Well, it's that time of year again. Schedules, new teachers, early to bed, early to rise, brown bag lunches, new clothes. School starts for us on Sept 3rd (next Wednesday). I have to go to work today and tomorrow for a couple of hours each day. Just need to start getting the library ready. I will have a couple of weeks of school without students so I can finish up anything I need to. I should have several boxes of new books waiting to be catalogued when I get there today! Yeah! It's so nice to be able to spend thousands of dollars on new books and not have my bank account go down!
We registered Dallin and Lauren last week. Dallin is excited for high school. He's running cross country and they started practice this past Monday. 7-9 am. Today they ran on the beach. I had to take him there so I stayed and read and took some pictures of the ocean (above). He likes his schedule. The entire school has to read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd by the beginning of the year because they will be tested on it. I'm also reading it. I like it, but am failing to see why, of all of the books that could've been chosen, this was it. To me, it seems like a book that most young men are not going to connect with. The girls, yeah, but since studies show that boys reading drops off more than girls after fourth grade, let's try to choose something a little more "relatable". It was a summer reading assignment after all. Anyway, he'll be getting up at 5:30 for seminary which starts at 6 am. I feel for him as I went to released-time seminary (it was part of my high school schedule of classes). For anyone who doesn't know, seminary is basically a Sunday School class that high school aged kids take, generally Monday-Friday while school is in session. During each of the four years, they study a different book of scripture: New Testament, Old Testament, Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants. It's a great way for them to start off their day, before heading into the craziness of high school living. Dallin is looking forward to it, but not the early time!
Lauren likes her schedule. She's on the yearbook staff this year and is very excited about that! She's also taking a cooking class that will be fun. She's scoped out her locker and it's at the perfect height. Last year her locker was on the top row, so it was a little hard to reach, but this year it's one row down and it's perfect! She has PE 4th and is a little worried that it's going to be too hot. Last year she had it 2nd period and it was just right. She'll live, though! She will be taking two dance classes/week and takes tennis lessons (through a family friend...for FREE!) once or twice a week.
Sara will be meeting her teacher on Tuesday at an ice-cream social. I ordered her supplies to be delivered to her desk. It's so nice. We go to a specific website and tell them what grade, what school and pay and the supplies are waiting for the student on the first day. No hassle school supply shopping...I love it! It was a little more (maybe $10) but it's a fundraiser for the school and I didn't have to drive around or fight crowds! Last year she was in the Earth Club after school. This year she wants to take the pottery class. It's one day per week. She is also taking tennis lessons and she wants to go to the Olympics in 2016. Keep practicing Sara and you can do it!
I'm thankful for seminary, Katherine (our friend and tennis teacher) and dishwashers (mine is running right now!).
On Wednesday night at Young Women's (church group for girls 12-18) a woman in our ward that does cake decorating brought her "tools" and taught the girls basic cake decorating. They all loved it. Lauren would like to keep practicing. She really enjoyed it and as you can see, she did a great job on her cake! She wants to make her own birthday cake this year. Each girl got to take home 2 frosting bags and 4 decorating tips. I see more cakes in the Davidson family's future!
