Muffins in Academia: Amanda is in Kindergarten

Today Mom brought out the double stroller and the front pack carrier for a very special outing: taking Amanda to her first day of kindergarten. Amanda was VERY excited to go, and the younger Muffins enjoyed getting to go on an outing to somewhere with a playground. Amanda's kindergarten class has its own door out to its own little playground, and outside that door is where the class lines up before going inside. After Mom saw Amanda go in, the rest of the bunch stayed at the playground for a little while while Mom met a few of the other parents. Then Mom and the younger Muffins went home for the big adventure: waiting for Amanda to come home from school. WITHOUT Mom going to get her. One of our friends in the neighborhood organized a walk group of a big bunch of kids, and so Amanda came home from school with them. And she made it just fine!

Here's Jared running to meet Amanda:



Here's Amanda telling Dad about her first day of school: she loved it! It will be interesting to see whether she is still so enthusiastic about it a few years from now when she comes home with a backpack full of homework, rather than an empty one like she did today. :)

Meet the Teacher Night

The night before Amanda's first day of school, the kindergarten teachers hosted a "Meet the Teacher" night. It was fun to meet Amanda's teacher and see her new classroom. Amanda especially liked the classroom scavenger hunt activity. And, of course, everyone enjoyed getting to play on the playground while we were at the school. It was a fun way to spend Grandmother's last night with us before she went home to Grandfather.

Lots of Muffin Love

How we spent the rest of the ice cream social

The PTO/PTA group at Amanda's school sponsored a back-to-school ice cream social before the school year began. After we made the rounds at the information fair and got some ice cream, we spent the rest of the time on the big kid playground (as opposed to the kindergarten playground). Mom soon gave up trying to keep up with Amanda, who went off to play all over the place:

Meanwhile, Curtis looked on . . .

. . . as Jared climbed all over everything.

Some Summer Muffin Pictures

We begin our little summer summary montage with a view of Jared and Amanda at one of their new favorite hangouts . . .


Here's what, or rather who, they like to see there . . . Lydia!


Jared and Curtis, box brother buddies. Now that there's a new baby in the house, Jared is treating Curtis more like a buddy and less like a baby, much to Curtis's delight.


Amanda and Jared checking out the inside of a fire truck. This was from back in June.


Reading with Grandmother. Another June picture, but probably the best summary shot of our summer, which Grandmother will have spent most of with us by the time we finally let her go home again. :) We really appreciate having her with us and are grateful to both her (for all she does) and Grandfather (for putting up with a very lonely summer) for making our summer a good one.

How Grandmother Spent Her Birthday This Year

This year Grandmother spent her birthday with us, playing with her favorite grandchildren. Dad and the kids made a yummy cake for her, and a good day was had by all. We were glad she could be with us.


Amanda doing her "talking couch" routine, with Jared investigating. Also, Jared and Curtis provided a bowling pin duel for our entertainment.