First day of school

I am a little delayed in posting these pictures from the first day of school. Life has been hectic and I don't have as much time to update our blog as I would like to. Amelia started 2nd grade this year, Paul started 1st grade, Adeline is in preschool and Stella is doing ECFE. They all really enjoy school, which is a blessing! I just hope their love for school continues through the years!

We are very blessed that Amelia has a great team at school this year, with moving up a grade, she got a brand new team of educators and they have been a huge asset to our family so far. We really liked her team last year, but this new team is amazing. Her speech pathologist is very knowledgeable and is great at her job. Her special education teacher is one of the kindest ladies I've ever met, she has reassured me more than once that I'm not a terrible parent and that we are doing the best that we can for Amelia. She said not many parents are as involved in their child's education as we are. Her classroom teacher is awesome, sweet and kind, just they type of teacher Amelia needs. I don't have any complaints about how 2nd grade is going for our sweet girl.

Paul loves first grade and the work he brings home shows it. He is excelling, which makes my heart sing with joy. We have conferences next week and I can't wait to hear his teacher's perspective about how things are going. Adeline LOVES preschool. She goes 3 days a week in the afternoons. She's making friends and learning a lot of new things. Addie is excited to share what she learned at school and is trying to teach Stella the things she's learned.

Stella and I go to ECFE (early childhood family education) on Friday mornings, Addie goes to work with Kevin and hangs out at the station while we are at school. Stella loves going to school, there are 8 kids in her class, which is a huge improvement from the 3-5 kids that were in her class last year. We only have a few more classes left in this session, it's nice for her to get out and interact with other kids. She always looks forward to going to school and is constantly asking when she can go to "EFG" again.

First day of school

Can you believe we sent two kids off to school this year?! Amelia went to first grade and Paul went to kindergarten. It's still hard for me to believe either of them should even be old enough to go to school. Their signs say what grade they are in, the date and what they want to be when they grow up. Paul wants to be a fisherman on the ocean and Amelia wants to be a nurse. I thought I'd try something new this year as a way to document how they change year to year.

I also had started this with Amelia when she started school, taking a picture of her standing in front of the street sign, it's fun each year to see how much taller she is. So I had to continue it with Paul. 

Pretty excited for school!

Getting on the school bus for the first day of Kindergarten. Paul rode the bus home last year from preschool. He LOVES riding the bus. We'll see how long that lasts!!

Both kids are rocking personalized Thirty-One backpacks this year! I let them pick the backpack they wanted, along with what they wanted for their personalization

 Addie and Stella were very excited to see the bus come after school, they missed the big kids during the day! We had to wait outside for the bus to come!

Everyone was so excited after school!

Addie was pretty excited to see her big sister and big brother!

They both had a great first day of school. Paul really loves routine and was more than ready to head to school this year. We have conferences in a few weeks, I can't wait to hear what his teacher has to say. He has the same teacher Amelia had last year, we really like her and I think she's a good fit for Paul. Hard to believe we're already about a month and a half into the school year. I keep saying I'm going to get our blog up to date, but so far I'm failing at that!

First Day of Kindergarten Connection

Paul had his first day of preschool on Wednesday, September 21st. So far he LOVES it and asks daily if he can go to school. Hopefully his love for school continues once he starts kindergarten next year!

First day of school...

Well we have officially survived the first week of school and are now onto week 2. Amelia is doing fantastic this year and it makes my heart sing with joy to see her work come home this year. As some of you may know we decided to hold Amelia back another year and have her do kindergarten again. We had to make our decision back in March at conferences, it wasn't a easy decision to make. Probably the most difficult decision we've ever had to make since we became parents. Amelia struggled so much last year and I struggle to share this with our readers because I don't want to be judged on my parenting. I feel felt like a terrible parent for even having to hold my child back, I felt there was something Kevin and I didn't do to help her along the way. Amelia is very shy in new situations and has a difficult time adjusting, pair that with lots of big HUGE changes in our lives last year when school started. I quit my job a couple weeks before school started, Stella was born the second day of school, meaning Grandma got her on the bus Thursday and Friday while I was in the hospital and the whole following week, we didn't really get to establish a good routine until about the 3rd week of school. Hearing that my daughter was struggling in school was very difficult to swallow. She started special ed in December, I hate those words "special ed", one more thing to make me feel like a failure as a parent. I finally came to terms with our decision in June, then I started having a difficult time with it about the time classroom assignments were mailed out and then parents of classmates/friends from kindergarten started posting their child's first grade teacher assignments and it knocked me right down to the ground again, I started feeling sad for Amelia that she wasn't going onto first grade with the rest of her friends. I ignored every mom who asked me who her first grade teacher was, I just didn't have it in me to tell them that she wasn't going to first grade. I know I shouldn't care what other people think, but this is one thing that is a huge struggle for me. Now that school is into full swing, Kevin and I are seeing Amelia make great strides and it's definitely making us feel better about our decision, she is doing wonderful so far and it's great to see the improvement she has made since last year. The hardest part now is when we congratulate her on doing well on something is her asking if she can go to first grade now, that breaks my heart to pieces. Great thing is, she's making new friends, seems to really enjoy her new teacher and is becoming a little less shy.

Here are some pictures of our sweet girl on her first day of school. I just love her! She loves to wear dresses and loves this pair of "jegs" (jeggings) as she calls them.

Thank you for all your love and support with our decision, you all know who you are.

Last Day of School!

Here is Amelia on the first day of school...

And the last day of school...

I just love seeing the difference from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. It's amazing how much they change in such a short amount of time. Now if I can only remember to do this every year with all the kids we'll be in good shape! :)

First Day of Kindergarten!

Our big girl Amelia started Kindergarten today! She was so excited when she woke up this morning, in fact she came down to our room at 3:30 am after she went to the bathroom and crawled in bed with me. I had to really talk her into going back to sleep, she wanted to talk about school, I think she finally fell asleep at 4:30.

Amelia before heading out the door!

Waiting for Bus Driver Bob

She looks a little scared but she really was excited!

Getting on the big school bus for the first time!

Yay! She did it---no tears for Amelia or Mom!

Amelia is the Class of 2023....how weird is that?!

Our Little Lamber

This is Amelia's second and last year as a Little Lamb. She is attending the  local Catholic school for preschool. The preschool program is called "Little Lambs", but the older students call them "Lambers." This year she is going two days a week, all day. From 8:10-2:30. She goes Mondays and Wednesdays. Mondays I will drop her off and pick her up. Wednesday, due to my work schedule, Kevin will take her and then she'll go to the after school care and I will pick her up when I get off work.

Sounds like drop off and pick up went well today. Kevin said she was a little nervous at first, but she did great. Her teacher had a funeral go to go today, so she was only there part of the day and they had a substitute most of the day. When Kevin picked her up, he talked to Sister Mary Margaret, who is the principal and she said Amelia was a little clingy to the teacher until lunch time, then Sister saw her at lunch and asked her if she'd like help getting her food, and so Sister helped her and then she saw Madison, our little neighbor girl, she's in kindergarten and then they ate lunch together and played on the playground together.

I know the days will get easier for her. I still am having a hard time believing she'll be in kindergarten next year!

Click here for last years first day of school picture!
Paul was upset this morning that Amelia was going to school, because he wanted to go to Mimi's school too!
I said to him "Paul, what do you have to do to go to school too?"
Paul: "Not wear diapers. I need my unders, I want to wear unders like daddy's"
Me: "Well, you go potty all day at Kim's and then we'll talk tonight" (I was on my way out the door!)
Paul: "No mom, I need my unders like daddys"
Me: "How about some pull ups?"
He agreed and took them to daycare, got to daycare and told Kim "I brought my big boy pull ups so I can go potty"
Sounds like the pull ups stayed in the diaper bag the whole time!! Someday he'll decide to be potty trained!

Amelia's First Day of Preschool!

I just dropped Amelia off for her first day of preschool! She was really excited about it, until we got there, then she was a bit apprehensive. Her teacher took her hand to take her to play with the other kids, so hopefully she'll be okay! Kevin is picking her up at 11:00 am. I'll update later how her day was! Off to work!! Enjoy the pics! :)

Outside her new classroom!

*Update on Pauly.

Paul headed off to daycare by himself for the very first time today!! I called Kevin on my way to work to see how he did. This is what he told me. They got to daycare and he got Paul out of the truck and...

• Paul said "Where's MiMi?"
• Kevin said "She's at preschool"
• Paul: "Why?"
• Kevin: "Because she is."
• Paul: "Okay!"

That was it! He was perfectly fine with her going!
11:18 A.M.: Just heard from Kevin. Sounds like she did great! She was over needing mommy about two minutes after I left! She asked to go potty 3 times, her teacher thinks that was just nerves, said a lot of the kids asked to go potty a lot! They were headed back to the station, he was making hot dogs for lunch then taking her to Kim's for the afternoon! I think next week will go even smoother!