School – Jocelyn Rau

September 13, 2025

Back in the saddle

School started 2 weeks ago, and man, is it off and running!

The girls both have cross country practice after school each day, with meets once a week or once every two for Della and once or twice a week for Lana. Morrison is playing fall ball with Little League and flag football again, so those games and practices are once a week. I’m waiting to sign the twins up for their next round of swim lessons until this winter, mainly so the family calendar doesn’t burst into flames and my head keeps from exploding. 😀

We did make sure to have a lot of fun that last weekend before school began again, though. Obvisouly Donut Monster, Della went on her annual up north trip with her best friend and her family, Ryan took the other 4 up to Sheboygan Falls for dinner with his family and a hometown high-school football game, and those here did a few nights of backyard camping. Well, not me. I don’t camp. But I did put up the tent and get it all situated for them. 😉

Hard-earned $ from a lemonade stand the day before

I went to Parent Orientation for the boys this week, and I absolutely love getting the peeks into their daily lives at school when they’re away from me. I hope to god our schools always stay safe and keep them protected. But they all have fantastic teachers and are off to a great start, so I think it’s going to be a wonderful year!

January 25, 2025

Still catching up…

I thought I had already created these comparison photos from Lana’s first days of K4 and middle school last year, but I apparently did not. I just did her first and last days of elementary school. So here are some new cute comps, just a few months late!

September 14, 2024September 14, 2024

End School –> Summer –> Start School

As usual, I am far behind over here, but such is a busy life with 5 kids and a full-time job. Said kids all passed their grade levels last year, whew!, we had a fun-filled summer vacation, then they all started back to school within the past 2 weeks. We are now in 3 different schools for the duration with Della starting high school and Lana starting middle school, so that’s a big change, too!

Here are pictures from the last day of school in June and the first days of school this month, but I’m not going to photo dump everything from summer in here. So sorry, that would take forever. I’ll mix a couple summer fun pics in that I might not have posted on social, but our vacations (late winter/early spring break in Florida, Canada in July, and St. Thomas in August) would be entire posts all their own and I just don’t feel like doing that. 😁 But that little Instagram box in the right sidebar here rotates through all my Instagram pictures so they’ll pop up over there, and if you follow me personally on Facebook then you’ve seen most of them there, too. And if you haven’t, just use your imagination! 🤣

August 4, 2024August 4, 2024

The second one bites the dust

Lana is off to middle school this upcoming school year, and we’re going to be in 3 different schools now since Della is moving onto high school! I’m sad the girls won’t overlap in school again until Lana’s freshman year and Della’s senior year in high school, but at least they’ll have that year together again.

It’s not nearly as bittersweet for me as when Della headed off to middle school for a couple of reasons – Lana is so ready to move out of Cumberland and elementary school, and I know how great our middle school is. They have an absolutely amazing staff, they are so inclusive, and Lana will get to just keep growing and blossoming into herself even more than she did this past year in 5th grade.

Just like when Della moved onto middle school, though, our walking crew is again shrinking. I need to check on how far after the middle school bell the high school starts, but I’m hopeful the girls can at least walk to the middle school together then Della can branch off to the high school, which thankfully is directly across the street from the middle school. We are seriously so lucky to live in a walkable community. Growing up in a larger city that was the complete opposite, I never knew what we were missing!

We will absolutely miss you in our Cumberland crew, my little Shmee, but I’m so excited for you to have even more opportunities to spread your wings and fly. You were born for greatness, I can just tell, and now it has the chance to get louder and louder and impress us all. And I can’t wait to watch!!

June 11, 2023

Summer- summer- summertime!

The kids are now all out of school for summer break, and I love it! Yes, they bicker and get on each other’s (and my) nerves sometimes, and yes, I’ll shout at them to be quiet while I work at home full time sometimes, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love summer vacation, and we’ve got a good one planned this year. Here we come, #summervacation2023!

October 18, 2022

They’re ALL in school!

ALL 5 kids are in school this year, and that just sounds crazy to even say.

The night before Della and the twins started school…

I still can’t believe the twins are in K4, going through those doors every day, just like their siblings. It definitely feels like the time is right, but it gets me daily seeing them run up the sidewalk to their door each morning with their little backpacks bouncing, then bounding out to me again after their morning session is done, just like the big kids always did.

The oldest and youngest started on the same day.

I love that time is moving at the perfect speed for me, too. It doesn’t feel like the days have flown by in a blur since each one of the kids was born. But it doesn’t feel like an eternity has dragged on with each one either. Everything feels like it is moving just right and I’m soaking up every day. I’m not sure why that is or why I feel like time is on my side when everyone else watches it race past, but I’m grateful for the cosmic juju that’s allowing it to be so.

The twins entering and exiting school by themselves for the first time!

The 2.5 hours the twins are gone in the mornings have allowed me to try to climb the steepest job learning curve I’ve had in 20 years, too, which has been both amazing and daunting at the same time. Some days, I’ve got this and am ready to tackle many, many years of it. Others, every email I get defeats me and I feel like I can’t conquer the seemingly simplest things. But that’s to be expected, so I’m not worried about it. Plus, it’s wine!

These kids are incredible, plain and simple, and I treasure every day with them. Every walk to and from school, every joyous hug when they come running out of school, even the “meh”s that often emanate from the 4th grader. Thank you, time, for these days to cherish.

September 16, 2021September 17, 2021

Back at it

We are back in school, we are in person, we are masked, we are 5 days a week, and we are at 2 different schools now. Whew!

Della had her first day of school a week before the other two started.

As you’re well aware, it was heartbreaking for me when Della left our Cumberland gang. However, it’s actually working out pretty well. The middle school is awesome, I met all of her teachers at “Meet the Teachers” night last week and every single one is incredible, she gets to see at least some of her good friends from Cumberland every day, she’s continuing with band and has the same teacher as last year, and she still walks halfway to/from school with us. She even has her first cross country meet today! I’m so proud of how she’s handling this new independence, and I’m so relieved that I’m surviving, too. 😉

Lana’s “Roaring Start” day, where she went for about an hour and a half to meet her teacher and do some testing

I could tell the first couple days without her were weird for the other 4, so I didn’t make a big deal about anything that was happening, but they’ve gotten into our new groove, too. Morrison has some of his very best friends in his class again this year, and his teacher seems wonderful. Lana has an amazing group of girls in her class that I’m so happy she’s become friends with; she was thrilled to get a mirror and pen caddy for her locker this year, too; and her teacher is absolutely fantastic. This month Della does have cross country practice right after school, so she walks home from that on her own. I can’t even tell you how weird it is seeing her just strolling in the door by herself at about 4:45! But she has most Fridays off of practice and it’s only a month-long season, so she’ll get to meet back up with us on the walks home soon.

I’m not sure if it’s the third-grade daily processes at school, being closer to 9 now than 8, her specific teacher, or just the stars and all the cosmic juju finally aligning, but Lana has shown a new level of maturity these past couple weeks that I have never seen from her. They got an assignment notebook from school on the first day, and they are tasked with writing down all of their nightly “to-do’s,” checking off everything as they finish it, then dog-earing the pages as they complete them. She puts her nightly reading in there, she puts her piano practice in there (the girls started those lessons a few weeks ago and they are going great, too!), she puts emptying all her lunch containers in there, she puts any extra assignments they get in there, she puts any school project needs in there…it’s great. I can also tell that she’s taking pride in this, which is another thing you don’t often see manifesting from her. I can’t possibly begin to describe how proud I am of her. I’m not outwardly making a big deal out of this either, because I don’t want to hype it up so much that she shys away from this great work and routine she’s gotten in, but I did very nonchalantly let her know the other evening how happy I was watching her do her notebook and enjoying being in charge of herself like this. She has started wanting to push the stroller to and from school, too, which I just love.

The twins are still turds on the daily, but even they get in some awesome bouts of calm play time together, too. So there may be hope yet! I just can’t believe those little squirts will be following Lana and Morrison through the Cumberland doors next year, even if only for half the day. Watch out!

So here we are. My days seem just as busy as when all 5 were home for some reason, but I’m loving every one. I’m so happy they’re all safely back at school, and I just hope everyone stays healthy. The social distancing aspect is obvioulsy decreased this year with no virtual option and a full week schedule, but masks are still mandatory, drinking fountains are still off (bottle fillers are definitely on, though, so kids just need to bring thier own water bottles), and hand washing and sanitizing is constant. So fingers crossed that we avoid any quarantines or shut downs this year.

Happy back-to-school, my loves! This feels like it’s going to be a great year, and I just can’t wait to see where it takes each of you. I love you all so, so much!