first day of school

This post is a little late, but there has been a lot going on the last few days! My sister came down to Dubuque on Monday through Wednesday to spend some time with us before she leaves for Japan. (she was supposed to leave today, but her flight was delayed in Des Moines, thus causing her to miss her flight in Denver to Tokyo:( She will arrive in Okinawa Saturday morning (our time) so just 24 hours after her original arrival time. It was great to see her and great that she got to see the kids start their first day of school!

Here are the kiddos on the first morning. They were pretty excited to get up and get going on Tuesday. They were outside playing with the neighbor kids by 7:30 and the bus comes around 8:15. I had to force them away from scooters and basketballs to take a few pictures, but so did all the other moms so they didn't seem to mind too much.




Wish I could say the day went off without a hitch, but it didn't. Mya didn't seem to have any trouble with both getting on the bus and saying good bye at school. (I followed the bus to school to make sure she got to where she needed to go), but apparently after I left, things started to go downhill. When she got off the bus that afternoon, she reported that she cried a lot. I texted a friend to confirm, and found out that it was true. I was shocked. I really did not expect it. Later, her teacher told me that several kids in her class had trouble, so I'm wondering if other kids breaking down caused her to break down. I know if she's anything like me, when I see someone crying, I HAVE to join in!! Here are a couple of pics getting off the bus. They were pretty happy to be home!



Wednesday she got on the bus no problem, but proceeded to have some more trouble at school. I feel really good about where she is, the people there care about her so much. Her teacher is the same as Max's teacher last year so she had my cell phone and called me yesterday to let Mya talk to me. I brought Starbucks in for the teachers after school and really wished I could have spiked them with vodka or something because I'm pretty sure they needed it after dealing with several crying kindergartners all day!

This morning started out rough again, but when she got on the bus (in the pouring rain)she looked better. It's not helping that her allergies are acting up so her eyes are already swollen even without all the tears! It's absolutely breaking my heart and my days are filled with worrying about her and my sister. Both of them will be fine, but I can't help but worry.

As for this little one, boy am I glad I have her right now...I'd be an even bigger mess without her! She has been better than I thought with missing the older kiddos. She starts asking for them after her nap, but goes most of the day without mentioning them. She loves to say "Max Mya Bus School" for about 30 minutes after they leave!