Hello Second Grade!

This is Jake and Eli with their backpacks 5 years ago:

I am not a good enough Mom to have actually gotten a picture of them in the morning on the first day, but this was Sunday, the day before.  We met our new friends to have lunch at Portico. This whole week before school the boys have been at Nyimbo Music Camp.  Every day they come home full of ideas and energy, ready to take the music world by storm.  It’s wonderful!

Jake can’t decide which to practice first.  Piano, trumpet, or drums?  And he also can’t stop looking forward to when he eventually plays the bagpipes.  “I’m too little to hold them, and my lungs aren’t big enough to hold enough air, but pretty soon I’ll be big enough to practice with Opa.  Now I can play the drums like Dede!  When can I get a drum set, Mom?”

Eli enjoyed music camp but is still more interested in legos.  Here’s his Dulles airport (note the sloping roof).

We’ve also been spending time outside playing Field Hockey with Daddy!

Our teachers this year:  Ms Emma ten Cate (Jake), and Ms. Mandy Ray (Eli).

In the first week of school, Eli had a project to pick out 5 things that told something about himself.  He chose a lego, his science tools, a lollipop, a Minion, and a red marker to show he was an artist.  In the bathtub tonight, we were talking about vegetarians and the way some religions don’t eat certain kinds of meat.  He decided he didn’t want to eat beef anymore because he didn’t want to kill cows.  “We humans are like beef.  We’re beef for tigers and stuff.  I’m going to get a cow but I’m not going to kill him, I’m just going to play with him.”

Jake was bouncing out of bed early on the first day, ready to wear his new clothes and so excited to go to school.  When I came home today I heard “I split my lip open today!  There was blood everywhere!  Here, look at my Mump!”  I’m biased, but I think these kids could not be any cuter.

Our mornings feel the same.  Same bus, same driver, same 6:37 pick-up time.  We eat fried eggs and pancakes and oranges for breakfast, and every morning I thank goodness for Ms. Hilda who comes at 8:00 to wash the dishes.  The boys and Daddy race to see who gets dressed first.  We put popcorn and ham and peanut butter sandwiches in their backpacks for lunch, and talk about how we’re all going to have a good day over mugs of coffee and milk.  On Tuesdays Jake gets a Chef Boyardee Lasagna for a treat, and Eli gets lunch money to buy nshima.  Then the bus pulls up and we madly brush teeth and wash faces, put on shoes, and hug mommy and daddy before rushing out to get the bus on time.  Daddy walks out with them while I run back to finish getting dressed, and so the day begins.  The sun is always up in the sky and shining bright by 7.  That is something about Africa we’ll always remember.  Waking up early with the lizards.

We are hoping for a good school year.  So far, we’ve had three days of kids coming home happy and not crying about going to school in the morning.  I think we are off to a good start!