Update from the West

We have survived the first day of school. The high school pulled all the freshmen and many upperclassmen out of class for the first four hours for orientation. Why they didn't do this BEFORE the first day of school is unknown. So, Logan had to fluff his way through the first four hours on the first day. He didn't want to go over any important material ... grades, expectations, rules, etc. because it would have to be repeated the next day for all the missing students. He said it wasn't a terrible day, but it could have been better. Now, on a side note, I think my neighbor wins for the worst first day of school.... The neighbor started as the new principal of an alternative learning high school. Who knows how the day actually went, but on the way home from school yesterday, he crashed their minivan, totalling it... yes, his fault, and yes, they just paid it off on Friday!
Even Maya's first day wasn't that bad. We really talked up Kindergarten and she was so excited, new backpack and all. Everything was great and Parker even asked if he could go to Kindergarten with Maya. At the school, she found her one buddy that made it to afternoon Kindergarten (all the other church kids are in morning) and was having a grand time talking and playing with him. The school people asked the kids to line up in front of their teachers and that was the end of the good time. So, I sent my firstborn off to her first day of Kindergarten with giant tears rolling down her face and her sobs echoing down the hall. She did walk of her own accord, but it was a sad sight. Amazingly, I did not shed tears. She came home relatively unscathed, though she did feel it was okay to destroy other kids block structures during play time, and she drew a rather explicit picture of her brother (it's okay though, she drew pants on him after that). She did feel it was important to note that a boy in the other classroom threw up. That is always a highlight!
The other two are fine. Parker is a naughty two year old with some kind of oral fixation. He bit the ends off the bottom layer of hot dogs through the plastic wrapping (yes, at the store) and the next day ate a strip of paper off one end of my shopping list. I really do feed him. We have been withholding milk since he puked off and on all of last week. Brooklyn has finally stopped the projectile vomiting and incessant screaming, for the most part. She does still have her moments, but it's usually a burp. She loves, loves, loves for people to talk to her and will coo and coo and coo back with lots of smiles. I think she is trying to win her way back into our hearts... We do really love her, it was just a very tough start.