First Day Of Fifth And Second Grades

Last night I took the kids to their new school for the open house. We met their teachers, saw their classrooms, figured out their school, and made the kids feel quite a bit more comfortable with starting there today.

As we walked to Ethan's class, the boy that walked in before us was also named Ethan. This seems to be the norm for him the last few years. I don't know if its funny or annoying for him...I wish the name wasn't so common...it wasn't when we named him!

Natalie's friend, Nikole, also switched from their previous school to this new one, but they are not in the same class. There are only two second grades, so they will be across the hall from each other. Ethan's friend down the street is a year older, so there was no chance of them being in the same class. (His other friend down the street, left last year to go live with his dad for a year...a whole year!)

Nikole has been doing Girl Scouts (Brownies) for the last year or two, and her mom, Fonda keeps asking me if Natalie can join as well. I keep putting it off, but decided to ask how much it cost and what all was involved. Fonda is the second person in charge this year, so would be able to take Nat to all the meetings unless she is sick. The cost is far less than I expected, unless there is some hidden cost she isn't telling me about (which I don't see her doing)...its all systems go! When we told Natalie that she could join, she squealed, jumped up and down and said a big, "Thank you mommy!" "Thank you daddy!" It was beyond adorable! I can't wait to see her with her little green vest on all covered in patches! :-)

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Real quick...lets look back to last year...and three years ago! (Hard to believe that Ethan was the same age then that Natalie is now!) They grow so fast!!!

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Now for first day of fifth and second grade pictures!!!

Good morning Miss Natalie!

Ethan was in pain after his shower from a scrape he got yesterday after falling on his skateboard.

Asking for help with a bandaid.

Eating some yummy pancakes. Natalie usually eats at least three. This morning she could hardly eat two. I think she was a little excited/nervous.

The torture of picture before school!
(Ethan got something on his shirt, so had to change...)

Roby was making faces at them...

They love their dad!

Natalie trying to be silly, Ethan not wanting anything to do with it.

One more for mom!

I'm trying really really hard to not baby them. Really hard. Its really easy to not get Natalie in trouble for the same things Ethan does. But I need to. I'm trying to have them do more things on their own. To feel good about themselves and confident about doing things on their own. I wanted to walk Natalie to her classroom, especially because it's a new school, but I knew that she could do it. There are teachers, other students, and a big brother that could help her out. And it made me want to cry not going with her (makes me still want to cry thinking about it). So, Roby and I drove them to school, gave them hugs, and sent them on their way.

I'm sure they will have a wonderful first day and I can't wait to hear about it in a few hours!



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As for right now...

I got an email last night from my adviser/teach about my classes. It had information about things I will need my first and second days of class, about my schedule...which may be different than what I thought, and a few other things. It makes me even more nervous and excited. My stomach is in knots today to say the least.

Now to go read read read!