Almost Back To School

Around this time of the year I always suddenly wake up and start to wonder: shouldn't the seasons be changing? As we prepare to start the 5771 school year (the new  year starts about a week into the school year), I expect autumn to quietly slip into the world. It probably is doing that in other areas of the Northern Hemisphere that actually have four seasons. I get nostalgic for my own childhood memories when all the back to school excitement takes over. We finished up shopping this morning as we fought our way through two designated bookstores and then went to the younger kids' school's open house in the afternoon, and now 4 schoolbags are all packed, 3 uniforms laid out to be worn in the morning, and 5 lunch bags (Kevin needs one, too!) are waiting in the fridge to be taken to school in the morning. 

As a final preparation to start the school year, Craig put up a count down chart, leading to May 14, 2011. No, that won't be the end of the school year. Far from that. It's going to be the date of the Eurovision Song Contest final!* :) So now we are all set to start serious work. The boys will go to school in the morning, the little ones will go to my SIL's daycare, and Noa and I will start serious home school work. 

Autumn is slowly, quietly arriving.

*Of course we have no idea if Israel will particpate at all with Yom Hazikaron being so close to the semi finals.

Cork

The boys and I flew in on Monday to Cork, andthe same day we headed over to Dunne's and some other shops for school uniform shopping. The new school requires British style school uniforms, and parents can either order them through the school from the UK, or can go and buy theirs if they happen to travel to the more rainy and gloomy parts of the world. The fun thing about such shopping is guestimating how much the kids will grow during the year. I was thinking ahead, as Noa will be attending school one day a week (for the ESL and choir classes) starting September and then eventually going full time, I grabbed some of the clothes I just bought her in California to measure against some of the clothes. So I t hink we got everything for everyone as far as clothes and shoes for school go. 

As most of the other supplies I bought in the States for the kids, we have very little of anything else to buy in Ireland, other than a few copy books (and even more will have to be bought in Israel to satisfy the school's requirements, plus there are all the actual textbooks).  Those we will buy today as we go downtown to search through the little second hand bookstore by the Tesco, plus get some "stuff" at the Other World (Sci-fi and fantasy store). I also want to grab some clothes at the Enable Ireland charity shop: they usually have great stuff. I'll look through a few more charity shops. 

Now, as my kids were super compliant and we got done with the shopping at the first stop, ( suspect that might change with two girls added to the family) I took them to Kinsale to the sea yesterday. Actually it was my auntie who took all of us. We spent some time on the beach, having a picnic lunch, then Auntie and the boys were taken out on a boat by one of auntie's friends we accidentally ran into. The boys took a dip, and  they realized the Celtic Sea is not nearly as swimming friendly as the beaches of Tel Aviv. 

They loved loved loved it though. They are my little beach bums. With actual tans. :)

Shalom Kitah Alef - the compulsory first day of school post

Today was my 6-year-old sons' first day of school, and my 10-year-old son's first day of junior high.

Since Craig's school had a welcoming the new students thingy last night--where, as some of you might be pleased to know, the school uniform drama was peacefully resolved--this morning we just dropped him off and he had a non-ceremonial first day. Non-ceremonial as far as parents are involved. He had his first ever Arabic class, and he had a blast. One of his greatest news for the day: "Dad, I'm not the shortest kid in class!" Which with him being about 2 years younger than most of his class is great news. He also had his first PE class of the year, and he was excited that they will do track and gymnastics alike. He told his PE teacher about the CI, and it seems it will work out better than with the previous school. He also got to pick his own seat in te class, next to one of his friends, in a place that is good for him. His friend is good about helping him, and his teachers are already aware of what's gonna happen. He loves it already.

After dropping craig off, it was time to take the twins to school. As soon as I stopped the car, the kids jumped out with a "Bye, Dad!" and took off for the school. Kevin had to run after them so they'd wait for us. You see, they have attended nursery school/pre-school/gan since they were 6 months old. It's the same thing, just a different place, they figured.

Every 1st grader was met by a 6th or 5th grader at the gate, handing out balloons, name tags, a school hat and a school scarf for the new kids. These older kids stayed with their new "buddy" for most of the morning, and they will continue to mentor them during the first weeks. I thought that was a lovely idea. There was a nice little show, though no clown (my kids were really expecting one, as there was one last year at the gan), and then the parents were invited to go to class with the kids and stay for a little while. We were kicked out after about an hour, and then the serious work began. So serious, that both boys brough homework home: they had to convince their parents to write their names in all their clothes and stuff.

And this turned into a first for me: writing my sons' names in Hebrew for the very first time. :-) In permanent marker. On their sneakers.

There is no after school care for the twins this week, so as I had an emergency at work I had to pick them up and bring them in to the office. Where their doting grandfather, who happens to be my iron-fisted father (Hi Dad!) he let the kids watch [Scrubs] and The Simpsons on one of the spare computers. He even let them play with the label maker! Scandalous! (Hi Dad, again!)

Since this is a compulsory first day of school post, here is a compulsory school related song for all Hungarian speakers. And for those who don't speak Hungarian: mementos from a school child's life in the 80's in Hungary. I'm sure Ramona will be able to relate to some of this!

One more day

So the school year for gans and elementary schools is ending tomorrow. It means it's the last day for Craig at elementary school and the last real day for the twins in gan. They will start junior high and 1st grade on September 1. Ceremony for Craig's school is tomorrow and the twins' gan is the day after.

It's insane. Rosh Hashanah was just yesterday!

Well, in reality, yesterday was Sunday, and Craig had several tests at school--talk about last minute testing!--and an unrealistic amount of homework to turn in today, for the practically last day, including finishing and tidying up the "science lab book" that never got looked at by the teacher till Friday when she collected them and only gave them out on Sunday! I wasn't happy with that! Craig had quite a bit to fix up from the beginning of the year, so he wasn't a happy camper either, especially since he needed to practice for today's piano exam. He had to prepare with 7 pieces and any 3 to 4 pieces could be selected by the examiners for him to play. He aced his exam, and he says that he got lucky because of the three pieces he had to play were actually the ones he knew the best.

Now we have the two graduations and the Krav Maga presentation to look forward to. Justin is especially excited about that as he really loves Krav Maga. Ever since he started with it he stopped fighting in gan, and it has generally been great for him disciplinewise. It also helped with Matthew's self confidence. I think the one person who likes it the least is Craig, probably because he has to be extra careful withe the CI.

Mentioning the implant, the idea of implanting his other ear has come up again. It seems that the last few years thechnology has improved a great deal. That is, in fact, the one reason why I am hesitant about implanting his other ear as of yet. I think we can give technology another 5 or so years before we go with that. For now the plan is to get him a CI that does bluetooth, so he can use his phone and mp3 player easier.

And while I'm talking about surgeries, it seems that the final reconstruction surgery for Matthew is postponed indefinitely with continued quarterly checks and twice a year audiologist appointments for him. That was really good news: he really didn't want to ruin his August with not swimming!