I had to cut and paste this email from Connor's teacher...

Connor's teacher sends out emails every so often describing the atmosphere in the classroom. In the first email she indicated that some of the kids were being a bit disruptive and also lectured the parents about making sure kids weren't bringing toys to class. I responded that I'd appreciate any feedback she had on Connor. This is what I got back:

I'd like to place an order for 24 more just like Connor! I've really enjoyed having him in class. He can be rather serious at times. I love his eagerness.

Something funny and cute happened last week with Connor. I wasn't sure he would tell you this story, so I wanted to share it with you.

We were lining up for lunch and one of the boys asked me why his hands were stinging after using the hand sanitizer. I explained that he probably had some tiny cuts on his hands and that the alcohol in the sanitizer was burning just a little, but that it was ok, because it was cleaning his cuts at the same time. Connor was standing behind this boy and heard our conversation. He stuck his hands out, looked rather alarmed and said in a panicked voice, "I'm not supposed to touch alcohol!!!"

I have several children with severe allergies, so my mind is racing, trying to remember anything about an alcohol allergy while looking at his hands for any evidence that they are blistering or about to fall off or something. Connor was still panicking, his voice getting a little higher pitched with every piece of information he could give me: "I've already touched it. I used it today." Then he finally gets to the part that helps me the most, "My mom and dad don't even touch alcohol. We're Mormon!"

Whew. I tried to explain that the hand sanitizer contains rubbing alcohol, which is a different kind from what he was thinking. He seemed ok after that.

Thanks for the email-
Martha Thomason

Back to School!

So yesterday marked the first day of 2nd grade for the boys. It was clear Connor was excited to start school when I found him in the media room with the cartoons blasting at 2 a.m. Yes 2 AM! He is our early riser but that was insanity. Needless to say I put him back to bed and alerted him that he still had many hours of sleep time ahead of him before his school day would begin. The kids ate their 1st day of school breakfast treat of cinnamon rolls (let the teachers deal with that sugar high) and then they bounced out the door to catch the bus. We are fortunate to live just beyond the mile marker that divides the walkers/drop offs from the bused kids. As for school budget cuts, increase the class size to 25 but don't take away my bus service please... :)

We are very excited about this year. I separated the boys so they have different teachers but we've heard wonderful things about both of them. If I get the same compliments about the boys from their teachers at school as I do from their primary teachers at church, we will be very thrilled. My only concern is homework. Just hoping their assignments are similar or that their teachers have the same views about the amount of homework to give. Not looking forward to the painful conversations that could arise if one gets a lot more homework than the other...

Sage will officially start a preschool program next week that I'm doing with a few other friends. This will be a change from the paid preschool I did for the two years before the boys started kindergarten. But Sage is so easy, seems more socially mature, and has a great bunch of friends her age so it seemed foolish not to join a few friends and do a preschool program of our own. Granted now that Sage's entertainment team has headed back to school I may be wishing I had done the "paid" preschool but she is my little buddy and I'm a bit sad to see her leave the nest...

My sweeties:



The bus stop boys:




Waving goodbye for the day (and thrilled to see Ms. Penny as our bus driver again!):