Quick 5

::insert witty opening line about our week::

1.  Last Friday I heard a noise while I was in the basement.  This was noteworthy because Joya was making a racket upstairs, and I heard this tiny noise coming from outside.  So I looked out the window into our largest window well, right into the eyes of a tiny bunny.  That well is deep and the bunny was tiny, so there was no way he was getting out on his own.  Like any respectable wife, I emailed Lee.  And then threw some grass down the well so he'd have something to munch on.  When Lee got home from work he suited up and got down in the well with the bunny.  It took a minute or two, but Lee prevailed and set that bunny free.  (If I find that the bunny ends up in my backyard eating my garden, there will be war in the camp.)

2. Alaina started first grade!  She's gone for four days now, and it already feels like we've been doing this all along.  My biggest concern is forgetting to pick her up after school, since that is something we've never done before.  So far so good.  Alaina loves her class and her teacher.  Her teacher is just as great as last year, but I have been marveling at the difference between the two.  Both are extremely kind and obviously love kids, but where Mrs. Galloway was soft-spoken, Mrs. Casassa is loud.  She just has a higher volume.  I worked with her for about 5 hours on Saturday at an all-school work day and really enjoyed her company, but definitely noticed the volume difference.

A little throw back to last year:

3.  Joya was pretty upset the day Alaina went to school.   We tried to tell her how great it was going to be to be the big sister for awhile each day, but she declared that she was NOT the big sister.  I never realized how much she enjoyed being Alaina's little sister.  And at one point during the day Bria looked around and said "Ay-na?"  She obviously missed her too.  As they days have passed they've gotten used to Alaina being gone, but she was definitely missed that first day.

4.  In addition to starting school, Awana started this week, and Joya got to go to Cubbies for the first time. She gave me a bunch of hooey about missing me, but when I gave her the option to stay home instead she adamantly refused. Of course she had a great time, and I'm excited for her to be doing big girl things like going to class.  She was pretty exhausted the next day after going to bed so late, but she'll get used to that.

5. I started a new job this week.  I think I'm the Queen of Many Small Jobs.  I still am the nursery director at church, which is about 10 hours a week.  I also work for my dad's company, which is about 10 hours a week.  And thanks to my good friend Misty, on Thursday mornings I will now watch the little kids for a homeschooling group.  Our first day was yesterday and it was both great and HORRIBLE.  The horrible part was my own youngest.  Bria had had a bad night before, and she was not happy that I was holding other babies.  So, like an infant, she screamed the whole three hours.  That's not an exaggeration either.  Moms kept stopping by the nursery and asking if they needed to go find a mom for me.  I had to swallow my embarrassment and confess that the screaming child was indeed mine.  The other kids were actually pretty amazing, considering the ruckus Bria was making.  So I am looking forward to next week, hoping that Bria just really had a bad day and will be back to her normal self next time.

Welcome to our Fall life.