First Grade is Here!

I couldn't be any happier to get the first week of school behind us: it was a rough one. Poor Benjamin couldn't catch a break last week. The week started off with his anxiety doing a number on him, bless his heart. His first day at school did not go without a few tears. We got through days 2 and 3 with a little bribery incentive from mom and dad.  On Thursday (his best day, yet), he got quite sick in the middle of the day at school and I got a phone call. He spent Friday at home, still pukey and the rest of the weekend getting over this horrid stomach bug that defied all odds and took out our family for a few days. (Not even my grape juice was a match for this one).

This week has gone MUCH better! Happy smiles and a kid with so much cabin fever...he practically did cart wheels into the school Monday morning!

This was at Meet the Teacher with Ms. Mikeska. We are thrilled to have her as a teacher. She is actually the mom of Benjamin's good buddy from his class last year. Benjamin adores her. And after Thursday's yucky mess that we left behind, we've now given her two Starbucks cards to stay in her good graces.
Forgive Benjamin for being in Chandler Bing mode for this photo.
 Lately, 90% of our photos look like this:

Um. Yeah.

First grade has desks...not tables! He loved unloading and organizing (that's my boy) all of his new school supplies into his own, personal desk.

Love these buddies so much! You may remember many of these faces from this post from last year. These are the kiddos from Benjamin's Bible class (he's been with most of these kids since he was two....for Sunday school, play group, preschool, and more!) We had our 2nd annual blessing for our grade the Sunday evening before the first day of school (LOVE that tradition and LOVE the Hubbards for always taking it on). The new little boy to Benjamin's right (your left) is Owen, who also happens to be in our Life Group and is quickly becoming a bestie. The new little girl on the far right also has a high school principal for a daddy! Her family just moved here from Marble Falls (of all places...ha!).

Cutting Loose!

We did our traditional "Puff-Up Pancake" breakfast for day one. And boy, did our pancake put on quite the puffy show! It's soooo good. We had to mix up our traditions a little bit since Jonathan didn't start school until a week after Benjamin. So our books that we give the boys every year were now left on their pillows the night before their first night of school (so as not to make the sibling feel left out).

The official first day photo.

And my newest "hobby" (or insanity?)...LOVING Bentos. If you need to know what they are just google "bentos for kids". I'm keeping a photo folder on Facebook with all of my daily creations and it's turned into a fun thing for several other mommas, too! Love that before preschool today we were all comparing Bentos and getting ideas! Is that not hilarious?