Back to School and sundry matters

Nicholas' Back to School night went well. It was extremely crowded with all of the parents! I walked into Nicholas' homeroom, and it felt like his preschool all over again - so many of the children from his preschool are in his 7th grade homeroom, too! His back-to-school night consisted of following his schedule through the school day, where each of the periods lasted for 10 minutes. I walked from one wing, to the next, to the next, then back to the first one. I was tired! and Nicholas does this all day every day with his backpack(carrying his books, not in his backpack, so I'm told)!

I played for a Russian wedding service yesterday. I barely understood the service because most of it was in a language I did not understand(maybe Russian?). Before the service, a little boy came and stood in front of me, watching me play.He stood there for 10 minutes - so cute! I have not played for weddings for quite some time. It was fun playing for people who enjoy listening to violin music so much!

Today, we went to Tony's parents' house for dinner. My mother-in-law made delicious spaghetti and meatballs. I've posted pictures of my in-laws. They are wonderful people!

This is my father-in-law Tony Sr. Notice his t-shirt!

This is my mother-in-law Judy. She is a wonderful grandma!

School is now in full swing. We had Michael's Back to School night two weeks ago. He has a super fantastic teacher, who just happens to have been Tony's student when he was teaching at our high school. She is so sweet! My favorite thing she told us about is the weekly Bubble-Gum Blowout. Every student in her class who completes every homework assignment throughout the week gets a piece of gum after lunch on Friday to see if they can blow the biggest bubble. Of course, the children who didn't complete their homework don't completely miss out, because they get to be the judges. So it's lots of fun all around! Michael couldn't wait to tell us all about it when he came home on Friday!

I had my Back - to - School night tonight. Not many parents came to see my classroom, but I had lots of visitors in the hallway. I got to listen to lots of music, and chat with the other teachers who didn't have much to do either!

Nicholas' Back to School night is Thursday. He is doing really well in school, and I'll post more afterwards.

Happy Birthday Tony!

Today is Tony's 40th birthday! We celebrated it yesterday by going to Chili's for lunch and having birthday cake back at our house. Today after Sacrament meeting, we went to the local minor league baseball game - the Ducks.

Nicholas and Michael played the National Anthem along with the rest of their violin teacher's students. They call themselves the Metrognomes.

School Days, School Days...

School has finally begun here in the east. We began on Tuesday, September 2. We woke up at 6:30 the morning before to get all of us in school mode again, and had waffles and strawberry-banana smoothies for breakfast.(I ended up drinking all of the strawberry-banana smoothie, because no one else liked it.) Afterward, we went to a branch Labor Day picnic. The first counselor in our branch presidency owns a sawmill, and we had the picnic on his property. We played badminton, volleyball, three-legged races, wheelbarrow races, and balloon races. It was a lot of fun! Plus, the food was excellent! Tony cooks great corn on the cob and burgers, too!

The next day, Nicholas began 7th grade and is officially in Junior High. So far he's having a great time. He is in all Honors classes, and is thoroughly enjoying the coursework.

Michael began third grade and a new school. He loves his teacher, and wakes up every morning excited to have another great day with his class!