Another Last First

Another first day of school. Another last first day for one of the Blau children. This time I wasn't all emotional about it. Savannah begins her final year of school at Waynesville High School. She's not slacking off this year as she takes six AP classes. Six! It'll be a challenging year, but if anyone can do it, Savannah can. 

I'm not feeling very verbal today, so I guess this post will be mostly pictures with a few words this time around. Here's a taste of our first day of school 2014:

Savannah -- Senior

Some cool things about Savannah's senior year ... She begins her third year in a row as the captain of the Waynesville Scholar Bowl team. She is REALLY good at this. Really good. Her knowledge of random facts in all subjects is a little scary. She is also president of the Cinema Club, giving her the opportunity to share her odd taste in movies with fellow students. Her favorite movie ever? Captain Blood with Errol Flynn. Look it up. Odd. If her six AP classes don't kill her this year, she will be ranked #1 in her class. We'll see how this year goes. Fun thing she gets to do this semester ... tutor for the special needs kids that Nandy teaches first hour. That's a great opportunity.

Spencer -- Sophomore

Spencer worked REALLY hard this summer at soccer. Our poor front yard was covered in odd obstacles for him to dribble around. With all of his hard work he was rewarded by getting a great score during soccer tryouts. He is one of the top JV players this year, giving him an excellent chance of making the varsity team next year. He has improved a ton since his freshman year. It doesn't hurt that he grew about eight inches in the last year, giving him extra reach when going after balls. He is hoping to graduate early, and this year we'll see how much he really wants to do it.

Katie -- 7th Grade

This year Katie gets to begin life in junior high. It can be a madhouse at the middle school. So much drama. So many hormones. But Katie has got the strength to maneuver the craziness. She will be in Advanced Band playing her clarinet, and she's hoping to have the chance to take Musical Theater as her elective this year. She would really be great in that.

Hyrum -- 5th Grade

It will be Hyrum's last year at Freedom Elementary. He is already planning on trying to beat his record of words read last year. They have a new system of keeping records this year, so he may not be able to do this. Either way, I know he'll be loving his books all year.

JoJo -- 3rd Grade

JoJo moved up to the upper elementary this year, and since he has visited there with all five of his older siblings he is already a pro at traveling the convoluted halls. He held my hand as we headed into the building, but as soon as we headed through the doors he dropped my hand and said, "I think I'm going to walk ahead now, Mom." Ooooooooohhh. I think my heart died a little inside when I realized that my baby boy was growing up and moving on past the hand holding stage. 

Eliza -- Early Childhood Special Ed

This is Minsy's last year in Early Childhood Special Ed. It was so cute taking her to the Meet the Teacher night last night. She walked into the school, and immediately the principal yelled out "Eliza!" Then Minsy ran up and gave her a big hug. That began Minsy's walk of fame down the hallway. She was greeted by every single teacher and aide with a giant hug and cheer. Everyone knew her. The other little pre-schoolers just looked at her in awe, wondering who in the world this celebrity child was. It was super cute. Minsy really struggles with a lot of things in life, but social interaction is not one of those things. She is a pro at working the crowds. 

And now ... the rest of the story in pictures:

Our day began at 6 am with me teaching the high school students from our church at seminary. I am going to have a superstar class this year. I already love them to pieces. One cool thing about this year ... Herman gets to be my teaching buddy. He is teaching a group of young men in another class down the hall. Super cool to have a partner as I plan lessons.

Hard to see here since Savannah refuses to drive with her top down on the way to school, but this is Savannah and Spencer heading out to the high school.

We always drive our elementary kids to school on the first day, and this year it was super easy for the first time ever since we have both kids at the same school. Hooray! Hyrum and JoJo are only two doors away from each other, and Hyrum will be a great big brother to JoJo there at school.

JoJo with Mrs. McKinnon

Side note ... every one of our boys has had Mrs. McKinnon in third grade. I'm not sure why that is, but we love her, so we don't mind at all. She is a great teacher.

Hyrum with Mr. Sanford

Hyrum was super stoked to get a man as a teacher this year. We've never had Mr. Sanford before, but we've heard great things.

With the big kids all delivered to school, it was just Minsy and us for a few hours. Her classes are in the afternoon, so she doesn't have to meet the bus until 11:30. So what did we do?

We headed to Cracker Barrel for our annual Back to School breakfast. This will be our last one with Minsy. Next year we get to have Savannah and Laney (hooray!) with us since they will not start college until a few weeks later. 

After a busy morning deep cleaning a summer's worth of Blau clutter and mess, Herman and I headed to the corner to meet her bus to pre-school.

Minsy has had the same bus driver for three years, and she LOVES the bus. 

So thus ends another first day for the Blau family. I am so grateful to have kids who love school, and I'm grateful to live in a town with such a good school district. I imagine that the next several years will just get harder and harder for me as a parent as there will be fewer Blaus heading to school and even fewer needing me to chauffeur them around. Time keeps ticking much too fast. I think I just blinked, and my children are already growing up and moving on. I'm just trying to keep my eyes open and cherish the journey.