Starting Life in Kearney

This blog post is long overdue - but now that my hubby is back (woohoo!!!!!)  I have a little more time for things. Here goes our happenings in Kearney over the past couple of months.  Everything has felt new - which is good in some ways and really hard in other ways.  It felt like we all started a new life here in our new little town.  While we miss San Antonio like crazy - I think we are adjusting slowly but surely.  The hardest part of moving is making new friends - but I know that will come with time and we just need patience and a hearty dose of social-ness.  Anyhow -   school started without a hitch mostly due to the fact that my mom came out that week to help me.  This was great because the kids were able to ease into riding the bus and I had assistance with all the last minute school jitters.  Here are the kids on their first day of school:

I am surprised they look so happy in these pictures!  Will started middle school - I know it sounds trite to say "I can't believe I have kid in middle school" or "Just yesterday he was a baby" but it is so true!  Will actually handled his first day in middle school with confidence.  As he walked into that new school - never turning back or appearing the least bit scared - I was so proud of him. I had to quickly wipe away my tears so he wouldn't be labeled as the kid with the freak mom.  After all he has been through this past year, it felt monumental that he made it to that first day. He has weathered the stress, worry and responsibility of being the head of our family for the past months with maturity beyond his years.  It has been a rough ride for Will - and I think all these emotions welled up inside of me as I dropped him off at middle school that first day.  I was more emotional sending him off to sixth grade then I ever was sending him off to kindergarten.

Madelyn and Parker set off for their first adventures as well.  Their school is much smaller then they are used to and I think this made the transition a little easier and less overwhelming for them.  They also met some kids in our neighborhood who attend their school- which helped as well.

After they survived the first day of school, the next big step was surviving the BUS.  In San Antonio we walked to school - so the bus was a new experience.  I think I was more scared of the bus then they ever where.  Madelyn and Parker tackled the bus on the second day of school - they actually were excited.

Since Grandma had flown out to help, Will was able to wait to ride the bus until later in the week.  As luck would have it - they first day Will rode the bus was foggy and quite erie .  This of course made Will even more spooked about the bus - but alas all turned out well.  The bus picks up the kids at the end of our driveway - here is Will walking slowly down the driveway to meet the bus.

This is a picture of the bus driving by our house.  Can you see it?

Before Grandma left, Will wanted to show her his school. Of course we had to wait until after school when all students had vacated the building because it is just not cool to be seen walking the halls during school with mom and grandma.

Special thanks to Grandma for sacrificing a week to help us with the back to school bugs and blues.  Thanks to Grandpa as well - it was his first week back to school and he had to endure a long stressful week without anyone to come home to.

 

Last but definitely not least, Chloe started preschool.  She is attending a school called "Joyful Noise." This is her first experience in school and she loves it.  These pics show her at the house before school, followed by the finger picture - the morning she started she wanted a manicure complete with rainbow colors, meaning that every fingernail was a different color - then a picture of her at school.

All in all - school has been going well.  The kids seem happy and they are enjoying their teachers and classes - thank goodness!

Starting life in Kearney has also meant starting the kids in their extracurricular activities.  Chloe found a dance class, Madelyn is enjoying playing soccer, Parker has started Karate, and Will is still shopping for just the right activity.

Our new town has many events.  Jesse James was born on Kearney - and believe it or not - the town is very proud of this.  They have a yearly Jesse James Festival which lasts for a couple weeks in September.  It is hard to explain to the little ones who Jesse James was and why he is so celebrated.  Nonetheless, we enjoyed the festivities dedicated to an outlaw and career criminal. The boys and I watched the parade while the girls rode on the float for Chloe's dance studio.

This town is also VERY proud of the school athletic teams and football is the big kahuna.  We went to a game the other night and had a good time despite the fact that we don't know anyone on the high school team - any excuse to drink hot cocoa while enjoying a cool, crisp autumn evening is good enough for me!  The Kearney Bulldogs also seem to stomp all other teams and they shoot fireworks every time they score a touchdown. I had not remembered how scrappy we looked . . . .

We have started our lives in this new place - sometimes things seem so familiar and other times things still feel very strange, like we are far from home.  I do feel that we were led to a great place with welcoming people - a place were we will be happy for years to come.