Last Day of Preschool

At the end of May, my little babies finished their first year of preschool. Emily's school, Little Lights, celebrated the end of the year with a sweet little performance and a potluck. The songs and food were supposed to be enjoyed outside, but our super cold and rainy spring didn't break for the special day and the party was moved inside.

Emily's in the second row on the left

Emily with her wonderful teachers, Miss Jenn and Miss Michelle

A little playtime outside afterwards

Addie got a sweet graduation cap on her last day at Tarver.

Addie with one of her teachers, Miss Peggy

This past school year, Addie got to ride to school with Chris because her school started pretty early so he was able to take her on his way to work. It was so fun to watch her get ready to leave every morning, wiping toast crumbs off her face to run to the garage door where she'd slip on her shoes and jacket, sling her backpack over her shoulders and wait on the top step in the garage while Chris pulled the car out. Then she'd skip-run out to the car, so excited for school.

Addie and Dad on her very last day of preschool

Emily and Addie both had their last day on a Friday, and Chris took Emily to school, too.

Emily and Dad on her very last day of preschool

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Broadcast to Bring You...

The First Days of School!

I just couldn't wait to share the excitement! 

Addie had her first day at Tarver on August 22nd. She is attending two half days a week, and so far she is LOVING it! Her teachers are Miss Amy and Miss Peggy, and Miss Kirstin, Miss Tracy, and Miss Sharron rotate between the two preschool rooms. She comes home every day with lots of stories, and has already begun making friends. Charlotte likes to hold her hand, and Tye wears a diaper to school, but she likes to play with him on the playground. She has an Addie in her class and they're friends, too. On Friday she came home with a super star sticker, and she was so proud to tell us about how she'd earned it (by tapping a friend on the shoulder and telling them, "Hi I'm Addison, what's your name?")

Emily had her first day of preschool at Little Lights on September 3rd. She is also attending two half days a week, and she's being such a brave big girl during her first experience being all on her own without Addie by her side. She says she feels a little shy at school, but she's only had two days so far. Her teachers are Miss Michelle (her FAVORITE teacher from the summer fun program) and Miss Jenn. Miss Jenn didn't teach this summer, and Emily was a little nervous to meet her, but has discovered that she's super nice ("Just like Miss Shell!")

 

I'm so proud of both of these brave, smart, loving girls and I know they're going to have great school years! We love you Addison and Emily!

Little Lights

Emily has been so curious and excited about preschool ever since Addie started back in February. I enrolled the girls in a summer fun program one morning a week at a great little preschool by our house called Little Lights. While the summer fun program isn't technically preschool, we treated Emily's first day there as her first day of preschool, because really, why not?
Little Lights is a pretty small school, but I have met so many moms in the neighborhood and around town who send or have sent their kids there, and I've heard nothing but wonderful things. I was hoping to get Emily in for the fall, but they filled up fast and I enrolled her at our second choice, TLC. But we got exciting news last month - a spot has opened up for Emily, so she'll get to go in the fall, which will mean she will get to continue going to a school she's come to love, and she won't have to transition (change is HARD for Emily) to a new school. Yay! :)

Emily's FIRST day of preschool, June 4th, 2014

The big girls have been having a BLAST at Little Lights this summer. They have a favorite teacher, "Miss Shell" (Miss Michelle) and they bring home the most creative art projects each week. Plus, snack is provided and always contains at least 2 food groups, how awesome is that?

Each week there's a theme, and so far this summer they've had:
Exploring Music - There was a keyboard set up and they had fun playing piano
Pizza Parlor - They painted with noodles!
Workshop Days - Hammering golf tees into peg boards, and they came home with door hangers made from popcicle sticks
Art Show - One wall became dedicated to the colorful acrilic paintings the kids created
Sports/Fitness - A ballet teacher came and taught a routine, which included arabesques, which the girls were obsessed with doing across the room, across the yard, anywhere they could, while saying "arabesque, arabesque, arabesque"
At the Beach - They wore their swimsuits, played in water, and ate popcicles
Bible and Drama - They learned how much God loves them

We only have four more weeks left: Culinary Camp, Science Exploration, The Great Outdoors, and Ice Cream Shoppe

I say it every year at the end of July, but I'll say it again. Where did the summer go? It's just zipped right by. I guess we have 4 more weeks, but they'll be gone in the blink of an eye.

While the big girls have three hours of fun fun fun on Wednesday mornings, I have three hours of Elizabeth all to myself. We've been having quite a bit of fun ourselves. That first Wednesday, I took advantage of being one-on-one to let Elizabeth have her first shot at finger painting.

Even with one-on-one attention, some paint got ingested

We had a fun photo shoot outside, and Elizabeth got to play with my phone. Joy!

Love that belly button

Happy Girl

Addie's Last Day of Preschool for 2013-2014

Addie got to enjoy three months of preschool during the 2013-14 school year. Our neighborhood school, Tarver, was full when Addie started in February, so she was sent to Woodglenn Elementary. We are so blessed that Woodglenn has team of talented, kind, and loving preschool teachers. Addie's knowledge of letters and numbers definitely improved during her days at school this year, which is wonderful, but even more wonderful is the fact that she came away with an excitement for and a love of school! She's excited to start at Tarver in the fall, and while she's going to miss her old teachers, I know she's going to do great with her new teachers. Go Addie!!

Before her last day of school, Addie made cards for each of her teachers. She spent a long time painting a picture for each of her teachers. I was proud of her hard work!

Each card had her handprint and a teacher thank you inside.

A few days after Addie's last day, the official last day of school for the district came with a preschool picnic at Woodglenn. The whole family got to head to the school to say thank you and goodbye to all her great teachers.

Here's Addison with her speech teacher, Ms. Marissa.

And here she is with her preschool teacher, Ms. Rachel.

Addie truly fell in love with these ladies. They obviously know what they're doing because they made a big impression on her heart. We're pretty lucky because Ms. Rachel is a mom of one-year-old twins and she's part of my twins' group, Darling Doubles, so we'll get to see her at club events in the future.

School Picture Day!

With school comes picture day! Addie got to dress up and wear ribbons in her hair for picture day, so why not have everyone dress up? :)

While Addie was at school having fun with friends (she talks about Brian and Summer when I ask her about her friends), Emily, Elizabeth and I stopped at the Golden Arches for hot fudge sundaes.

And then we wore out our chocolate wiggles playing chase around the house.

A few weeks later when I went to pick Addie up from school, she came running out of the school doors, waving her big LifeTouch envelope. She did a great job smiling for the camera!

Crazy Hair Day

Addie's preschool is housed in an elementary school, so they follow the elementary school's schedule, including Spirit Week! So Addie got to wear Crazy Hair to school one Tuesday in March.

While Emily wasn't officially participating in crazy hair day, she opted to go with the uncombed look, which was still pretty crazy

We Have a Preschooler!

Addie started preschool last month, the day after she turned three.

The week before her first day, we went to the school to meet the teachers and see the classroom.
Addie packed a snack, water bottle, and a few toys in her brand new Tinker Bell backpack and brought it to school for the meet and greet.

Chris stayed home with Emily and Elizabeth while Addie and I went to Woodglen Elementary to see the preschool rooms and meet the teachers. Ever since we found out Addie would qualify for preschool services back in January, we've been reading lots of books about preschool. Addie knew her classroom would have cubbies, and she was very excited to hang her backpack and jacket in a cubby right away when we walked in to her new classroom.

We went to the school on a Wednesday, and Wednesdays are teacher work days for Adams 12 preschools, so there weren't any kids there. Addie had the whole classroom and all the books and toys to herself. She made herself right at home after hanging her stuff in a cubby, opening tubs and taking books off the shelf to show me. I had a chance to chat with her teachers, Miss Rachel and Miss Marissa. We both left feeling excited about preschool!

Me and my Preschooler!

On February 28th, the day after Addie turned 3, she had her first official day of preschool. She was so excited to go! After breakfast, she said, "Me go school Emmy." and then she gave Emily 5 kisses behind each ear. This is something my mom used to do for Dylan and I when we were little - a kiss on each fingertip tucked behind each ear, so we could pull them out whenever we needed them through the day. After giving Emily kisses, she did the same for Elizabeth and then for me. When it was time to take Addie to school, we all drove to Woodglen, where we waited outside the school with the other preschoolers and their families for the teachers to open the doors and lead the kids to their classrooms. I expected tears when those doors opened, but instead, Addie saw her teachers, beamed a big smile, and marched right in the building. She didn't even glance back. What a brave girl!

Three hours later, we went to pick Addie up. When she saw me, her eyes got teary, and she ran to me, squealing "Mommy!" Her teachers told me she'd asked about home a few times and got a little teary through the day, but she made it! Go Addie!

Addie with her first piece piece of schoolwork