First Day of School

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2012/2013

IN GTMO

Yesterday was the kids' first day of school and my first time with all 3 of my kids in school all day (and no where to go LOL).  Needless to say I got a lot of boxes unpacked yesterday, unfortunately I still have a ton more boxes to go haha.

They all had a great day and like their teachers.  Tim went in to work late so that I could take the boys in and meet their teachers and he walked Paige in.  She was pretty nervous with it being her first time in a Junior High and having a locker and to change classes.  Here it's the high school campus so it's 6-12. The first thing she said to Tim was, "everyone is so tall."  She also was all of a sudden walking a whole lot closer to him.  He got her to the Gym where they were going to pass out the schedules and explain everything and then he met me at the Elementary School.  It was so hard to send Paige in there UGH I didn't sleep much the night before and was worried about her all day long.  She did good though and when we picked her up from school she had a slight frustration in her voice and said she couldn't get her locker open once all day.  So her and I went back in and asked if we could go practice and also she wasn't sure where her classes were or which schedule the next day was. They alternate A schedule and B schedule every other day so she was a bit worried.  She got the hang of her locker and we walked the class schedules and she felt more at ease.  Sweet thing asked me to walk her in today to make sure she could do her locker and then walked her to her first class.  She asked if I could just go with her to all her classes, knowing I couldn't but we were just saying we both wished I could.  She asked if I could help at the school, I think she just feels better if she knows I am somewhere around!  It was so hard to leave her there again today.  This stuff is so hard on my heart OUCH!  But I know that this is good for her and she needs it to grow in confidence and independence and that is partly why we picked GTMO this school is small (overwhelming to her at the moment but Tim and I know how much bigger other schools are!)

The boys have poles for each class to line up at.  So I walked them to their lines and then followed them into the Gym where they had a small assembly and then the kids were off to class and the new assistant Principle met with the parents who were there.  So we never actually got to go into their classrooms.  Today was another heart wrencher for me!  The boys want to ride the bus instead of me taking them which works out good because Paige has told me she isn't ready to ride the bus yet so wants me to take her and with both schools starting at the same time it would be hard to make it to both.  This way I walked the boys to the bus stop (right across the street from our house) and then once they were on Paige and I hopped in the car and off we went.  We just beat her bus there because we were chatting and I missed my turn and realized we drove way past the school LOL.  I love driving my kids to school so it was hard for me to put the boys on the bus but..... all their buddies are on there so it's a fun time for them to visit with their new friends and hopefully get some of that playful stuff out of the way before school starts!

Oh and I almost forgot that Tropical Storm Isaac was nothing much for us thank the Lord.  We were prepared and ready and now know how to prepare for a hurricane.  We had lots of canned food, water, flashlights.  Pulled all patio furniture in even decorative rocks that could end up a projectile and even the welcome mats we brought in.  We put sandbags along our garage and glad we did they were soaked even just from the rain we got.  All we ended up with was a whole lot of wind and rain for one night.  Thunder and lightning of course but our power never went out.  We sure thought it was going to hit us a lot harder.  The base shut down, even the roads were closed and were not aloud to go out.  Timing was fine for us since Tim and the kids all came down with a nasty cold so we were housebound anyways.

Enough of me chatting here are some pics of the first day of school and then a few other fun things.

All ready for the first day of school.  Nixon 1st grade, Simon 4th grade and Paige 7th grade!!!!

Oh my she looks so grown up!  She wore her Hunger Games shirt and a couple girls at school pointed out she looks like Fox Face from Hunger Games.  They are right she does!  For those of you who haven't seen the movie or read the books it's one of the characters and she has red hair just like Paige and actually they do look similar!

Nixon and his teacher Mrs. Hawkins

Simon and his teacher Mrs. Reindtheart (I may have spelled it wrong)!  Can't go wrong with red hair!!

Nixon waiting for the bus with his little buddy that lives right next door!

Simon and one of his buddies that lives right across the street, waiting for the bus!

Awe there they go.... Tears :-(  okay I am not going to cry!

I have to give a big huge THANK YOU to Michael W. Smith!!!!  He came and gave us a concert as part of his world tour!  It was like our own little worship service with him.  Nothing is big here in GTMO so there were probably a couple hundred people maybe a little more.  He has a huge heart for the military and it showed.  He sang some songs he wrote after 911 for the military, wow talk about chokes you up.  And it was so cool when he sang praise songs and everyone joined in!  Just a really neat experience to see people from all over and different cultures, Jamaica, Philippines, Cuba and all the branches of military, to join together in song and worship God.  He sang some good oldies like Friends are Friends Forever.

This is my favorite flower, Hibiscus, and I have this plant right out my front window!  This and a palm tree out my front window are you kidding me?  Life is good!

Speaking of front window, Piper is so funny, this is her favorite napping spot and she works very hard to tuck as much of herself into the window track as she can.  So funny to watch her settle into it including her cute little face.

As hard as they play and fight when it comes down to it they are buddies and will curl up and nap together!

Some things we are getting used to here in GTMO and some fun facts:

-When putting things in my shed this morning a big huge crab scared me pretty good!  Land crabs.  So weird I expect them in the water but not in the middle of my lawn!

-Being sweaty all the time!!!  I don't know how Tim does it in his dark blue uniform!

-Little geckos and lizards everywhere, including running across my kitchen under the freezer!

-Paige saw another tarantula at her school

-If you are outside at about 8am or dusk you will stop and stand at attention.  For both they give a 5 minute warning and then in the morning they play the national anthem over loud speakers all over the whole base and at night they play evening colors.  Not matter what you are doing, driving, walking, sitting in chairs on your back porch with friends you get up, face where the sound is coming from and stand at attention.  I love it!  Respect for our country!  All cars stop, everything comes to a halt outside for less than a minute.  It also is a great timer for the kids to head in!  Our boys know at the 5 minute warning it's time to head in!  Also, I am learning that it's a good timer for when you need to put bug spray on  if you are outside.

- Which brings me to... if you are out at dusk or any later put on the bug spray or you will get eaten alive!  Well I do anyways!

Tim was supposed to be in Miami this week for training but had to stay here due to some work stuff going on that needed him here.  So yay for us!  Not so much for the people it causes more work for but, yay he is home!  Plus he is still pretty congested so flying wouldn't have been fun or a good thing.

Okay I am now off to unpack more boxes which I think is going to be my life story for a while! LOL.  These movers did a number on all my stuff mixing it all together making it a huge sorting job.