The New Mayo

 

This marks the end of our first week of school.  Last weekend we worked at Mayo to help get it ready for the first day.  They moved buildings and the new building was quite old and needed a lot of renovation.  But it is a beautiful building and we are so lucky to be in it.

The call went out for volunteers over a week ago and Mike answered the call.  He was invaluable to all the teachers and staff at the school.  All weekend long I heard, "has anyone seen Emma Jane's dad?", "oh, you should ask Emma Jane's dad to fix that, he can do it."

We all went up and chipped in but Mike put in more than his fair share.

The girls unpacked boxes, scraped stickers off lockers, and fetched snacks for the teachers.

And if you know me at all, you know I LOVE School Supplies!  (I was accused once of becoming a teacher just for the school supplies.)

All the pencils sharpened to a fine point.  All the crayons in every color.  The markers still have ink and the correct lids on them!  All those primary colors! 

And all the books ready to be read to eager children sitting "criss-cross applesause" in a circle around a nurturing teacher who knows all their names and sings songs and gets down on their level.

After a full weekend of working the school had it's grand opening on Monday morning.  It was quite an event!  Lucy was so happy and excited to be going to her "sissy's school".  She was a little intimidated by the hoopla surrounding the grand opening.  There were television news crews and music and people talking on a PA system and lots of cheering.  It was not the best way for a little girl who doesn't like crowds or noise to start school.  But it was the perfect way to start off the school year for the rest of us.

Here is sweet Lucy on her very first day of big girl school.  Pre-K here we come!

And both of my beautiful girls in our front yard.

And here is Emma Jane's best friend Sophie too!  Two of the smartest and prettiest 4th graders I have ever known.

Then we all drove to school.  I have this exact same picture of Emma Jane with her dad 5 years ago.

 I love the community of Mayo.  We have the best teachers and parents.  I am so proud of how we all came together to get the barn raised.  It takes a village to raise a child or open a school.

It is going to be a great year!