1st day of Preschool

Teresa did not have to wait so long for her school to start this year.  She went back to preschool today, only a week after Timothy.  I had to wake her up this morning a little after 7:30 to make sure we had enough time in the morning.  She woke up excited and ready to go!

We of course had a special breakfast of waffles on the celebration plate.  We snapped the first day photo, but since it was pouring rain Teresa had to be in the corner of the porch to stay dry.

Right after Timothy got on the bus, Teresa and I headed out to Noah's Ark Preschool.  She chatted happily the whole drive telling me all about big cats.  When we arrived, we found her cubby and hung up her bag and coat. I took a moment to look at some papers in her cubby, and when I looked up Teresa was no longer near me.  She had run off to join the circle time with her teacher.  I had to follow after to give her the name tag and a big hug.  I guess she was ready to go this year!

I got another big hug when I picked her up.  She was all smiles telling me how she played with new friends and drew a picture of me and her playing in the yard.

And just exciting as the actually first day is the first day treat after dinner.  Teresa's pick was ice cream pie!

We are proud of our preschool girl!

First day of 1st grade

Timothy was very nervous for school to start.  Thankfully his nerves did not surface until late Monday afternoon, so we could enjoy the final days of vacation without worry.  I am also thankful he was not as nervous last year as that would have been a lot harder for me.  This year I was more prepared to say good bye and have him gone all day.

Going to bed last night was tough as all he could think about was 1st grade and those were not excited thoughts.  We had a good visit to his classroom and got to meet his teacher Mrs. Wren.  Timothy has his own desk this year!  We toured the new gym, music and art rooms, and even played a little on the playground.  I thought this visit might calm some fears, but I think it reminded him of the newness he would face.

 Timothy sitting at his new desk during the orientation session.

Timothy and his new teacher Mrs. Wren.

We all went to the bus stop and Troy even postponed his Greek class to be there in the morning.  I was a bit sad as he got on the bus and drove off, but I was happy to see he found a seat with his friend Michael.  I did not full out cry this year, but my eyes were a little watery.

 The classic first day picture.  We did not do many pictures as Timothy was not really in the mood.  He picked out his green shorts and found a nice green shirt to match!  And he proudly wore his new light up shoes too!

 The bus stop crowd.  A few new faces this year.  A good group of kids.

Bus 822

Lots of prayers were said through the day and I was so happy to see his smiling face arrive home in the afternoon.  The day was great with a new game in gym, 3 recesses, and a story about a girl who was scared to go to school.  And the best part is he is excited to go back tomorrow!!!

We celebrated him with some cards, signs, the celebration plate and of course a special treat...this year's choice was rocky road pie.  We ended the day with a great squirt gun fight with our neighbor Anna.

Yum!!!

The games we play

Over time the games our kids play changes.  Way back when Timothy was little there was the bed game ( I am pretty sure Troy is thankful that is done as it involved Timothy rolling off the bed and Troy catching him!).  Then there was the couch game, basketball, the monster game, bike riding around the block, playing neigh-neighs, and the list goes on and on!  So what are we in to right now?

Timothy likes playing baseball, hanging out on the swing set, slip and slide and any form of tag game.

Teresa dapples in a little baseball, loves to play house (she is the mom and I am the kid and we have lots of animals to take care of!), and of course you can't forget zoo, rain forest and sea creature play!  And her new passion is playing Noah's Ark on the swing set.  This last game was inspired by her Noah book from the library.  And we certainly have enough stuffed animals to fill the ark!

 Timothy has gotten quite good at hitting without a tee.  With only a few nights of practice his swing and confidence have improved.

 Teresa gives it her best shot and gets a few hits too.  The best part is her grunts of effort when she swings--sort of sounds like she is playing tennis!

Teresa in her ark with all of her animals

Soccer

We had our last Sunday of soccer this weekend.  Teresa was about the only player on either of the teams that was interested in playing.  So she had a great time and scored goal after goal after goal!  She was that one kid scoring all the goals!

Timothy was more of a defensive star.  He had several good defensive plays and took to blocking the net.  He stopped several goals from happening.

Birthday Party!

 Teresa continued celebrating her 4 years through the weekend.  Grandma Rebecca and Grandpa Ken came for the weekend to join the fun.  Teresa and Timothy got a few presents to open the night before the party.

All Decked out in her new sea horse shirt Teresa posed for a few pictures before her friend party started. It was a long wait until 10:30 for an excited little girl!

 Three little girls came to Teresa's first real friend party.  They were all girls from her preschool class.  Our theme was an ocean/ sea creature party of course.  We started out with the donut game and the kids pretended to be fish biting their bait.  Teresa and Juniper loved the game...Sophie and Hadley weren't so sure about it.

 The next game was Whale, Whale, Fish which was a big hit.  There is something so fun about running around the circle and choosing who to chase you.

 And of course we had to do some parachute games.  It was hot outside, but we had fun bouncing balls, and sea creatures.  And running under the parachute to find sea creatures was a hit too.  We could have played longer, but we needed to cool off inside.

 Inside, we played musical whale.  The kids crawled through the big whale while the music played.  When the music stopped the whale 'chomped the child inside.  The girls thought this was really funny.  They loved to be the one inside.

 Finally we moved to a few presents and a bit of playtime.  We had a bunch of ocean toys and puzzles out to play with and the Octopod.

 We served a simple lunch and then cake time.  Teresa wanted a cake with dolphins, beach, and the sun.  She did good blowing out her candles.  The first one was stubborn, but she got the last three in one big breath!

 And at the very end of the party the kids got a little playtime at Teresa's new water table made by Grandpa Ken.  Sophie loved it and went home a bit wet!!