Week One Done

Well, we've been in Texas for a whole week now as a whole family. Doug and I continue to look around in shock that we are actually here. The scenery down here is so different than that of the PNW. The trees are different, the ground is different, the sunsets look different, and the bugs and creatures are definitely different. Both Texas and Washington are beautiful, but definitely in different ways. So, here is a recap of our first week here. Monday was of course Labor Day and Tuesday was a busy day. We came out to the lake to set up the trailer, did some driving around and took the kids to the new house. The realtor met us at the new house so the kids were able to see inside. They of course ran straight upstairs to claim which room they wanted. There was no arguing, which was nice, and they all decided pretty quickly. Bethany claimed the largest of the 3 bedrooms, although all the rooms are fairly nice in size. The girls both ended up with small walk-in closets, which will suit them nicely. JD ended up with the middle room with the regular closet, but there is plenty of room for him to run around and play his nerf basketball in there. Tuesday was a fairly busy day for me. I started the day by registering Bekah at her new school. It was so weird working with any school other than Fort Stevens or YMS, but they were very nice. After an hours worth of paperwork she was all set and ready to go for Wednesday to be her first day. I then went to the district office for my interview for a part time position with the school district, which I did get. Yay! Hoping to start next week. After that I went and repeated the same lengthy paperwork process at JD's school and then tried to get Bethany registered, but they have a deadline of 10am, so she would start on Wednesday morning after we dropped the other 2 off. After that, Doug and I took the kids to buy school supplies. I will definitely advise anyone needing school supplies to not wait until 2 weeks after school starts. It was nearly impossible to find everything they needed. Wednesday was definitely bitter-sweet. It was so exciting for the kids to start their new schools, but it also made us miss the familiarity of our Yelm routine. The kids handled the first day at a different school fantastically. We were so proud of them! They all came home that afternoon full of excitement about what this year will bring. There are many differences about the schools here. First of all, the Elementary school has a very smooth, safe and coordinated pick-up and drop off. When you go to drop off in the morning you get in the car line and the line keeps moving. As you move to the sidewalk area, there is someone standing there to open your car door and let your child out. They then close the door and you are expected to keep moving! Long gone are the days of the crazy Fort Stevens drop off where cars are parked, parents sit there and watch their kids walk in and other cars are cutting in line. Then, in the afternoon, you have a bright orange card with your childs name on it, as you pull through the line someone with a walkie-talkie calls your childs name to someone in the building and then as you get to the sidewalk someone is walking your child out of the school, opens your door, lets your child in, closes the door and then, again, you keep moving! So weird, but it works! JD is in an intermediate school for 5th and 6th graders. He is changing classes just like middle school, which is so strange. Thinking of him having 6 different teachers is very overwhelming for me, but so far he is handling it ok. We will be having a 504 meeting sometime soon so we can discuss any modifications he may need, but I am excited to see how this schedule will allow him to grow. Bethany's school is HUGE! It is only 7th and 8th graders but has 1100 students! She is very excited about all of the club opportunities and all the different classes they offer. She is in a theater arts class that will have 4 productions over the year and she will get high school credit. So exciting! The biggest struggle for her is how intense it is. So much more is expected of the students out here to include things like actual grading of homework. If you miss questions on your homework it will affect your grade. Once she has all of that figured out, she will do great! Well, that's all I will bore you with today. We are adjusting well, we just can't wait to get into our house! I will write more next week:-)