01 02 03 The Dayton Houghs: August 2011 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 24 25 26 27 28 29

The Dayton Houghs

30 31 32 36 37 38 The Dayton Houghs: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

High school, elementary and school buses...Oh My!

Last Wednesday was the first day of school for my Big and Mid kids. I had three kids heading to the highschool, three heading to the elementary school and three at home with me. I was thrilled that for the first time in the last three school years, I do not have a kindergartener! Woohoo! That middle of the day bus run is a pain in the butt. I know that it is shortlived because next year Noah will be in kindergarten, but for now, I am happy! We made a couple of shopping trips to prepare for the new school year. We didn't get a ton of things, but new shoes ( thank you Babee!) and some new duds (thank you Mama and Pappap!) and of course backpacks and socks and underwear. Oh and don't forget, binders, folders, pens, pencils, crayons...blah blah blah. We went to walmart and I told the older kids just to grab what they needed and just throw it into the cart. All that I wanted them to do was to keep track of how much everything cost, so that I had an idea of what the damage was going to be. While they went off to grab some gutchies and socks, I took the little people around to get the same things for them. Jake came back and put his stuff into the cart and gave me his total. He showed me the socks and boxers and deodorant and the...RAZORS! I looked at them and then at him and said, " What are these for? " He said, that him and DJ had decided to split a pack to shave with. oooook? I looked at my babyfaced teen and said, "Shave what?" I kept squinting as I was trying to see the invisible moustache that needed to be tamed.  He just rolled his eyes and said, "Mom, you aren't going to see anything, I just shaved three days ago!" Oh silly me! I was looking for his four day shadow and it had only been 3 days! I will be honest, I almost peed my pants in the middle of Walmart! The really great thing was that he just took it all in stride and pointed out that everyone had to start shaving at some time. Good point....I guess.

Jake with his "moustache"...can you see it?


Dj is ready for his 10th grade year



My lovely Miss Coley ready for 10th grade



A good lesson for highschool students!


My teens...sigh



 I must admit that I am really enjoying my teens. Yes they can be a major pain in the butt and yes, we butt heads quite often, but I really like them. And not just in a mother-has-to-love-her-kids kind of way. I genuinely like them. They make me laugh and are so much fun to be around. They are becoming really neat people. I am so happy to be part of their lives!  Dj and Jake are playing soccer again. The difference is that Jake is on the jr high team this year and Dj is on the varsity team. Different teams mean different schedules....ahhhhhh! With Isaac on the U10 team and Gia and Hannah on the U8 team and let's not forget about Coley playing volleyball, we have 6 kids on 5 different teams. INSANITY! And there are always dentist appointments, and doctor's appointments. We are superbusy right now, but I am so happy to back into a sort of routine. My family needs structure and routine. We thrive on that. That being said, there always needs to be a bit of flexibility, especially in a family of 11. My little ones are a prime example of this. They are often thrown in the van and dragged to and from games, practices and the store. As long as I am prepared with snacks, drinks and diapers, they handle that relatively well. It doesn't make it fun, but it's doable. Anyway, the big kids had pretty good first days. Only one stuck locker in the bunch!  Go West Shamokin!!!




My super cute Mid kids...waiting for the bus

 The mid kids did fine too. They looked adorable and of course I took a ton of pictures. There were two "bad" things from the day. When the bus came to pick up my elementary school kids, they waited for her to stop the bus and then they all took off across the road. Isaac put his hand out and told Gia to "GO!" He bumped her and she hit the road. She climbed onto the bus with a giant hole in the knee of her tights. Grrrr! She was dressed to the nines and then had a big hole in her tights! Not cool! Thankfully she wasn't as upset about as her psychotic mother! The other "bad" thing was that I didn't get to sing my specia-first-day-of- school- wake- up song. They were all up when I went to wake them up. oh well...sigh.  There is always next year!


Hannah was very ready to get back to school...Watch out Second grade!


My big third grader, Isaac!!!


My sweet little Gia...before the hole in the tights! She was so worried that I would forget to wake her up for school. Not a chance!


Watching for the bus.



And there you have it Ladies and Gentlemen...the first dayof school 2011!!! Bring it on!