Mator's First Day

Last week, my just barely three year old Mator had her first day of preschool. This is a one day a week preschool sponsored by our local parks and rec called Alley Park Kids. Doodle did this a few years ago and it was a great way to get used to being away from home, working with other kids and following directions. Plus, it is a lot of fun!

Mator has been having some "issues" with leaving us lately. I think it is just related to all the changes in her life-moving to a big girl bed, getting rid of binkies and potty training-but she doesn't do very well when we leave her somewhere. In fact, she tends to be that kid whose cries escalate to a scream and they have to be removed from the classroom so that the teacher doesn't lose her hearing and the other kids don't misinterpret her tears to mean, "Hey guys, why don't you cry too? It is SOOOO much fun!"

So after we dropped off the big sisters we headed over to Alley Park (or snake school as her friend from church who also goes there calls it). She was very excited, and in fact had been counting down the days for two weeks. Here she is right outside the school.
Here she is right INSIDE the school. Notice the different smile. The nervous smile. The "you said you would stay with me the first day and you really meant that, right?" smile
Here she is waiting for the first activity. This smile is either still pretty nervous or something like, "Are you ever going to stop taking pictures? I mean seriously, I just took three steps and sat at this table. Whoopty-crap!"And this is at Mc Donalds after school-we're back to a real smile:
Doggone, she's cute, if I do say so. And no tears. Yet. This week I'm going to leave for part of the class. Stay tuned!

First Day-Kindergarten and Third Grade

This year's first day of school, I had two lovely ladies ready and eager to go (well one was eager the other was tolerant). I made the brilliant decision to put an alarm clock in the girls' room and that has been wonderful. It goes off at 6:50 and so far, they have gotten themselves up and at 'em.

Muffin's teacher seems to be so kind and caring. The fact that she also has an interest in photography make it extra nice! Muffin is in the co-op this year which means that she goes in and does regular third grade in the morning (Bible, math, english and spelling) and then I pick her up either before lunch or after lunch / recess (our choice) and we come home and homeschool for science, social studies and reading. Muffin, although doing very well in school, has always had a desire to homeschool. Last year the school started offering the co-op option so we thought this would be a good way to try it out. We are on day six today and so far it has been pretty great. Well, the first two days we didn't do anything at home because Doodle had only half days. This week has been pretty awesome for me and good for Muffin too.

Here she is with two of her best friends, Caitlin and Olivia who are also doing the co-op.And this is her wonderul teacher, Mrs. Thompson.

Doodle was very excited and I think a little nervous although there were no tears (at least on her end!) on the first day or subsequent days. She was very proud of the fact that she went across the monkey bars on her very first day! Her teacher is Mrs. Bennett and is well known for being super-sweet and very musical. What a great match for Doodle! She also happened to be Ben and Will's(my nephews) teacher so that makes her cool too!

Here are Doodle and Mrs. Bennett just before mommy started bawling and had to leave the building Doodle embarked on her first year of elementary school.
This shot is actually from the second day of school. Since both girls were done by lunch time, we had the whole afternoon and spent a few hours swimming at the pond. Then we came home, had showers and ate dinner. Doodle had just finished her dessert when she passed out while sitting in the barstool at the table! They were watching TV and Andy said he watched her just crash. Now that's a good day!

Big Girl on the Bus

Some days everything seems to work out well. You get the kids to school on time, have a nice balance of play time/get some work done time, serve a relatively healthy lunch, spend some quality time with neglected third child, and a public entity does something they didn't have to. Today is one of those days. What made it so smooth was the the F.U. bus brought Doodle (and Muffin) home from school today. Even though Doodle is in preschool, they were willing to do it. I am really thankful when someone considers a situation with reason and makes a decision rather than just saying "no" because it is easier for them. That's what Rhonda at the bus barn did for us and it saves us time and money (gas). Doodle not only loves school, but got to take the snack bucket today and then ride the bus home. For her, life doesn't get any better!

Now we're heading out to church for AWANA. I feel so "lucky" today. Seriously, does anyone really believe that all these great things happen because of LUCK? I praise God when He intervenes in a way in my life that makes me appreciate all the good He's given. Now, when He intervenes in a way that is harder and teaches me something else, I'll look back at this post and say, "God is good-All the time." (Thanks to Pastor Beckett for that one!)

First Day of Second Grade

Well, the day that I've avoided thinking about since the last day of first grade arrived today. Bright and early. When my alarm went off at 6:30 (I slept in for the first day) I actually thought-"Why aren't I homeschooling?". But I dragged everyone else out of bed at 7:00 and it wasn't too horrible. Andy even met us at the school as a surprise to Muffin. I wasn't sure how a big 7 1/2 year old would handle getting her picture taken at the school and with the teacher and at her desk but she was a champ. I daresay she even enjoyed it. Here is a picture I snapped on the front porch. Notice little sister in the back window desperately wanting to join us. The was such a visual metaphor for the was it was for both sisters that I thought it was perfect.
After dropping Grace off, Emma, Katy and I got in the van and as she buckled her seatbelt, the reality of her (Emma) situation must have hit her like a ton of bricks. She asked, "Who am I going to play with?" as if she had never considered this aspect of Grace going back to school. Poor thing. If I were a really great mom I would have prepared for this situation by setting up a play date for today. As it was, I set one up for tomorrow and we went to the grocery store instead.
At one point in the store I was standing about ten feet away from the cart selecting ice cream when I hear Emma scream and yell, "Stop it". I don't even turn around. I'm perfectly aware that Katy just injured her in some way but come on-I've got important decisions to make- mint chocolate chip or cookie dough? Two seconds later, "OW!! Emma hit me." OK, fine-mint chocolate chip AND cookie dough. The lady coming down the aisle towards us is chuckling and I am in a good enough mood to joke with her, "Sure, YOU think it's funny because it's not YOUR kids." She smiled and said it reminded of her of her childhood with her brother.
I got to pick Muffin up from school today and she was all abuzz (for her). We went to the bookstore to get her a Bible for school and she was so chatty about school. It turns out they had 3 recesses instead of two and she told me exactly how long each one lasted, who she played with (Caitlin, Heather and Renee) and which cousins she saw (both Jared and Will). She told me the details about lunch and the accumulation of stars by the class to earn a party. I was really proud of her because I had asked her to try and include the new girl (Heather) when they played and she had actually done it! I know that isn't easy for her either. She was a regular chatterbox compared to normal so I was loving it.
We have really had a good month of talking and getting along and I'm thankful for that development. I pray that it will continue even as school starts and she gets more tired and we see less of each other.