WHEW. I made it.

First week of school, DONE. All of the stressing, and mourning the end of summer is over. I can settle back into a routine and just deal. It's time.

Isn't J just the sweetest? Look at that cutie. Notice how far away she is in the second picture? That's because she was running up to the school. I thought it was eagerness to start. Instead, sadly, it was because she didn't want to be seen with me. It started the night before, when Bill and I were talking about her first day. He was telling her that we would both be dropping her off to school. She replied, "It's OK! I'll just ride my bike!" I don't think so, my girl. Didn't think anything about it until we walked into school (or should I say I was running to catch up with her), and we were standing outside the office waiting for Bill to arrive from work. Out of the corner of my eye I see her slowly, sneakily, taking steps away from me. SERIOUSLY. I looked over at her and said, "Um, Jen, am I crowding you or something?" She gave me a sneer, and an eyeroll. It speaks volumes about the teenage years. Yikes.

But she's happy when she goes to school, and when the daycare provider picks her up at lunch, (although she's really tired), and she's happy when she gets home. Her teacher is AMAZING. It's such a relief to know she's happy and confident. Emily had a really hard time going to school, so it's a big change. Fall soccer has started too, and dance starts up again next week. Busy, busy, busy.

I have the most amazing students this year. Every year I think about going back to school, but I picture having the students from the year before. And I get a little sad that I'm not going to have them. That is until I meet the new crowd. A lot of them (the juniors and seniors) I have had before, and it's so much fun to hear what they've been up to all summer, and see how they are evolving into young adults. As a bonus, my freshmen are so cool! And to top it all off, I'm coteaching with Elaine who keeps me laughing. The best part of this week though was having my former students stop in before school, at lunch, and after school just to say hi. They have no idea how much that means to me. And it's the perfect motivator to be the best teacher I can possibly be so this batch takes the time to come in and say hello next year. I have the best job in the world. Seriously.

Have a great weekend!