First day of First Grade FAIL!!

Today was the day.

It was the day I randomly picked to start first grade for the boys. (And a bit of pre-kindergarten for Abigail.)

We actually homeschooled through the summer but just small bits: two hours of day of things they could do without Mom needing to teach them anything: reading, math review, geography etc.

So, okay, today is the day. Only last night JB realizes we are out of feed for the ducks and geese. We have been researching other options, but currently, the only place we can buy feed is in Knoxville (about 1:15 away.)

Since we are also low on groceries, a decision is made that I will take the girls first thing in the morning and do our monthly "Knoxville Run." This includes: (a) the farmer's co-op (b) Kroger (c) Costco (d) gas (e) Whole foods.

All righty. So here we go. To say this day was an absolute failure would be putting it lightly. But I'll prove it to you.

The plan: Wendi drive to Knoxville with girls while JB does preliminary "easy" homeschool things at home. Wendi come back after lunch and do the 1 hour of "teaching" that I was planning on beginning today.

JB decided to bookmark the places I needed to go in my phone just to help me out. So sweet. Only ... he messed up. 

• So first I go to the feed-store without any issue. Only problem? They are completely out of the feed I need.
• Then I head to what is supposed to be "Kroger" in my phone. On my way there I think to myself, "This doesn't seem like the way I used to go." But I am new to this part of the country and still figuring it out and in my mind I say, "My husband never makes mistakes." (He really barely ever does!)
• On my way there, I miss my exit and have to go to the next one. Seven extra miles.
• I pull up at Kroger to see that JB has taken me to a Publix. NOT the same thing. (Kroger has some specific organic products that really cut down our costs.)
• I call JB. I am very frustrated. He pulls up the Kroger address and sends me there. It is 18 minutes away! I get there and realize he has sent me to a "Yucky" Kroger that doesn't have many of the products I need. Not only that but it is 20 minutes away from Costco. 
• (The actual Kroger/Costco combination I needed were RIGHT down the street from the Publix.)
• So now I have lost a total of an hour. JB and I have a fight on the phone. I am near tears for the hour I have lost. Abigail needs to poop. Hannah is repeating, without ceasing, "I get out of the car now. I get out of the car now." And as I get off the phone, I grab my forehead and say rather loudly, "Oh my gosh."
• I am so frustrated that I don't even crack a smile when Hannah starts saying, over and over again. "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh." Yeah, mom-of-the-year right there.
• So I head back where I came from and do my Kroger/Costco combination. I realize that I left my Kroger card at home, and so I have to figure out a way to get gas and groceries by pulling up my card on my phone. (Never knew that was possible.)
• I am THRILLED that our organic milk, which is normally $3.53 a half gallon is 2 for $4. So I clean them out. 15 half gallons of milk. On the way to the car I drop one and it breaks. So much for savings. (I did manage to figure out a way to cradle it until we got home and not lose much!)
• I just skip Whole Foods altogether. 
• I'm home too late for Hannah to take a nap. Big-time ouch!

So that was my day. Hopefully the boys had a better day. I get home, walk in the house, and ask the boys how they did on their schoolwork. They are on the second thing on their list of six items! It was a big miscommunication where the grandparents took them to the library, I thought JB was going to give them things to do in the truck on the way back and forth, and Dad and Mom had no idea anything needed to be done.

JB comes in from doing work on the farm, and I ask him if he can watch Hannah for an hour so I can do the big assignment with Hannah. At this point:

• Abigail is sobbing because Sidge used her kitty sticker on his paper.
• Hannah is on top of the dining room table holding play dough.
• Isaac is crying because he doesn't feel he had any free time to get any "lego work" done.
• Sidge is getting into a fight with Isaac and pummeling him. (I'm still not sure what happened here. I turned it over to my hubby.)

Grama is cooking lasagna, and despite being a mom of six children, she turns to me and says, "This is insane. I would have run for the hills an hour ago!"

But my wise husband just pulls me aside and said, "Let's scratch this day!"

"Scratch it?" I ask. "I have a plan! I have their assignments all set up."

"Yeah, and it was a big-time fail today. Bad communication between all of us. This is miserable. Let's just pretend this didn't happen and make the first day of school tomorrow."

Okay. Okay. Done.

You can see how well the day went by our "First day of school" pictures I tried to take. 

Oh and did I tell you all I realized, upon returning home, that my shirt was on inside-out all day?