Back to School

Yes, it's that time of year again. The warm sunlit days of summer are beginning to wane into fall. The air is beginning to feel crisp in the morning and evening, and the sun dares not to peek his head up too soon in the morning, nor stay up too late. So it is for my children, as well. Lexie and Gavin are up early for school, but barely want to open their eyes and muster their strength to get up for a day of filling their eager little minds with knowledge.

School began midway through August for us, which was not any too soon for me. I honestly gave everything I had to making summertime a veritable whirlwind of fun, creative and educational experiences for my kids. And by August I was feeling a bit burned out. But what a summer we've had! And now it's time to move forward with a routine. Ah, sweet routines! Mothers everywhere breathe a sigh of contentment as we can put our craziness into some sort of functionality. With the older kids in school, I suddenly have more quality time with Cole, and that has been very good for both of us. And Avery is getting a nap schedule for probably the first time in her life, which is great for all of us. Of course we still love to spend time with the whole family together, but school is that magical awareness that helps initialize a child's mind and prompts it to grow in so many ways. Despite all of our activities and outings, the kids were stir crazy at home. And so we sing and hustle off in the morning, "Back to school!"Lexie just began third grade and is fully enthralled with her new class. She is finally in a class where her teacher really gives her challenges and lets her think creatively and she loves it. I love Lexie's teacher, she is very excited about teaching and also willing to get the kids to stretch themselves. Lexie's attitude about school has greatly improved and she flutters through the concepts and material with delight. We are very excited about this year for her.
Gavin is now in school all day as a first grader, and has so far enjoyed the experience. Gavin's teacher is so very nice, and keeps class fun. Unfortunately for Gavin, his first day was a bit of a sting...he was stung twice by a hornet above and below his eye at recess. That was definitely not an ideal first day, but he was super tough and didn't cry at all. It is always interesting to hear his account of things, as this six year old has such funny takes on life. We enjoy hearing what happened in class and what new activities went on at recess.
A few days after Lexie and Gavin started elementary school, Cole began preschool. The first day was good, although he was a bit quiet and apprehensive. Despite the jitters, Cole has talked about preschool for a good year. Every time Gavin would leave to go to Kindergarten last year, Cole would stand at the door and wish he could go to school, too. He has talked about it constantly over the summer, and has been the only one truly excited to start school. (It has definitely been the major motivator for potty training him over the last month, too.) While we have had some rough days when he hasn't wanted me to leave him at school, or had some conflicts with the other kids over toys, every day is a bit better and he is coming out of his shell gradually.
And we can't leave Avery out! Life is school for this little darling. In this picture she learns to eat by herself...or at least how cool mac & cheese feels when squished all over her. Avery will eat just about any food we eat. I usually mash it all up together, but she eats it! She is learning new words, one of the cutest being "uh oh," when she drops something. Avery also stands. She keeps pulling herself up to standing with the help of stationary objects, but today she stood up from a crouching position a couple of times without any help. She is not sure about taking steps, yet, but it will not be very long! Avery loves to cruise around the house and open cupboards and get into things. She has to taste everything to figure it out, and she loves to look at books. We love our sweet busy girl!

Back to School

School started back up the end of August. Lexie and Gavin definitely had mixed feelings about the end of nonstop playtime in the summer, but looked forward to friends and fun experiences in school. Lexie jumped right into 2nd grade with no fear, but just excitement that she already had several friends in her class. (Do we really have a 2nd grader?!)
We really look forward to Lexie's school year this year and know her teacher is great!
Here she is with her class already diving into her school day and getting down to business on the first day of school. She was a pro and things are going well.
The Kindergarteners started their first day a week later than the rest of the students. Gavin was excited, but was just overall pretty laid back about the whole experience. I asked him what his favorite part of Kindergarten was, and he said "Recess."
Here is Gavin with his teacher. She has lots of fun things planned for the class this year and Gavin is excited.
Gavin knew right what to do when I walked him in: he hung up his jacket, put his backpack on his chair, and got to work writing his name. He is liking school and things are going well. Another one off to school! Sweet little Kindergartener!
Lexie had her friends over one day and they decided to have a fashion show. It was so cute how they all chose their own style and made up this elaborate story to go with their play. They wanted me to take pictures, too. Go, little fashionistas!

Yes, We Are Moving On

Danny finished his last class of law school one week ago! We are joyfully anticipating graduation in just over two weeks, but we are working like crazy. Why? Graduation means moving on, and I can't believe it is our time to go. I have seen many friends move away each year, on to their new lives and adventures. And having those memories still so fresh in my mind, it is incredible our time has now arrived. These law school years have been a good time for us, and we have definitely grown closer as a family while we've lived in Omaha.

So what now? We are greatly blessed that Danny has work in Salt Lake. We are actually heading back to our old home there, as well. (We have been renting it for three years.) We weren't sure if this is how things would work out, but they have fallen into place and we are so grateful. Danny's bar review classes start just two days after graduation, so we are doing the crazy thing and moving out on graduation day.

Right now we are fixing up the last few things in our townhouse and packing, organizing, and cleaning. The clock is certainly ticking! So to all we have missed lately, if you are in Utah, you'll have to come by and say hi when we arrive!

Big Pre-K Man

Gavin started Pre-K on Thursday. (It differs from regular preschool because it is half a day every day, to prep for the all-day Kindergarten here.) Gavin wanted to wear the new shirt his Grammy had sent him, and his brand new shoes. He has been walking to school with me to take and pick up Lexie all week, and was very excited when it was finally his turn to go.

That is...excited until we got to his classroom. Then he was all sorts of nervous! He is usually my one to just jump in and go, but it probably is intimidating to go to the "big school," with all the "big kids." This is his classroom, with fun center activities. There were many activities the kids had to wait to do, so Gavin was a bit unsure because he could not just go play. But by the end of the day he was right at home and knew how everything worked. His teacher told me that he remembered all the things they were doing, learning, and their schedule, etc. She also said he knew so much he could teach the class!

I know Gavin will have a great year. (The Pre-K program is fabulous! He has the same teachers Lexie did two years ago.) It only took him a bit to adjust, and now he is all for school.After school, I got the kids some inexpensive craft projects at the craft store. Gavin picked a 3-D dinosaur puzzle, which looked pretty complicated. When we got home, he kept asking when we could assemble it. I was trying to make dinner, so he went upstairs and put it together himself! I was very proud of him. He said, "I just looked at the picture and made it like it showed." Awesome job, bud! (You also may notice the bandage on Gavin's knee...he turfed it on the playground and had his first trip to the school nurse to fix it up on his first day!)

We are off to a great school year. This first week has helped us get back into a nice routine, (which I am quite enjoying.) And the kids have settled into their classes and are not nervous anymore. (I don't blame them a bit, I still remember having nightmares about starting school. I still do, even though I have been graduated for 7 years!) Here we go for one more year in Omaha, I am excited to have a great one.

Lexie's 1st Day of 1st Grade

Well, we have a first grader. It's now official, she is there right now. I don't believe I am old enough to have a first grader! But here it is anyway: Lexie's first day of school.

We did okay on timing this morning and getting there without much hassle and stress. Lexie has really become so responsible and gets up and gets dressed right away. She picked out the outfit she wanted last night, with the blue ballet flats she has been excited to wear.

Here is Lexie's new classroom and the desk she sits at. I actually had to take three shots of this because she was quite nervous and had a very strained expression the first two times. I think I may be having a harder time this morning than sending her to Kindergarten, too. Maybe I am anxious because Lexie was very nervous about going to school. I was anticipating the start of school so the kids would stop fighting and complaining about being bored, but now I am realizing that I am really going to miss having her around as much. Lexie seems to be okay around her new teacher. We came Thursday night last week for back to school night and saw the classroom and met her teacher. Lexie was very unsure then, and it hasn't changed yet. Let's hope she has an awesome day and dispells all her anxiety (and mine too!) She will do well, we just have opening night jitters!

Goin' to the Zoo

Thursday was Lexie's last day of school in the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo Kindergarten Class. I was snapping pictures like crazy, so you will get the full experience! I just had to save it for Lexie when she is older. She requested a special hairdo, "piggie-buns," and chose her favorite pink dress for the occasion. To culminate the last school day, a graduation program was held at an auditorium there at the zoo.
I had to throw in a picture of the thank you gift Lexie made her teacher and assistant teacher. It is a "forget-me-not pot." Lexie mod-podged pictures onto a flower pot of her with her teachers and the class, a message, and drawing she created for each of them. We included some potting soil, forget-me-not flower seeds, and the poem that explains everything. I found the idea last year on Family Fun, and I think I may use it every year for teacher thank you gifts! (The backdrop is also a sneak peak at the fabric I am using for my next quilting project, a patriotic quilt.)
Every Thursday I have volunteered teaching music in Lexie's class this schoolyear. It has honestly been the highlight of my week. I have really enjoyed walking down to Lexie's classroom with her and doing all the fun songs with the kids. I was able to have one last class with them this day, I will really miss being there every week.

Here are all the kids doing our "La La Song" with puppets. And if you laugh at my expression, yes, I get pretty cheesy when I teach kids!After our music class, we went up to the auditorium to practice the kindergarten graduation program. I had taught the kids a song called, "You're an Elephant," and went with to practice. On the way up, I had to snap a picture of Lexie with her two friends Zoe and Savannah. They were all holding hands and being so cute, just sweet little girls.

Here are the kids singing the song. They did super cute on it! They really put their hearts into it and did all the fun actions that Savannah's mommy made up to go with the song.

Here is Lexie getting her diploma. She also got an award for perfect attendance this last quarter. Wow, I have a 1st Grader now. When did all this happen?!

Mrs. Callahan had a special gift for me for doing the music all year. That was very nice.
We had quite a group of kids from our townhouse community that were all in the Zoo Kindergarten this year. We are missing Hazel on the last day of school, she had moved the week before when her dad graduated from Creighton. But here are the other five buddies, what fun it has been: (L to R) Mason, Savannah, Taggart, Lexie, and Alex.

Again, we are missing Hazel in this picture! But these three girls are so cute and have had so much fun together this year: (Top to Bottom) Savannah, Lexie, and Zoe.

And the best part of all is that Daddy could be there for Lexie's graduation! I picked him up from the airport an hour before the graduation. We have sure missed him for the last two weeks while he has been in Maryland. Here is our happy family enjoying Lexie's program, the zoo, and last day of school (and Omaha for a while!)What a monkey! Lexie can tell me so many fabulous facts about animals and will give you a personal tour of the zoo, if you'd like. She has had so much fun and made some great friends this year. Her teacher is incredible, and I couldn't have asked for a better Kindergarten experience for her. We will always remember this once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Lexie and Gavin are glad Daddy is back and ready to play. Thursday was a great day to to sum up our year, and then Friday we were getting on the road to go to Maryland for the summer!

A Great Year of Preschool

Gavin's last day of preschool was April 30th. He has had a fun year doing 3-year old preschool with Miss Marianne, who has taught out of her home to the cute group you see below. Gavin has done some great projects and always learned many new things each day. He has really progressed with his alphabet this year, and recognizes just about all the letters now and is writing his name. He is going to miss his class!

L to R: Jackson, Gavin, Hayden, Miss Marianne, Emma, Karaline, Ben, (Ava was absent.)

Preschool, here I come!

Gavin started his first year of preschool on Tuesday, September 2. He has been so excited to start school, and has asked me several times a day when Lexie has been at school when he can go. He has lots of his buddies in his class, and he is very excited about the toys at his teacher's house. I asked him to smile for this picture...here is his "smile."

Gavin had a great time at school and had no problem going in and leaving, except that he was really shy about standing by his teacher for a picture. So Ms. Marianne peeked out from behind him for this one! He told me all about his day and how they sang a fun song to learn everyone's names and "the elephant stomped on Gabbin!" He also liked painting a picture and playing with the toys and eating fish crackers and apples for snack...he just liked it all!

After school most of the kids went down to the playground for "recess." (You can see his buddies in the background.) I called him to go have lunch, and caught this cute photo of my big preschooler!

All Grown Up

Okay, so she's only five years old. But she handled it all so maturely. I have heard it remarked that it is such a big step, not for the child, but for the parents. Yes, it was Lexie's first day of Kindergarten. Mind you, in Utah, there is an intermediate step of half-day Kindergarten. But this stuff here in Omaha, well, it's the full-day event. Gavin kept asking all day, "Where's Lexie?" and I reminded him she was at school. I am piecing things together for you, so here's the full story:

Lexie has been selected for an incredible opportunity to attend her Kindergarten class at the zoo. (Here she is with her new teacher.) It's not just a field trip or temporary thing, she gets to do it the whole year. It is routed through the elementary school here near our house, so the teachers keep the same standards, etc. But the zoo worked out a special program with the school, and a few kids have a neat Kindergarten unique from anywhere I've ever heard of! They have their own special classroom and everything. We found out about the program before we moved to Omaha, and I'd hoped since then that she would be able to do this class. We found out in the spring that she was selected, and here it is already! (I thought, "How cool is that to say that you went to Kindergarten at the zoo?"
Yesterday there was an open house where we went to meet Lexie's new teacher and find out how things work there. Lexie is excited that she gets to wear these awesome safari hats on the class "walk-abouts." Each day the kids will be able to walk around the zoo (for about an hour!) and learn about animals. They wear these hats so they are recognizable as a group.

We decided to make a zoo day out of it, to keep the excitment of starting Kindergarten at the zoo the next day. So Danny and I took the kids around the zoo for a couple of hours. Honestly, if you are ever out here, you should let us take you to the zoo! It is so awesome!

So after a fun day preparing, here we are saying goodbye to the kids. These are all the VG kids in our neighborhood that go to the Zoo Kindergarten class. Lexie is excited that many of her friends are with her.

So the teacher and her assistant had the kids line up and walked them off through the gate and the parents all watched. They were off to great adventures! (Sniff...I was brave, I can't believe she is old enough to be in school all day.)

The whole family went to pick Lexie up and see how her first day went. The teacher gave us parents a badge: "I Survived the First Day of Zoo Kindergarten." I think I made it okay. Lexie is independent and confident to go off without me, no problem. She loves school and I know she will have an incredible time this year. After we talked to her about her day and what she did in her class, she said her favorite thing was that they got to take a nap after lunch!