First Day of School

At 3:45 this morning I was awakened by my middle child - soon to be Kindergartner - who was telling me that she didn't feel well. This is very unusual, but after taking her to the bathroom, getting some water and laying down on the floor next to her bed, I figured it was just a case of butterflies. When she didn't fall asleep until 5:30, I was more than just a little exhausted. (Not exactly the way that I wanted to start the first day of home schooling!) Oh well. We managed to get dressed, eat breakfast and get started by 9:00 just as I had planned. First on the agenda was taking our "first day" pictures:

Ally wanted to wear Sierra's first day of Kindergarten dress! Doesn't she look happy?

Sierra was so excited to finally be in 2nd grade.

And of course, Val-Val had to get in on the action.

We started our day beautifully with calendar time, quick overview of procedures, explaining the marble jar incentive, etc. The first hour and a half went very well and then it was time for recess. I could tell that Ally wasn't feeling quite right when she didn't want to play during recess time. She was happy to sit outside and nibble on pretzels and sip water. Then it was time for math. She half-heartedly completed her lesson and then got up to put her supplies away when suddenly I heard the dreaded words, "Mom, I fell like throwing up." Thankfully, I had time to get her back onto the linoleum with a trash can in front of her. Poor girl! This is how she has spent the rest of the day:

No more puke, but she certainly doesn't feel well. Boy am I glad that this didn't happen in a classroom full of kids and an overwhelmed teacher on the first day of "real" school! As I type this post, she is taking a good nap. Sierra was eager to do a little more work, but it wasn't exactly the ending that I was hoping for. Here's to waking up tomorrow for another fresh start!

P.S. Thanks to my good friends who wrote to tell me that they were praying for our first day. We definitely needed those prayers!