8.21.2018

We have fun at Work!

We work at work, but we like each other
and so it goes
we have fun at work!
And the day that my boys went back to school, I went to work
and there was a party set up!  

We were celebrating my birthday and Emily's birthday (she is back at Purdue now, boo).




We had a delicious taco bar and the zebra cakes were an inside joke, ha!
The tomatoes have been delicious this year, can you tell I LOVE them. 


And the next week, we were rewarded with lunch from our bosses.
We chose to have Lisa Wittmer cater our lunch cause she is our FAVORITE. 


What an awesome treat it was!  And it made for a super fun Friday.


8.17.2018

Good Bye, Elementary!

Another school year began on Wednesday, August 8th.
Sam began Jr High entering 7th grade!
Joe entered Middle School - 5th grade!

They are both dropped off at the same door in the mornings now.



It was the day after braces but we sailed right through!
He packed a lunch in case he couldn't eat what the school had (that crazy expander)
but the lunch came home full.  He has eaten at school since.
I logged on their accounts after their first full day to see how many
"extras" they were eating. We reviewed that one extra is probably enough, ha!


And this one was cool as a cucumber   ahem 7th grader - he'd be fine.
And, of course, he was.



Except for the pictures, he was done with those.
He had his 7 period schedule in his backpack
and he put it up in his locker (I think,ha)


He loved his room on meet the teacher.
Joe has his chance with Mrs. Hart this year.  
She's a dream teacher and we are looking forward to the year.  
He earned a Nestle Crunch bar from the vending machine this week,
see what I mean!?!?


Joe was most excited about his first combination locker.



For memory sake!


First morning breakfast, we've already nixed the electronics in the morning,
that helps the routine!


And this devotional from camp is just perfect for reading together
during breakfast.



They rode the bus to grandma's day 1 and I got the pick them up
on day 2.  Then, it was already time for tennis to start so we had a snack and took Sam
 to tennis practice.


Joe read his Night of the SpaceFoot Toads book to me.  


And right after this reminder popped up
and was sure glad I had taken time to listen 
to my 5th grader read (with his new mouth hardware, wink)



And Joe is off and running with Robotics Club.
The theme this year includes legos and robotics.



We are looking forward to a great school year.
So thankful for boys that enjoy going and embrace each challenge.




8.12.2018

{We have Braces}

We are officially entering the braces faces
at the Graber Household.



This guy was first and they both did great getting them on.
Sam is estimated to be done first...in 1.5 years!! 



Joe will need them a little longer nearly 2 years
and part of the time with an expander.  



Sam chose black band so no on would notice, um okay!


Joe would be fine if everyone would notice, he chose red for the Cardinals.
We have a key for his expander  that we turn nightly.  Just a fun reminder here for years down the road.  And our first night (after he insisted he try a sandwich for supper and the bread was caught in the expander) we cried a bit because were were afraid we were going to starve.
I assured him that {nearly} every kid has braces anymore and none of them have starved.
We also packed a just in case lunch for the first day of school {but he brought it home intact choosing to eat what the school had to offer}.


I love the office we chose because it is in town for our frequent trips
 and because they are so VERY nice.
We are a week in and we haven't forgotten the key (mostly because of Joe's organizational skills)
and we have had minimal pain.  
Loving every stage of life with these boys, and this is one of them!

Also, we will have a faster track on the blog and the brace wire will be off for our next post!