Back to School: Second Grade & Kindergarten

Jackson and Avery went back to school on Thursday, August 15th. Jackson started 2nd Grade and Avery started Kindergarten!!! I can't even believe it. 

Two nights before school started, they had their "Meet the Teacher" night. Jackson ended up getting the teacher he was hoping for, Mrs. Burns, and we were so excited. He also has several friends in his class this year so that always makes it more fun.

 

They did Kindergarten a little bit differently this year. They called it "Switcheroo" and basically what they did was, for the first 7 days of school, Avery had a homeroom class that she started out in each day, but throughout the day they switched up the kids into different classrooms with different teachers and different friends to see how everyone would fit best in what class. It's a way to place the child where they think they'd best succeed. It worked out well I thought and Avery seemed to adjust great! This is something they do in a few other districts in our area and it's been working well for them. So for the "meet the teacher" night for Avery, she was able to meet all 5 of the Kindergarten teachers and check out all of their classrooms. Avery's home room teacher during "switcheroo" was Mrs. Turner, who is a new teacher to our school this year. She's from Georgia and has been teaching Kindergarten for a few years there and then moved here over the Summer.

 The night before school, we went through the nighttime routine with baths/showers, packing lunches, storytime and prayers for a great first day of school. They each had a special book to read to get them ready for the next day. :-)

 The next morning I had a special little breakfast for them. They love cinnamon rolls so I made them those and decorated the table for their first day of school. 

 Then we got ready for school and headed down to the bus stop.

(Avery's first day of school outfit was from Orange Poppy Boutique and I found Jackson's second grade shirt on Amazon here.)

Jackson and Avery in the bus line with their best buddies Andy and Ellie.

Avery was SO excited to ride the bus for the first time. She's been wanting to ride the bus with Jackson, Andy and Ellie for so long and was so excited to finally get to. The first thing she said that morning was, "I finally get to ride the bus for the first time!"

Once they were off on the bus, I did a couple things around the house and then met them up at school to walk them to their classrooms on the first day. I did the same thing on Jackson's first day of Kindergarten. :-)

Avery can't sit next to Ellie on the bus because you have to sit according to grades and Ellie is a grade above Avery, but as soon as they got off the bus, they gave each other a big hug like they hadn't seen each other in weeks. It was too cute!

 Ellie and Avery walking to their classrooms.

 After getting to school and getting to her classroom, each child had play-doh at their spot. :-) Avery LOVES play-doh so she was excited. She did so well on her first day and didn't seem nervous at all.

Both kids had a great first full week of school last week! Here's a couple pictures from school throughout the week.

Then last Friday, each of the kindergartners had a piece of paper in their take home binders saying which teacher they were placed with for the year and they had scratch-offs to reveal pictures of all the friends that would be in their class with them. It was so much fun to scratch off each picture. Avery ended up getting her home-room teacher Mrs. Turner and she was SO excited about this because she really liked her for those first 7 days. So yesterday was kind of like Avery's real first day of Kindergarten and they allowed us to walk the kids to their classrooms that day to take pictures with their teachers, etc. Here's Avery with her teacher Mrs. Turner.

Five on Friday

I've been really bad at blogging lately. So I thought I'd do a little 5 on Friday to try and catch back up some. :-)

One

The kids started back to school last Thursday, (Aug. 15th). They're both loving it so far! Jackson got the teacher he wanted and several of his friends are in his 2nd grade class. Avery started Kindergarten and she's loving it so far too. She said her first day was the best day ever and she was even sad over the weekend when she didn't have school! Ha!! This makes me so happy that they're both loving it.

Two

Avery started swim lessons last month and I can't believe how far she's come in such a short amount of time. She's being so brave and doing so well and I'm so proud of her!!

Three

Avery went to the cutest pony camp earlier this month before school started back up! She loved it and had so much fun!!

Four

On my last Monday off before the kids went back to school, I decided to take them to Six Flags for the day to enjoy Hurricane Harbor (the water park). I brought my mom along and we had a great day! It was a fun thing to do right before starting back to school.

Five

This past Sunday, Jackson and I went to a really cool event to see author Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants and Dogman) and get a signed copy of his latest Dog Man book (#7). We met up with a few of Jackson's friends from school and had such a great time! The boys also got a cape and got to take a picture with Dogman and Captain Underpants. The line to meet Dav Pilkey was FOREVER long so we decided not to do that, which was a little disappointing, but we had a great time anyways and as always, it's so much fun to spend some one on one time with either of my kids.

So that's what we've been up to lately. Just trying to have as much fun as we could before going back to the routine of school. I'm happy to say that our first full week of school has been a success! I think we're starting to get back into the routine and everyone seems to be adjusting well. :-)

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Avery's Pre-K Graduation

Avery had her Pre-K graduation yesterday and it was bitter-sweet to say the least. I'm going to really miss her school. The teachers she had and friends she made over the last 3 years were some of the best and we'll miss them all dearly. 

For her graduation they put on a little play for us at the beginning. They acted out a book they had been reading called "Mortimer." 

 

Then the teachers had made a really sweet slide show set to music of pictures and videos from the past year. By the end I was a puddle of mush. Then, just like when Jackson graduated, Mrs. Darr read a poem called, "A Touch of Love," about the kids growing up that had us all in tears! They even passed out Kleenex to all of us when we walked in the door and we certainly needed it. 

At the end, each child came up and accepted their diploma and as they did, the teacher read how much they had grown that year and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Avery had grown an inch and a half throughout the school year and said she wants to work on a computer when she grows up. Ha!

Afterwards, we went back to their classroom to take a few pictures and pick up their stuff to go home. 

Jake couldn't make it because of work, but my mom and I went and it all was so cute! I can't believe Avery only has one more day of preschool tomorrow and she'll be off to Kindergarten in the Fall. How is that even possible?? 

I'm so proud of all that Avery has learned and how much she's grown the last 3 years in Preschool and I'm so excited to see all that she accomplishes in Kindergarten. 

Avery's First Day of Pre-K

Avery had her first day of Pre-K this past Friday morning! She did great and was so excited! She went right into her class and sat down on the carpet right next to her friend Aubrei. :-) She's in the Caterpillar room this year with Mrs. Darr and Mrs. Beel, which was the same room that Jackson was in for Pre-K. So Avery already knows both of her teachers, which makes it a very easy transition. She also has several friends in her class from the last 2 years she's gone to Lindbergh Early Childhood Education, so that made going back to school a lot easier as well. She's going on Monday/Wednesday/Friday from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m.

She had her "meet the teacher" night on Wednesday night and got to see both of her teachers and a few of her friends.

Avery also got a new backpack this year, (even though she didn't really need one). Sam's had such cute backpacks for both Jackson and Avery this year that we just couldn't pass them up. Avery's has unicorns on it!!

We also had Avery fill in this cute little questionnaire for "back to school!" I love that she says she wants to be a Prima-Ballerina Ice Queen when she grows up! Ha!

I'm sure she's going to have a great last year of preschool!!

And for comparison's sake, here are Avery's first day of school pictures for the 3 years she's been in preschool!! She's gotten so big in such a short amount of time.

Jackson's First Day of First Grade

Today is Jackson's first day of First Grade!! He was excited this morning and got right up bright and early to get ready for school!! He has a lot of friends in his class this year and he seems to have a great teacher! I just know he's going to have a great year in First Grade!!



He had his "Meet the Teacher Night" this past Tuesday night and he was excited to see some friends and meet his sweet teacher!

Then last night, before bed, he had a shower, we got his lunch ready and we read his new book, "First Grade Here I Come!" He had a book like this for starting Kindergarten last year (here's a link to the Kindergarten version) and it was so cute. I'm not sure how many more years I'll be able to find books like these so when I saw one for first grade, I just had to get it. :-)



He went to bed with a very loose front tooth and when he woke up this morning he decided to pull it right out so he didn't have to worry about it at school. It's been ready to come out for a few days, so that was another exciting thing to have happen today. Now he's lost his 4 bottom front teeth and his 2 top front teeth. Six total!! The tooth fairy will be making another visit to our house tonight. ;-)

He got a new backpack and lunchbox this year. We found the cutest backpack and lunchbox together at Sam's this year. It has planets, stars and rockets on it! If you know Jackson, you know he loves anything "Outer Space" related so it was a perfect fit for him.



Jackson with our sweet neighbor friends. Ellie had her first day of Kindergarten today and Andy had his first day of 3rd grade. :-)

Family picture at the bus stop. Next year it will be Avery's first day of Kindergarten! How is that possible??

Jackson looks so grown up in this picture and so handsome, even without his front teeth, Ha!

We did this cute little questionnaire again this year.

And just for comparison's sake, here is Jackson on his first day of Kindergarten last year next to his first day of First Grade this year.

I can't wait to hear all about how his first day back to school went today and I pray he has a wonderful, safe and successful year in First Grade!!