The other boys posed for their annual "First Day of School" picture, too, even though they had been doing school at home for TEN days!! Samuel was very ready to get out of the house and be busy after playing by himself all those days that I was teaching Trevor and William.
I took him at about 8:30. When we got to the room, there was a sucker sitting at his seat! (That crazy teacher! If if was my class I would BAN all sugar. But it sure made the kids happy!) Samuel has really been enjoying school. He is always really reserved when he goes in the room, but the teacher, Mrs. Young, says he warms up fast and participates real well. (That's Mrs. Young in the Referee shirt...there was a "sports" theme for the first day of school:) Also, notice that all the kids are wearing red...they are learning their colors, so Mrs. Young sent home a schedule of what color to wear each day. Samuel thinks that's fun.
And here's a nice butterfly that Tim and the boys found in the garden. Well, I hope it's nice. I hope it's not laying eggs that will hatch caterpillars that will eat all our plants. Then it would be a bad butterfly, and I would go ahead and let William get his net, like he has been asking, and catch it and put it in a box. I've decided to give it the benefit of the doubt, though.
The boys were also excited about this...
Ever since we got our new desks, Trevor has been begging to move the furniture. He loves to rearrange, and this has given him extra inspiration. This morning, I asked him if he wanted to draw up a plan of what he would like to do with the room. He gave his typical nod, by which I could tell an idea was already emerging in his mind. Off he went. Not long later he came back with this drawing:
The 3 connected rectangles represent the bench and bookshelves at the far end of our school room. There is also a couch on the left side, and 2 chairs. You can see that Trevor had an unconventional layout for the room, as well as an interesting way of showing his plan. (I asked about the dots on the rounded rocking chair...he said those are the "buttons" on the back...)
Right about then, Tim came in, and I informed him of Trevor's plans. Rather than try to explain why the arrangement might not work, Tim decided to humor Trevor, and let him see for himself. He fully expected Trevor to realize that it just wasn't a convenient layout. He was wrong. After moving the furniture the the predestined locations, Trevor voiced his approval. It was just what he wanted... And here it is! Yes, the room really is as jumbled up as it looks! I'm planning on leaving it for awhile, hoping that Trevor will yet decide to try again.
Finally, I dug up my old pictures of the birds. I never got to show the grand finale! By day 13, the babies were looking like grown-up birds. They were crammed in that nest. It was hard to get a good picture because they were finally "camera shy".
On day 14, I noticed an awful lot of chirping in the porch. I looked out, and there were little birds all over the place! I couldn't get them all in one picture, but here is one of the mama trying to guide the babies out the window. She is in the bottom right corner, and 2 of the babies are by the screen to the left--one on the sill, and one near the top of the picture. The mama was hopping back and forth, chirp-chirp-chirping, trying to lead them out. 3 babies made it out fairly easily, but after close to 10 minutes, there were still 2 left. I was concerned that they would wear out, so I decided to help. We shoo-ed one out, but the other just wouldn't go. 
We finally caught it in a net, and let it out the window. It flew off right away, to some rather cheerful chirps out in the bushes. It sure was quiet and lonely after they left! I understand where the phrase "empty nest" comes from now...though I hope it won't feel like that when my boys "take off".
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