The start of school is one of the busiest times of year in my job and the first day of classes is tomorrow. We are getting started with a new student management system so things have been especially rough this year.
NEW CLASSES. We went to East Robertson’s Open House on Monday and met all the teachers (not that I don’t already know them). Jenna is entering third grade this year and Mrs. Robbie Kiernan is her teacher. Mrs. Kiernan has a class web site and she had several candid pictures of Jenna’s class posted when I checked it out.
Third grade is one of those hump years where it’s more than a gradual increase in work from the previous year, so I’ve been teasing Jenna that she’s starting boot camp this year.
Ben will be in Mrs. Linda Jakes’ kindergarten class this year. Mrs. Linda was Jenna’s teacher three years ago. He will not be going to school until the 21st due to student screening. He seemed really excited to see his classroom Monday evening. He was also happy to see that several of his friends from church and Mom’s Day Out are in his class. Among these are Kenny and Lori’s son, Wil.
THURSDAY’S BABY TURNS 6! It was six years ago Thursday that Ben was featured on Baptist Hospital’s Thursday Baby commercial. Where did the time go? When Vicki asked him if he felt any different he paused to think a moment before answering, “Naw, I’m still the same ol’ Benton!”
We have celebrated Ben’s big day quite a bit this year. Wednesday evening we had a family dinner for him at Pauline’s. Among the presents he opened was a much better water gun than what he had (Alex and Chris, I know you’ll be interested in knowing that). He also got a Slip-n-Slide.
Thursday night, Ben’s actual birthday, we went out to eat at the Catfish House. After supper we took Ben to Wal-Mart to pick out a new bicycle as the one he has is getting too small. He sat on several bikes that are the next size up but didn’t feel comfortable so he opted to save this present for later.
Saturday afternoon brought another celebration with Ben’s friends. It was a great day for playing with the new water guns (Jenna and Nate also received new and approved water weapons), sprinkler, and Slip-n-Slide. The latter proved to be highly entertaining for the adult audience. All the kids were having such a blast that opening presents was viewed by Ben as a rude interruption to all the fun. (He got over it after the first gift.)
HOUSE GUEST. Among Ben’s party guests were Riley and Harper. We had invited Riley to spend the night so she stayed on after Amanda and Harper left the party. Because of Riley’s party the week before we had rented The Wizard of Oz. After cleaning up the yard I came in to find all the kids piled up in front of the TV, physically still in our world, mentally somewhere over the rainbow. The next morning we treated Riley to a pancake breakfast before church. After church and lunch they got to spend a few hours playing together before Riley had to go home. Riley, we are all glad you were our guest.
UNHEALTHY NEWS. While it has been a fun week we’ve also seen some sickness. Monday night around 11:00 Pauline called and asked Vicki to come over. She had been very sick all evening and Vicki wound up taking her to the ER where she was treated for a “non-infectious intestinal disorder.” She was out of it most of yesterday but was feeling well enough today to go to church for supper this evening.
Nate was the first to be diagnosed with strep throat on Monday. Ben was confirmed today. Vicki asked if Jenna should be checked as a precautionary measure. The doctor would not since she was showing no symptoms. Jenna is crossing her fingers as she already has her sites set on perfect attendance this year. Anyway, the pink medicine is flowing at our house right now.
Joe
