First Day of School

It's back to school for everyone!  After a super fun and busy summer, we are back to a routine...  Let's start with Trevor:

Trevor started his second year of preschool with Teacher Cathy.  We love her!  It is a little strange that this will be our last year with a child in her class...  As expected, I drove up to the house, and Trevor did NOT want me to get out.  He is big and can hop out of the car and ring the doorbell without me!  So I had to let him have his independent moment, then get out to take pictures.   

Charlotte is a big 2nd grader!  Her teacher is Mrs. Nethercut (that's who we were hoping for) and she has some of her best friends in her class.  And as you can see, she FINALLY lost her top front tooth the week before school!  

And Mr. Scott...  He's in 4th grade!  He has Mr. Haskins, which will be his first male teacher.  So far we are both very impressed.  Scott's best friends are also in his class, so he is thrilled.

Now 3 days into the week and all the kids are happy and excited to be back!  I love our school :)

Another First Day of School!

Scott and Charlotte are off to 3rd and 1st grade!  Charlotte still hasn't quite figured out how to smile normal since her tooth fell out...  They are both really excited for another year at JAA! After the tears and sobbing during the last day of school in June (I'll post about that later...maybe...), it was wonderful to see them counting down the days and SO enthusiastic about going back.

My Trevor

Yes, it has been a while...  But time to start again!  So I'm going for quick, short posts so I won't feel required to either document everything, or nothing at all.

I don't think I have written a full post about Trevor...  But I have PLENTY of stories about that funny little kid.  I recently showed this picture of my kids to a friend who knew nothing of my kids' personalities:

He first guessed Scott was our athlete (maybe he meant mathlete), and Charlotte was the princess.  Then about Trevor, he said, "I think I want to party with that kid!"  Very accurate...  He is definitely going to be the life of the party everywhere he goes.  So my little Trevor went off to his first day of preschool at Teacher Cathy's house.  He has been waiting anxiously for this moment for a long time.  Can you tell?

He was a bit annoyed that I made him stop and take pictures, then he ran right in the house and didn't even look back to say goodbye!  But then the best part was that Scott and Charlotte were up at Grandma's house, so I went home to a QUIET, EMPTY house!  Amazing what I was able to accomplish in 2 hours.

Surfin' USA

Scott's school did their annual dance show last night and it was awesome! Grandma was especially excited to see him dancing to a song from her generation. I do think it is pretty cool that my kids love the Beach Boys and Beatles...

The kid right in front of Scott in the video is Connor, his BFF:

Off to First Grade

Scott is officially a first grader! He has been SO excited for SO long that is has been hard to wait for the big day. He woke up at 6:30am, early for him (and me) and got in the shower without any prompting from me. And at 8:20am, we were ready to go -- complete with helmet, scooter, lunch and Phineas and Ferb backpack.

Too bad the first 105+ degree day just happens to be today...

So after school, I didn't get many details. All he would tell me was that he had 3 recesses, and if he comes to school early, he can have a 4th... But he did say he really liked it, his teacher is nice, he made a new friend, and is excited to go back tomorrow. I guess that's all I can ask for!

First day of preschool (year #2)

Charlotte has been so excited to go back to Teacher Cathy's for preschool! I convinced her to wear a matching outfit this morning, but I'm guessing most outfits for the rest of the school year will be much more creative... My little girl is getting so big!

The Big Preschool Show

Charlotte wrapped up her first year of preschool last week! Her little class did a show, and like I expected, she did NOT want to participate. But at least she stood... wait... at least she sat next to her classmates while the rest of them sang cute songs and did the alphabet. Very adorable. I would post the video, but there's not much to see if you are hoping for Charlotte to do anything. My mom reminds me frequently that I was the same way in preschool, and somehow I managed to turn out ok (sort of).

I've said it before, and it won't be the last time you'll read it -- We love Teacher Cathy! Can't wait for another year (and 2 more after that with Trevor)!

Scott's big dance performance

At the end of Scott's first year of preschool, he absolutely did not want to participate in the little show his class did at the end of the year. He sat on my lap watching the whole time. After year two of preschool, he reluctantly participated. It required quite a bit of bribery to get him to stand up with his class and sing. Remember 'So I Wanna be a Dog'? So when I found out the classes at his school would each learn a dance and perform for all the parents, I was pretty sure he would NOT be willing to do it. After all, he wouldn't get up in front of 16 parents, so I figured dancing in front of a few hundred people was a LONG shot. But the day before the big show, he was SO excited! Scott kept telling me how much he liked doing the dance and couldn't wait for us to see it. And here was the big dance! I was so proud...

This isn't the best video (I have a better on on my video camera), but look for Scott behind the kid on the far right.

Thanksgiving Feast

Scott had a little preview of Thanksgiving today! In anticipation of the big kindergarten feast, Scott was very nervous about the whole event because he was afraid he would have to eat a bunch of food he hates (or that he hasn't ever tried). I convinced him that it would be fun and all he would have to eat would be a roll. Bread is usually safe... I felt better as I was helping to set up and heard several other parents comment that they didn't expect their children to eat anything except the roll and maybe applesauce. So Scott isn't the only picky child in the universe!

All the cute pilgrims and Indians came into the multi-purpose room and sat down to a beautiful meal! Unfortunately most of the food was thrown away, but the rolls were a hit. Good thing I brought 36 for a class of 21!

My Big Kindergartener

Someday I will look back and think Scott was so little at this age! But right now I look at this photo and think he looks BIG... My kids are growing up so quickly... Time isn't going to slow down, is it?

Kindergarten follow-up

Scott has now completed 9 days of kindergarten. I know, because he tells me every day what number day he is on... So far, he LOVES it! I don't get many details about what he does in class (clearly a trait inherited from Drew), but what I do hear is all positive. He has a cute friend in class named Conner, and they have already had a couple of play-dates together. I'm encouraging this friendship because Conner's mom is awesome!

Right after I picked him up from the first day of school, I took him to get a doughnut, hoping he might tell me a little more about his day. So here are some photos and the first-day report:

Scott's in Kindergarten!

It's 10:40am, Scott is in kindergarten, Charlotte is in preschool and Trevor is asleep. What do I do with myself??? WOW - so many emotions today...

I guess I'll begin with this... 30 years ago, this was me getting on the bus going to my first day of kindergarten and waving goodbye to my mom.

And now it's my turn to send my oldest off to kindergarten... I understand how my mom probably felt as she took that picture. We arrived at school and Scott hopped out of the car with his sweet Lightning McQueen backpack. Since Scott's classroom is a little further back behind the school gates, his teacher meets the kids out front, lines everyone up, then they walk back to their class together - without parents. Scott was quiet but not hesitant at all about getting in line with the other kids. I didn't think I would be emotional at all, but when Mrs. Cain started walking away with the kids and I just watched Scott and his backpack heading off to school, at that moment I was glad I had my sunglasses on.




We came home, then I took Charlotte off to preschool. She looked lovely today in her Hawaii dress on backwards (technically a nightgown, but don't tell her) and a princess necklace. I did talk her out of the green 'crown' (headband), pink dress-up high heels and black sequin purse. After dropping her off, I can home to a VERY quiet house and just had this cute face to look at:


Then Trevor went down for a nap and it was REALLY quiet! And at that point there were no more tears...

Charlotte's first day of preschool

What an exciting day! Before I give my account of Charlotte's first day of preschool, here is the report directly from her:

She of course looked adorable. She decided to wear her blue dress with her butterfly flip-flops. They didn't quite match, but that was something I wasn't willing to fight. At least she let me do her hair the way I wanted. The trick to get her to let me do her hair is to ask her which princess she wants to look like each day. Today was 'Snow White hair with 2 Belle rings', and I interpret that as pigtails. Thanks to Aunt Kelly for that stroke of parenting genius.

Grandma came for the big even since she couldn't stand not to be there... So Daddy, Mommy, Grandma, Scott and Trevor all accompanied her to Miss Cathy's. She was just a bit shy when I took her inside, but I was able to leave without any tears (from either of us) or complaints.

She came home with her cute gumball "candelar", or calendar if you need translation. Although if you ask her, the stickers are just dots, not gumballs. I'm pretty excited that I will be picking up Charlotte from preschool each day, since I have high hopes that she will actually tell me about what they do in class, rather than Scott's pitiful accounts. Usually all he would tell me was what they had for snack and if they found any of those silly little colored balls in the back yard. So here are few more photos from the big day:

Counting the days...

Charlotte is just a little excited to start preschool at "Ms. Caffy's" (or Cathy's if you can pronounce 'th') this Thursday. I'm pretty excited, too!

And she is also totally ready for story time. A couple of days ago, I found her reading a story to her ice cream cones. Can you tell that her grandmother was an elementary school librarian?

Scott's Preschool Extravaganza

Scott just finished his second year of preschool with Miss Cathy, and last Friday was the big show for all the parents. Last year, Scott was not so excited to be a part of it all. He sat on my lap the whole time refusing to participate. This year was a different story. He didn't necessarily participate fully in the whole performance, but he did at least stand up there with the other kids. And he did sing along with his favorite song - 'I want to be a dog'. Yea! Scott really has come so far in these two years with Cathy and I am so grateful to her for the amazing love and patience she had shown towards my sweet little boy.

It is hard to believe we are only a couple of months away from kindergarten...

Not quite Mary Lou Retton...

Starting a couple months ago, Scott and Charlotte began attending gymnastics class at The Little Gym. I guess it isn't so much gymnastics class as it is basic coordination and following instructions class. They both love it! Charlotte's class starts by singing a song while shaking bells. Then it ends with bubbles and stamps on hands, feet, and tummy. Those are her absolute favorite parts. So I hear quite often during the week, "Let's go to class and do stamps and bells and bubbles!" Charlotte gets a C+ for following instructions, but she is very good at swinging from the bars.

Stamps!!! By the way, that is a cow on her shirt... Just ask her.

Scott's class is especially fun, because all his friends (Rebekah, Zach, Ryan and Molly) are there, too. When Scott actually listens to the instructor and is not preoccupied with being silly with Zach, he does a pretty good job!

Last week was his very favorite because they did whale rides:

Back to Preschool!

Scott has been counting down the days to August 11th ever since his last day of preschool back in May... The day finally arrived! He was SO excited when we pulled up to Miss Cathy's house that the second I unbuckled him, he sprinted out of the car and up to to the door where (surprisingly) he rang the doorbell and waited patiently for Miss Cathy to open it. The second that door was open, he raced in, jumped on the floor to kick off his super-sweet black and white checkered Vans (thanks Aunt Kelly and Uncle Jeff!) and ran off to find his friends and play. There was no hesitation or even a look back at me to suggest a "Bye, Mommy. I'll miss you."

I figure I better enjoy this stage while he is SO enthusiastic about going to school...

And when I got back in the car, poor little Charlotte had one sad tear streaming down her face, and all she could say was, "Where's Scott? I want Miss Cappy." Sorry, cute girl! You have to wait one more year...