Our first day of school...um, sort of...

We had our first day of school on Wednesday. But not really. Our *real* first day is tomorrow. But my parents wanted to take Kain to visit for a few days now that it is cooling off a bit, so we needed to get the "fun stuff" of the first day done while he was still here. So, we went through our new books first thing, and found out that I am way more excited about the new books than the kids. Maria eyed the new pile suspiciously, looked at the end of her Saxon 76 book and pronounced it "too hard" (well, duh, it's the end of a textbook you haven't even started yet?), then stacked all her books up, counted them, and complained about how heavy they all were. What's she going to do, climb a mountain with them strapped to her back? Kain wasn't quite so pessimistic, but I lost his attention almost immediately just the same.

Things got better when we did our "back to school" interviews. During these interviews, which are done separately, I ask the kids a list of questions with the tape recorder going. It's always a riot to go back and listen a couple of years later. Here's this year's interview questions...

What is your favorite food? Maria- sloppy joes. Kain- pizza

Favorite color Maria- hot pink with sparkles. Kain- blue and red and yellow. Also pink.

Favorite Toy? Maria- Rose (a baby doll). Kain- Halo toys (I know. They are evil. I don't buy them, his father does. Such is the pain of raising someone else's child.)

Favorite Movie? Maria- The Secret Garden. Kain- Red versus Blue. (some Halo movie), and Ben 10 (apparently something on Cartoon Network. Don't know, we don't have cable!)

Favorite book? Maria- Little House on the Prairie. Kain- Pokemon books. Imogene's Antlers

Time of Day? Maria- when the boys go to bed. Kain- Computer time

Day of the Week? Maria- Friday, because Kain goes to his Dad's. Kain- Friday, because I go to my Dad's.

Day of the year? Maria- Christmas. Kain- my birthday

Room of the house? Maria- my room. Because the boys can't hang out in there. Kain- the living room. Because the computer is in it.

Saint? Maria- St. Catherine of Seina (her patron). Kain- St. Amadeus (his patron).

What are your hobbies? Maria- jigsaw puzzles. Kain- playing on the computer

What's one of your best memories? Maria- the day I met Eden (her best friend. which is sweet, but she doesn't really remember it, she was only 2! :)) Kain- Going to Incredible Pizza (I don't know what this place is. Sounds like Chuck E. Cheese on steroids going by Kain's description).

What do you like most about yourself? Maria- I'm pretty. (modest, yes?) Kain- I'm good at playing Halo.

What's something you need to improve on? Maria- reading. Kain- being good

What's was your favorite part of school last year? Maria- The Drawing Textbook.
Kain- recess (he was in public school last year).

Are you excited about anything in particular for this coming school year? Maria- The junior scientist of the month kits. Kain- no.

Worried about anything for this coming school year? Maria- spelling. Kain- I want to see Jaice (his friend at school last year).

What do you want to be when you grow up? Kain- a Dad. With three kids.

What do you want your life to be like in 20 years? Maria- Lots of kids, mostly girls. A big house. 2 billion cats. 20 hamsters. Working in my house as an artist making sculptures from junk. (you go girl).

So, after our interviews, we met some friends for lunch at a local pizza/wanna-be-Chuck-E-Cheese place to celebrate the new school year. Then we came home and Jack took a nap while Maria and I worked on the first of her science of the month kits. When Jack woke up, we worked on our Luau themed art kit, making leis (did I spell that right?), watercolor beach scenes, etc. All fun stuff...the real work starts tomorrow for Maria and later in the week for Kain.

Tomorrow, more on our science experiments, including pictures...our luck with science experiments at home is becoming rather legendary, and not in a good way!

Hey, I've got new commenters! Welcome new commenters! That's always fun, especially if I don't know them in real life. If I *do* know them in real life, I wonder if I have said anything on my blog that will embarrass me too terribly. Then I realize that I say things in real life all the time that are embarrassing, so it probably doesn't really matter.