Lydia's first day of school.

Up early. Made breakfast cake. Packing Lydia's lunch and writing a note on her napkin.

 

Mia praying before school (I helped her and then needed to compose myself while Jon took a picture outside) and me trying to not lose it on the walk to the school. Listening to her tell Jon about the potato bug she found and held last night during fireworks. So sweet and childlike. Can I just freeze time? Finding where the 1st graders went. Dad took over so that she wouldn't see me cry.

And then I lost it. I talked to some neighbors: Tara Henderson (whose oldest is a senior and whose youngest is in first grade. She doesn't know what she's going to do with herself) and Stephanie McDonald. She has a missionary son coming home in three weeks and a bully in one of her sons classes. And suddenly my tears about Lydia being at school all day seemed silly. But only kind of. Sophie, Mia and I went to the junior high to run. They both joined me on the last lap and ran their little hearts out. We went home, read a few books, tried to get Mia napping and ate lunch. So glad it was an early out day to start! I threw together some cookie dough so that we could bake it as soon as we got home from picking up Lydia. Any concern Jon and I had that she'd struggle with her Spanish teacher (not being able to understand her) was needless. She was all smiles. She loved 1st grade (Instagram post) and enjoyed her lunch even though she didn't have time to finish it. Shoot, no time to eat those blasted carrots! But she told us in great detail about a book her teacher read about a teacher who was so nervous to go to school on the first day.

When she woke up she pulled the covers up over her head and wanted to stay in bed! Such an awesome first day of school book. She told us about a movie she watched (Enemy pie??)------ ask Lyds!------- and there were probably 5 kids from her kindergarten class who are in her class again this year. She called Jon and talked to him for a good 5-10 minutes about how she loves school. Seriously, the tears over leaving kindergarten, and her non-stop talk about not being excited about 1st grade had me worried, but I shouldn't have been. She is little miss positive and I was worried for nothing. Having her gone all day is still hard for me to adjust to, but that's life. We enjoyed chocolate chip cookies and chatting about school before she took off upstairs to play with her sisters. Love her!

      

Swimming lessons!

 Mid July Lydia and Sophie experienced swimming lessons for the first time. Seems like summer comes each year and swim lessons are always an after thought. :( Fortunately this year our neighbor (and my 1st counselor in Primary) was teaching these swim lessons and so Jon and I didn't hesitate to sign these ladies up! For as much as these sweet girls love the water it's about time we did something about keeping them safe while they play!

Sophie was fearless the entire time. She jumped off the diving board at the first possible opportunity. And she was the only one in her class to do so. She could keep her head under water an impressively long time and was a model student. If her teacher asked her to kick harder, she kicked harder. And she was often picked to demonstrate a new skill. Love her determination! And love how obedient this little girl is!

By the end of the second week Lydia was taking advantage of every opportunity to practice keeping her head under water and applying what she'd learned about swimming. She kicked like a champ (splashed me real good one time) and got some distance even without the support of her teacher. She loved jumping off the side of the pool and monkey crawling back to the shallow end. Everything was so fun and exciting!

Here are some highlights my friend Cat took and spliced into video. So. Much. Fun.

Mia had a great time hanging out with me while these ladies splashed around. She got to get in the water at the end of the first week. For sure she'll be ready next year. Maybe. But as for now (and perhaps for the first time ever) she was happy to not be joining her sisters.