back to school.. back to school..

both kiddos are now in school.  all. day. long.  & yet i feel like i am getting nothing accomplished around the home.  thanks to the great work ethic my family instilled in me, my part time job at preschool is more of a full-time job.  but, i do enjoy watching the little kiddos' eyes light up with new discoveries and being a part of their lives.  so, no complaints here. just a bigger realization that teachers are very underpaid!!

of course, had to decorate to celebrate the first day of school..

reading all the notes along the way:)

obligatory first day of school pictures..

walking to the bus stop.

sweetness.

 yes, i had props.

 & they were thrilled...

i think they were glad for the bus to get there.

big b is now in the second grade.. his first year without his sidekick in his class.  but, it has started out to be a great year.  he's coming out of his shell at school (hello, talent show - here we come!)  and is always full of new factoids he has learned each day.  as long as we can keep from breaking a bone during the "soccer" they play at recess - more like clobbering each other - i think we will be a.o.k.

miss g just loooves kindergarten.  & she has an amazing teacher (ben's kindy teacher) and class.  i am amazed at how quickly she has learned to read, is learning sign language to communicate with a friend (other than the few she knew as a baby) & love hearing about each day's events.  this past week, a little friend in her class with cochlear implants got to hear each classmate say "hi" to her for the first time.  such an awesome experience for her & the entire class!

if we aren't at home, we are at the soccer field! all through the home, a soccer ball is being kicked around.  so glad we don't have too many breakables :).  benj would play soccer 24/7 if he could!  miss g.. as long as it's not a "real" game, she loves it. 

benj on the field, sweating buckets.  that boy drinks his big jug of water by halftime!  

 miss g thinking about her next move...

miss g wasn't too thrilled this game.. it's too much to weemember in the bigger gals league for her.  

 chllin out - her favorite spot during soccer games :)

 ready to kick it in!

 after that ball she goes!  so proud of her for keeping it up, even though she's not loving it.

 we are still trying to figure out what she would like to do. i'm thinking maybe guitar or dance - but big b reminded me she likes to dance to her own beat, so maybe not dance.  we'll see.  as long as we are having fun & happy, that's all that matters to this momma!

preschool program

of course, i didn't get any good pictures from during the program & my video camera ran out of batteries (thank goodness we have 1 more year to miss g graduates from pre-k).  but, she was as cute as ever!

after the program, running up to give daddio a huggie.

with her friends.

at home with momma & bubby.

& benj doing what he loves best..nintendo

i'm surprised he didn't sneak it into the program..
miss gracie gal, we are so proud of you & your sweet, beautiful heart & strong spirit (those sometimes i wanna pull out my hair).  we love you to jesus & back & will always love you.  keep on learning, loving & leaning on God!

i knew it wouldn't last...

ben's folder when he got home today...

a month and a half of school & this is what we have!

nothing a little tape won't fix i'm sure!

it's been a rough couple of weeks...

for benjo's red folder.  it looks like it's been through an entire school year instead of just 3 or 4 weeks. 

i can't help but think his daddy's folder looked the same way, all bunched up in the backpack. :)

he had his first homework assignment today & couldn't wait to start it when we got home.  i hope that enthusiasm continues.  on 1 of the pages, he had to draw 2 birdies.  he asked me to draw him an example.  umm, momma is no artist.  & he copied exactly the birdies i made.

  momma needs some art class.  i think we'll let daddio help with the artwork for now.

poor boy has an ear infection & yucky cough (like the rest of us).  last night, when we were all in bed  the worries started getting him.  he is table leader this week & he was worried about letting his table down if he had to miss school (he didn't, momma sent him anyway).  he survived through the day & was wanting to have a play date with another bus buddy.  this boy has quite a social life for a kindergartner.  who knew so many kiddos (sweet kiddos too) lived in our neighborhood.  we are quite blessed!

the schoolwork he brings home is a piling up!  they have already made it through the alphabet & onto bigger things.  our artwork display is running out of room.  (i'm going to use melissa's idea & put all of his kindergarten work in a binder since there is so much - thanks, melissa!)

for momma, it's been a rough couple of weeks too.  i haven't gotten into the best routine yet.  i'm always setting a timer to make sure we or i are where we need to be.  but there's been times (today) when i'm downstairs & don't hear it.  gotta get out that old watch i guess...

& not to leave out miss gracie faye... she's loving preK - it's just the leaving annabelle part we have a hard time with.  she cried for a looong time today when we went home because she didn't get to go home with her.  she thinks everyday should be annabelle playdate day!  (& alaina after school)

we've got a big kindergartener on our hands

as i type this at 9:17pm, the talking about the day has finally quieted down (he ended up sleeping with daddio tonight).  benj had not much to say about school "it was fun" until after books were read & lights were off.  then, he was on.  & on. & on.  oh, what we learned too!

some of his tidbits:
he's thinking we should switch off everyday for bus riding - mom taking him to school.  apparently, he felt a bit carsick.  but we figured out it may have been due to the heat.  don't know yet what our plan will be.  today, i ended up showing up at school just to make sure he made it ok (he did).

1st potty break the boys were quiet & the girls weren't.  2nd potty break the boys were loud & the girls were quiet.  & some girl stuck out her tounge at him & said "girls first nnuh!" 

he has a friend that said he knows him from karate (ben's never taken karate) in his class.  we think it's from t-ball.  that boy doesn't know what it means to put a bubble in your mouth & he got on ben for not having a bubble in his mouth.  ben said he told him it just meant to be quiet. 

listening is exhausting to him. "they just go on & on & makes me so tired," he said.  we had a talk about how that's how we learn & how important being an active listener is.

there's a gracie that he is around at some point in time & she bugs him. 

ben can't wait for piano.  he's going to play a good night song to make the teacher fall asleep he thinks. 

there's a few more, but i'm not going to write them on here, but will in his baby(big kid) book because they are just priceless.

oh & after getting off the bus today, he got to play at his friend conner's home (he lives right at the bus stop).  conner & ben were trying to get the guys working next door with water guns until we noticed what they were up to.  then us moms got it. 

that about sums up his day.  now time for momma to hit the sack too.  these mornings are quite a change!!

some pics of the day:

zacky waking him up

ben smiling for me

waiting for the bus (i cropped out the sweet 2nd grader, gavin, that helped ben find his classroom this morning)

& off he goes!!

we already have the breakfast order in for tomorrow (cereal with blueberries), gracie sleeping in her good morning clothes, ben's clothes layed out, lunch packed & 2 alarms set.  hopefully, we get this down pat soon!!



last day of school & preK graduation

it was finally here... the last day of preschool & pre-K (i must be specific about that, benj always corrects me that he is in preK).  now looking foward to a fun filled summertime!!!

the kiddos thought the decorations & chalk on the sidewalk leading up to the van celebrating was a bit cool, deep down i think.  gracie did like the bubbles waking her up, way more than bubby.

sweet ben wrote out cards for everyone in his class & spent an extra amount of time on that special one for mrs. cano.  10 or so cards he made.  a perfectionist for sure!

getting into our van (that i just love!!) heading to school.

we played outside after school with friends for one last time this year.  once i told 2 of the daddies i had shingles, they took several steps back!

monkey ready for takeoff!

the boys running all around & miss a taking a rest

gracie thought she was big time getting to push her friend little a on the swing!

just hanging around.  this is one of her favorite things to do!!

 

breaking the rules (climbing), but it was the last day.  

namaw & poppy came all the way over (thank you!!) & beat us home from preschool.  we had los bravos for a celebration dinner at home, yummy!! (thank you namaw & poppy).  & the kiddos got a little sumthin from their namaw &poppy for graduation.  thank goodness, because ben asked "don't people get stuff when they graduate?"  it's all about stuff sometimes, but we are trying to break that.

now, onto the ceremony...
the church was packed to the brim, so we had seats in the rear.  it was a bit hard to get any good pictures.  but, we could see our sweeties singing their hearts our (i think yelling) & putting all they had into the motions.

oh, sing a joyful noise! (gracie is the one with her eyes closed)

i think he saw me...

looking oh so happy!! i love all the kiddos white eyes!

can you hear me now??

gracie, was singing & performing her heart out so much, that she fell asleep during the performance!! i thought she had gotten sick or something, but just needed a nap. thank goodness there were plenty of cookies afterwards to recharge her!

the 2011 old north afternoon preschool & preK classes with gracie snoozing in the back by the cross. 

  

ben & his teacher, whom he just loved to death.  it was so funny, they had to find the correct hat for benj due to his extremely large brain!  mr. benj wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.  (some of the kiddos answers just cracked me up "16, firefighter or a ninja."

walking down the aisle.. looking pretty proud!  way to go my big buddy!! i am so proud of you!

 bestest buddies. miss a wants to be a mommy when she grows up.  she has one of the bestest mommys & role model  i know!

at home.  i think he asked a few times "why do we have to wear these silly hats?"

 

with their proud namaw & poppy.

 

the kiddos & daddio were tired of me taking pictures, so the camera went up.   it was such a fun & memorable occasion though, with lots of laughs.  we've all learned a lot this school year: on handling other kiddos, each other & the school smarts too.  ben & gracie, your momma & daddy are so proud of you both each & every day & love you more than you will ever know!

already????

today is the kiddos' last day of preschool & pre-k.  then there will be 1 big boy kidergartener & 1 big girl pre-k'er.  oh my, where is the time going?  i am so proud of them both of the children they are growing up to be & decorated the house up with streamers & signs (no balloons, all we had were water balloons & they were too hard for momma to blow up).

when ben woke up, i came in with the bubble gun to celebrate.   "can you turn that off?" he said, "it's kinda annoying."  that's me, annoying mom.
i will not cry, i will not cry at his pre-k graduation.  oh, who am i kidding- i probably will.