Rog and Chief Phillips: Back to School

August 31st it was finally time to start thinking about going back to school. Our elementary school hosted a back-to-school barbecue that night where everyone except Kindergarten finds out who their teacher is going to be.

Corbyn got Ms. Rowland - the one teacher I was hoping he wouldn't get. (She taught Kindergarten last year and I hadn't heard great things about her.) She has suffered in comparison to Mrs. Christensen, but has been fine. Corbyn says he likes her, so I guess that's all that matters.

We had a back-to-school dinner on Sunday (the 3rd).

My friend, Emily, told me she found trays at Walmart. I was excited when I saw them at our Walmart! We had Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas with Coconut Rice.

For dessert we had Peanut Butter Cookie Bars. (A tradition we started last year.)

I saw a cute Elephant and Piggie party on Everyday Reading and decided to throw a Mo Willems back-to-school party. We invited the Martyns, the Yates, and the Sullivans over for dinner on Labor Day. I made these Elephant and Piggie lanterns with a printable from here. I got out all our Elephant and Piggie books and checked out a few others from the library to use as decorations. I also set out the Elephant and Piggie stuffed animals Corbyn got for his birthday.

I got some gray cups (and plates) and used some pink straws we already had. We had pink Piggie drinks.

With hot dogs (and hamburgers for the grown ups). Everyone brought sides to share. We ended up with a lot of fruit and some mac and cheese bites.

For dessert we had leftover Peanut Butter Cookie Bars and Pigeon Cupcakes. This was one time when having a ridiculous amount of circle punches (in a variety of sizes) definitely came in handy!

My friend, Erin, made the kids a Break-and-Snap Toy like this one here and she and her husband, Kellen, read the kids an Elephant and Piggie book. (Erin read Piggie's lines and Kellen read Elephant's lines. It was awesome!)

Tuesday (the 4th) was Corbyn's first day of school.

I drove him, so I could drop off his Epi-pen in the office.

Peyton had a gradual entry day on Thursday (the 6th).

I had signed her up for the same gradual entry day as her friend, Camille (in line behind her in this picture), hoping that they would get in the same class. They evaluate the kids and also watch the kids to see who plays well together and who clashes. My plan backfired as they got separated at the beginning of the day and probably never had a chance to show that they play well together. Needless to say, they ended up in different classes.

Logan and I dropped her off and then headed to Walmart. He's usually much better for errands when it's just me and him, so I've definitely enjoyed that aspect of having Corbyn and Peyton both at school.

She was home with us on Friday and then that afternoon we went to find out her teacher. She got Ms. Fryback - the teacher we were hoping for! Hooray!

Monday (the 11th) was her first full day.

I drove her (and Corbyn) on her first day.

She was so ready to start Kindergarten and has loved every minute of it! In Oregon Kindergarten is all day and that hasn't phased her one bit. She'd probably be so mad if she could only go half day like Corbyn did when he was in Kindergarten. It's been fun to see her learning so much and doing so well in school.

The buses were ok the first week, but then terribly unreliable for the first few weeks after Kindergarten started. After a few days of the bus being ridiculously late, I resorted to driving them in the morning until they got things figured out and I could rely on the bus getting them to school on time.