Another School Year Has Begun

Summer quickly came to a close so we made one last-ditch effort at the beach. We went to Malibu on Aug 31, the day before school started, which I haven't been to in a long time, and were so glad we did! It was glorious! The best beach day of the summer (go figure) and it was such a relaxing and pleasant day.

Notice in the background that huge yacht just off the Malibu pier? Apparently it belongs to a Russian billionaire and is one of the largest in the world. It only costs $300 million. Check out the link as it will give you a video tour of the vessel. Quite amazing!

The first day of school is here!

Brooke 4th grade, Madison 6th grade, Ashlyn Pre-K, Christian 1st grade.

Brooke is in a 4/5 split and has the same teacher as last year for 3rd. Let's hope it goes well! There are a lot more kids in the upper grades, so her class will be quite full.

Christian is super excited that his BFF Harrison is in his class. He was hoping they would be seated next to each other, too. I told him that even if they were, I'd have the teacher move them, but she'd probably figure it out in the first 5 minutes of class that they shouldn't be sitting together. That would be the equivalent of a 6 hour playdate!

After we went to the elementary school, we took Madison to the Middle School. John really wanted to see her open her locker because . . .

He decorated it the night before!

She quickly met up with friends: Hayley, Fatima, and Jenna.

Fatima just returned from spending the summer in Palestine. It was very sweet - she handed Madison a gift bag and inside was a beautiful silver necklace of Bethlehem with "Madison" engraved on the back; a candleholder with the Nativity carved; and a ceramic plate of Bethlehem. Even though Fatima is Muslim, she was so sweet to consider that Madison would appreciate relics from the birthplace of Christ. Fatima's mother said that if we ever wanted to go tour the Holy Land, we would have to stay with her mother, who lives in Bethlehem, where she would feed and house us and take good care of us! Despite the cultural differences, religious differences, and of course political differences, it is nice to know that people are capable of loving each other regardless. THAT'S what this life is about and the way it should be.

At noon, Ashlyn got to finally go to her class where she quickly met up with her besties: Caroline and Eliza.

Three days a week, I will have all of my children in school for a whopping 2 1/2 hours. What's a girl to do? Seriously! I've never had them all in school at the same time before!

I'll tell you what a girl did the two days we've had so far . . . the first day about a dozen of us moms met for lunch right after drop off which was so fun and everyone was a bit giddy - then I went home to get some work (for Xirrus) done which lasted about 2 seconds because it was time to start the pick up routine . . . which takes a whole HOUR! So annoying. The 2nd day I spent at the elementary school doing PFA stuff, then ran errands. I'll let you know when and where I find the Bon Bons! It may just be the worlds best-kept secret.