The Big Yellow School Bus

School began and the autumn weather has set in. It's fitting, really. Doesn't 'back-to-school' mean new sweatshirts and jeans and backpacks? This picture was taken before the rain & cooler temperatures arrived - after a hearty lunch at Denny's and before an afternoon at the park. What more could a kid ask for?

As I posted last week, we did make it through the first days of school with no tears. But it wasn't without disappointment. Claire was devastated that she wasn't joining most of her classmates on the school bus at the end of her day. We talked about it, and today was Claire's first trip home on the big yellow school bus. It's not that I'm anti-bus, but assumed that Claire would rather be greeted at the end of her school day by her brother & I, instead of the bus driver. Boy was I wrong. My biggest concern was that she'd forget to get off the bus, as she's the only one at her stop and is known to get a bit distracted at times (something I'm sure she didn't get from me). My fears were erased, however, when her driver warmly greeted me and it turns out there's only 3 kindergarteners on her bus ride home! Claire: "Just me and two boys from another class. I wish I could ride the rocket ship bus with some of the other kids from my class, but that's okay. I love school even more when I can ride the bus, mom." What's more to say? I'm still Claire's means of transport on the way to school, which isn't bad since she doesn't begin until 9:15.

Wednesday night begins Awana, a first this year for us. Kelly & I are really excited - we have a confirmed date every Wednesday evening! We're pretty giddy, we haven't spent time alone... well, in a very long time. Claire is still trying to figure out what Awana is (for those of you who don't know, it's a Christian kid's program), and when I tell her that she's a Spark and Nolan is a Cubbie (the different club levels by age), she says "the Teachers have cubbies at school to put their papers in" ...um, different kind of cubbie.

Switching gears, I've been trying to get Kelly to post again, especially since his first one was not quite so "ha-ha" funny, as we all know him to be. I guess I didn't catch him on a good day. Since then, he's had some positive things to post about, but since he's not here just now, I'll fill you in. Last Friday was Crossroads' annual golf tournament, which is the big athletic fundraiser of the year. When he first arrived, the college didn't expect to make any money, rather they were hoping just to break even. Kelly worked it and secured hole sponsors. The week of the tourney they had 60 confirmed golfers which meant that they might pocket a few hundred dollars. Then came the Friday morning shotgun start, and they had 94 golfers! They tee-d off 45 minutes early, enjoyed lunch on campus afterwards, gave out great prizes and called it a success. It far exceeded everyone's expectations.

The second positive came on Saturday afternoon - the volleyball team secured their first victory over St Cloud Tech. It was the first win for the team in a very, very long time. (It didn't hurt that St Cloud only had 6 players and one of them sprained her ankle in the first play of the game, which meant that as she sat the bench, each time it was her turn to serve Crossroads scored a point...) Nevertheless - the Knights won, and that's good news any way you can get it! Go Knights!

Here's to little kids growing up into big kids, small successes and the thrill of victory! Have a great week!