First Day of Kindergarten!!!

 

Today was Olivia's first day of school!  Wow - I've been thinking about this day all summer, and I can hardly believe it arrived so quickly.  Hard to believe I started teaching again too, of course - summer goes so fast.  Liv's been pretty excited about school, and her excitement level ramped up even more a few weeks ago when we tried on all her school uniforms and created a "school drawer," but I was curious to see if this excitement would stay strong when the day actually arrived.  Well, she was up at 6:15, dressed shortly there after, and asking me when the bus was going to come by 7:00 - 7:35 was slow to arrive!  A couple of weeks ago, we got together for a trip to Phelps Park and Whippy Dip with Olivia's neighborhood "bus buddy" - a 6th grader around the block who also goes to St. Ben's.  Liv totally took to her.  Once we got out to the bus stop (our corner), Liv was a bit quiet, but when the bus arrived it was so sweet to see her let go of my hand, grab hold of Ava's, and climb on the bus without any noticeable hesitation.  I had a few tears in my eyes, but I think I hid them pretty well.  Oh, how I wish I could be a fly on the wall in her classroom!  :)

 

Liv's at the top of the stairs.

You can see she's holding hands with Ava still.  :)

Olivia's First Day Comments:  It was super fun!  She loved riding the bus, said Mrs. Kuennen was really nice and that she got to have crackers and milk for snack and a hamburger for lunch in addition to going outside for two recesses!  Also mentioned were the fact that they got to work on handwriting and numbers, that they do hard "things," that one kid got moved down on the "behavior lily pad," that they sang "Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory, Glory," and that she had a boy teacher for PE today but that she couldn't remember his name.  And, since she and Grace have been playing school ever since we got home, I'm guessing she had a good time.  :)  Oh, and she also told me she'd like to go back tomorrow!

Random Fact:  At Olivia's 5 year-old-check, she looked great, weighed in at 37.5 pounds, and was exactly 42 inches tall.  She also somehow managed to be both conversational and fake-shy with the doctor.  :)

Today was also Grace's open house for the 3-4 year old preschool at Saint Ben's.  She was excited to wear her backpack, but not excited about having to wear something other than dress-up clothes and/or a leotard and swimsuit with pants.  Sigh.  I've got some ideas to work on her motivation to get dressed in the morning without a fuss - I'll keep you posted.  Grace will officially start preschool next Tuesday.  She'll go two mornings a week from 8:15-11:00.  (I'll have to try for another picture next week since she was all about silly faces this morning.)

Grace's First Day Comments:  Grace told me she wanted to stay at preschool and not go to Shannon's anymore.  She also said she played with lunch toys and baby toys and with her friend Maggie.  I imagine I'll learn more in the future!