First Day of School 2018-2019

I am very late writing about the First Day of School of 2018-19 year but here it is! 

Starting school at the end of August in North Carolina means that days are still hot and humid in the 90s. It also means that although it's 5:45 am (the time that Katya has to leave the house for seminary that starts at 6 am) it's still light enough to take some pictures. Katya started 10th Grade this year. UNBELIEVABLE! Not even possible in my head! But somehow she is 15 and has only three years of high school left. 

This is her "I am so excited for this day" look. 

Oh and here is another thing she has all the reasons to smile about--she got her learner's permit the day before school started! It was incredible timing on our part as she basically got her driving portion of drivers' ed done at 10:30 am on Friday before school began and then we drove at noon to the DMV in Raleigh, saw the crowd of a hundred people standing in line and drove further away from us to Clayton to sit in line for 3.5 hours. We managed to be seen fifteen minutes before the lines officially closed. And Katya managed to pass the theory test right away--thus she got her learner's permit! Now she has to drive for a year logging in her hours with us. Fun!!! 😱

Alex is in 8th grade this year! He had to switch middle schools AGAIN because they built a new school and we got reassigned. He did have a choice to stay at his 7th grade middle school but it just made sense to move to this one as it's newer, bigger, closer and has a bus to take him (we'd lose the bus to the old school if we stayed there). When it's warm (or hot) Alex bikes to school actually as it's just a little over a mile away. He is in band again this year, making a name for himself as an awesome percussionist. Alex's school starts at 8 am and he comes home around 3:15 pm. 

I keep having to buy him trousers as he keeps growing...At the beginning of this school year he was 5' 10''. All that Costco kale/cabbage salad is paying off--that's his favorite salad of all time. He is constantly hungry and all I can do is making sure that he always has english cucumbers and bananas available to snack on;).

Mark leaves school last at 8:30 am. This year Mark started 4th grade! He was very-very sad to say good-bye to Miss Alexander as his teacher in 3rd grade...she might forever remain in his heart as the favorite teacher of all time (she is the kind that comes to his tennis tournaments and soccer matches). 

Mark didn't have any of his old friends move up with him to 4th grade so he is having to make new friends which has been a little of a challenge. Mark still goes to 5th grade math and loves it. He excels in it so the teacher recommends he tries again to take a test in May to skip 6th grade math. We'll see. Mark is a very matter of fact kind of kid. He likes to have order in his learning and his school desk (but NOT in his room), and he is bothered by kids in his class who randomly raise their hand, for example, and state to the teacher, "I HAVE A DOG!". He cracks us up with his seriousness sometimes and amuses with his silliness at the same time. 

I do realize these photos of Mark are pretty much identical, but that would be so unfair to have two pictures of the other kids and only one of him.

Kidding...kidding... 😆 He is just cute and we are trying to hold on to the cuteness as long as we can. 

It's incredible how fast our busy days go during the school year. Ironically, I cherish days when sports activities get canceled because of the weather or whatever and we get to just chill at home/play with friends/watch a movie. At the same time our kids love all the activities they are involved in...thus we keep ploughing along.

Lyana.