 3 seconds.


Because this is the first day of school. And kids all over were getting up and putting on their brand new school duds that their mamas had just ripped the tags off of the night before. (Unless they are super-awesome mamas, and they washed them before the first wear. Ahem. That would not be me.) And then half of those same kids were either sitting down to breakfasts that incorporated all of the food groups, or they were eating what my kids always ate on school mornings....a bag of dry cereal and a sippy cup of milk in the van. And then they were going to school and taking pictures with their new teachers and then they tried really hard to not get their brand new tennis shoes dirty at recess.


And my kids weren't going.


Yep. Made me a little misty.


But then I was over it.


And I was determined to make our first day of school pretty darn special.


So....


I woke up early.


I went to the gym while everyone was still snoring (hence why I followed the bus).


I came home and spent some time with Jesus.


I did laundry and cleaned the kitchen. While everyone was still snoring.


I drank 3 cups of coffee. Out of my penguin mug. Because it seemed like the right thing to do.



I took a shower and even dried my hair. And I even put on mascara. Because I felt like my rascals deserved something more than my jammies and bed head on their first day.

I woke up the sleeping angels, and they got started on their morning chores.

I smiled to myself because my day was going swimmingly. I was totally rockin' this whole homeschool thing. If I rocked it any better than I was soon going to be donning denim jumpers and growing my own turnip greens.

I made breakfast. And it wasn't in a ziplock baggie. Now...I didn't go to the culinary genius of CPQ and Whimz, but I did make cinnamon toast.




My children thanked me. Because it wasn't a poptart or a bowl of cereal they had to fix for themselves.


I smiled to myself again. Knockin' this thing out of the park. I can see the milk cow grazin' in my backyard, and my homemade candles drip-drying as I type this.


And then we started school.


Don't get me wrong....things went well. Surprisingly well, for me not really having any clue as to what I was doing.


I had a schedule made out, but had no idea if it would work.


So, I jumped in with 2 feet and just went with the flow.


We did Bible. And Math. And English. And Phonics. And Sawyer informed me that he already knew what I was teaching him. And I informed Sawyer that I already knew that he was going to be scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush if he kept sassing me.


And then Handwriting. And Science. And Social Studies. And Reading.


And we only had two meltdowns. One when Keaton had to do corrections on his Math, because apparently he was under the impression that he was perfect. And the other when Tate decided that he didn't know how to draw a shark.


Could have been worse, I suppose.


No one was stabbed with a pencil. No one jammed their new Fiskars in their eye (although I thought about it). No one locked their teacher in the laundry room. And no one was locked in the laundry room by their teacher.


So, all in all, Day 1 of Rascal Academy will go down in the books as success.


But I'm thinking no denim jumpers just yet.

Whew. I need a nap.

~~~~~~~

Lest my shower, dried hair, and wearage of normal clothes go unseen except by my little men, we snapped a few first day of school pictures.






See...I got all kinds of dressed up. Woo Hoo!

And the boys actually match today. A miracle, really.

And here are the boys hard at work on their first day of school entries in their journals.







So....

We made it!!

There was one point today (I think it was around the great shark debate) when I was about to talk myself out of this silly idea all together, but then I remembered that this is where I'm supposed to be. Where I'm called to be. And what an amazing blessing that I get to spend all my days with 3 of the most awesome kids that God ever created.


Even if it is guaranteed that they are going to have me searching for the Fiskars to jam in my eye before the year is over.

25 comments:

Kendra said...

Yay! You survived!

And seriously, does Keaton have his daddy's "non-smile" smile or what?

Mocha Momma said...

God bless you real good!! You did it. Doesn't it feel good?

I loved those days, except when I wanted to stab myself in the eye with the Fiskars...LOL!

You will really like homeschooling. Just keep getting up early and do what you're doing to prepare your heart and you'll do awesome.

Have fun, Nannette

Jim said...

Amb,
Great Day! When did you get up? I was doing some cyferin' and according to my cal.q.la.tions, it had to be a little past midnight. But that couldn't be cuz buses don't run near that early.

Then, I was going to ask, did you give homework? Then I realized, it all is "home" work! Wow! new vocab and everything.

I liked the pictures - building quite an album.

Question - what's a Fiskar?

Love,
Jim-Dad

PS: Pray for me - I teach my first class in Old Testament next Tuesday evening. A three-hour session each week for the semester.

Tiffani said...

Oh, this was a HOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please please please let that DARLING.BEAUTIFUL.Tater Tot marry my curly topped blue-eyed beauty girl!! I wanna eat him up!

The boys look very happy, Amb, they do..and so do you and YES, day 1 got a cute black dress and a little make up..Day 2? Betty Boop!! ;)

I'm SOOOOOOOO proud of you I can hardly stand it!! Way to go girl!

Please guard the Fiskars...

Jessica said...

ya know, I've always heard that one has a better day if they wake up early. looks like it works! maybe i should try it. or not. and i love the look on Keatons face in the journal writing pic. hope it continues to go well for you!
and jim-dad, a fiskar is a pair of scissors. or the name of an old friend's cat.

Elizabeth said...

Ok, I didn't read the title of this post until after I read the post and I have to say, you more than survived! It sounds like you thrived. You may think it's silly, but you are really inspiring me with this homeschool adventure of yours.

The pics of the boys working crack me up. You can totally see their personalities in them. And look, Keaton already has his dad's look down perfectly. Even the eyebrow!

The Bowden's said...

Wow! So, so, so admiring you right now. Sounds like you are more than prepared for this. Keep us posted! :)

Andrea said...

Those are great first day pictures with the boys' teacher. :)

I love, love, love the beginning of the school year...once I get ready for it.

really.truly said...

Starting with 2 cups o coffee.....great idea. And yes girl, please no denim jumpers(unless they are cute of course)! What a great first day!!!

Cathy said...

The Little Engine comes to mind...
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...I thought I could! I thought I could! I thought I could!! You did it!! You're doing it!! ...and you're making it look all kinds of fun...hmmm....wonder if I should take a nap today. I've got about 2 weeks before school starts.;)

Oh and just.one.more. reason I love ya...you're "coffee" is the color of mine. A nice, light tan.

Mich said...

And you were worried!!!

I had a glimpse of jealousy this morning when I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. for work...

I'm so glad you had a great first day!

Gretchen said...

Your cyber ears must have been burning, b/c CPQ was just telling me about your decision to homeschool. =)

I am SO happy that your 1st day went so well.
We started the homeschooling adventure this year also. Jumping in with 3 kids too... are we kookoo? Maybe just a little, but it sure is worth it!

Oh, and btw, I totally had to get over the "I don't wear jumpers, and I don't have 9 children" thing.

christy rose said...

Wow! You accomplished so much before your kids got up! that is amazing in itself. But you continued and accomplished so much more in teaching at the Rascal Academy. You did it! Great Job Amber! Its a short week too! Isn't that great!

Carpool Queen said...

I want to see your teaching room! Love these posts.

Stephanie said...

I'm excited for you! One day that's the route we hope to take. You'll do awesome!

Jennifer said...

I love this post!!

I love that ya'll had a great first day!!

I love the pics of your sweet, precious, smiling boys!!

I love that Tate is NEVER gonna lack in the "women who want him to marry their daughters" department!!
I just hope he never loses his accent!! :)

Love ya!!

Unknown said...

Congrats on the first day!

And let me tell you, dry cereal and a glass of milk is our homeschool breakfast of choice (although I did go all out and buy donuts on our first day).

Oh, and, are we supposed to wash the clothes after we take the tag off, but before the kids wear them?

And you've got it all wrong...before jumpers growing your own vegetables, forming a Rascals orchestra, raising goats for their milk (and to make soap), THEN the jumpers....one day at a time girl. ;)

lisa@littlesliceoflife said...

You mean, people actually wash new clothes before wearing them? :)

And if you start wearing denim jumpers we are going to have an intervention.

I'm so proud of you, Teach!!

Jennifer said...

Oh sweet God in heaven I can't believe you are doing this.

-Jen

p.s. Your boys are adorable.

p.p.s I admire the holy crap out of you.

p.p.p.s You are out of your mind.

~*Michelle*~ said...

Oh I loved this post from beginning to end......so happy that God led me here today!


although I will admit that you put a fire under my butt to get my stuff together for our first day that I keep pushing back.

xox

Gretchen said...

Guess I'll have to skulk with my old denim jumper over to the Value Village. ;)

Actually, I don't have a denim jumper. Anymore. After I was asked when my baby was due one too many times. When I wasn't pregnant.

You're all doing great! Now, hurry, go make some candles while it's still daylight.

Scott Family said...

Sounds like an amazing first day!!! Reading your blog has taught me a lot of neat and wonderful things about you...many of which have wowwed and impressed me, but this tops the list!!!! Homeschooling is going to be a blessing to you all.

God bless you for being so dedicated to your kiddos :).

Kelly

Nina Diane said...

sounds like a good day to me!

Lori said...

I'm so glad it's going so well! Yay!

Anonymous said...

Sweetie, it's bread, an egg, and butter, not coq au vin. You can handle it. But hey, I'm not knocking toast. I could go for some toast right now, matter of fact.