The big news is the boys started school on August 19. They were pretty excited about a new year, although it's always hard for all of us to give up the carefree days of summer for the structure of school. But off they went, for another great year: Nathaniel in 6th grade, and Bradley in 1st.
And then we decided to play a cruel joke on them -- well, not really, but it sort of felt like it at times.
We have wanted our kids to go to a school here in Provo called Freedom Academy for as long as we can remember. It's very hard to get in -- you have to put your name in a lottery every year, and the likelihood of being chosen is slim. So we have kept them attending Timpanogos Elementary, which is not the highest rated school in the city -- well, we live in the hood, so what do you expect? Although Timp has its problems, we have always found the boys' teachers to be really great. We have just long worried they weren't being challenged enough; everything came too easily, and they were coasting along.
So I have always wished they could attend Freedom, which is a charter school -- it's a public school that greatly resembles a private school. We know people who send their kids there, and we have heard for years about how great it was.
Sunday, my friend, whose daughter just got into Freedom, told me that they actually had some open enrollment spots for 4th -- 8th grades, so we of course were interested. Chris went down to the school on Tuesday morning to ask about it, and he came home and told me that BOTH boys could go to Freedom! I couldn't believe it! It was too good to be true! We picked the boys up from school and took them over for a tour of Freedom, and they seemed to like it. We decided to enroll them, and they would start the very next day.
Needless to say everyone at Timpanogos was shocked. It turned into a very emotional experience for us -- at first we were positive it was right, but once the decision was made, we realized just how much we had come to love Timpanogos, faults and all. The teachers there have loved and cared for our sons for years now, and we felt disloyal to be leaving. We knew we had to do what was best for the boys long-term (which included keeping Nathaniel from going to Dixon Middle School next year -- yikes!), even though it turned out to be much harder than we had anticipated. To be honest, I have been a literal mess for the past 2 days . . . I need prozac or something.
So they had another first day of school -- I don't know if it shows in the photos, but they were not quite as happy this time. Leaving their good friends at Timpanogos has been very difficult.
They do wear uniforms now, which I really like.
After day one, we all 3 cried the whole drive home from school. They had a rough first day, which is quite understandable, and I ached at the thought of them feeling lonely and scared. But after day two, things are better. They are making new friends and getting the hang of things. I think we're all going to be just fine.
In other interesting news, Joseph jumped on the trampoline for the first time. (He's roughly the same age as Lindsey was when she sprained her ankle on it -- yes, this was Chris' doing.)
Bradley is turning into a shark . . . his permanent teeth are growing in behind his baby teeth, which don't seem to be going anywhere. The dentist says he'll probably have to pull them!
Joseph is concerned.
They picked this absolutely ridiculous carrot from the garden.
Joseph loves to swing!
Crazy times around here. As usual.
