Back to school

I've been so excited about this year's theme. I've been mulling over it for about the past 3 months, and couldn't wait to unveil it on Sunday. It is, drumroll please....

"Ride for the brand."

In old cowboy folklore, ride for the brand meant loyalty and pride. It meant that when you agreed to work for someone you would wear his brand as your own. It meant you no longer made decisions for yourself, but for the good of the ranch. You’ve heard of parents telling their kids, “Remember who you are.” This is kind of my own version of that. I love it because it kind of references back to our forefathers and the ranching tradition in our family as well as reminding the kids about the importance of our family name and being an example of what we stand for.
We had a cowboy dinner with chicken and dumplings.

The girls couldn't agree on a dessert, so we had cheesecake AND homemade custard ice cream. As a little reminder to take to school with them, the girls made charm bracelets with horses, cowboy hats, horseshoes, and a boot.

The boys got silly bands with a cowboy theme. I didn't get a picture of Oliver with his, but Tucker LOVES those things.

He can put them on by himself and has worn them every day! On Tuesday, I got everyone up and moving early so we could get a good start. I texted my neighbor to see if her High School daughter was ready to go and she wrote back, "They don't start until tomorrow." Gotta love "Lucy" moments. So Emmaline was off to school.

It was pretty uneventful for her since she is still at Arts Academy, but I think she is enjoying it so far. She did mention that it is lonely without Savannah.
So on Wednesday, Savannah had her real first day of school.

She actually didn't seem too nervous and wasn't very talkative when she got home. Later she talked a little more and told me that she sat by herself at lunch (she forgot her lunch in the car, of course) until she started talking to a girl that was in her math class. The girl's first question was, "So, have you seen any cute boys." To which Savannah answered, "I've been too nervous about finding my classes to look at the boys." Wow, I couldn't have scripted that answer better myself! =) She said there are 37 kids in her math class and the teacher gave a quiz to figure out if any of the kids knew enough to move up to the next level. She said it was stuff that she learned two years ago, and thinks she will probably move up. She felt so bad for another girl in her class who couldn't do the work and started crying.

Brought back good old memories of High School for me. I always felt like I was either on the verge of crying or crying about my work. Thankfully I didn't pass that along to her. As I dropped the girls off, I asked if they wanted to be dropped off at the front door. They seemed puzzled that I would ask so I explained that on my first day of High School, Jeffie dropped me off at the front door and told me to ask someone in the office where I should go. Since I didn't know where the office was and I didn't have any friends there, I was so relieved when I found Shawne. She said, "First of all, don't ever come in the front door- only the nerds do that." Brothers!! I think Savannah's off to a good start.

When I went to drop off Oliver, he jumped out of the car before I could get Tucker unbuckled. I tried to hurry after him, but couldn't find him anywhere! Finally, as I started walking towards his classroom, I found he and his teacher coming up the hallway. He had asked someone where his new class was and met his teacher on his own. Guess he'll do just fine!
Tucker and I are adjusting to being alone during the day.

(He wanted to stay at school with Oliver SO badly!)

I feel like I am really being able to get things done. He is climbing the walls. Guess it's time to get some playmates.