Let's see - last week was mind bogglingly (soooo not a word) busy. We had parent teacher conferences for Em, nurse's meeting for Em, parent teacher conferences for Elizabeth, nurse/teacher/seizure action plan meeting for Elizabeth, 2 different parents' nights, 2 orientations, and the first day of school. Sooooo glad to have all that done!
This week brings the first full day of school for all 3 kids.
Em is in 4th grade this year and, at her school, that is now middle school. Their school goes from preschool through 8th grade and the school is broken down into "schools" within the one school. Kind of neat for the kids and simulates a lot of what they'll need to be ready for and experience in high school when they get out. So, middle school for Emily means learning how to switch rooms for about half of her classes and also means having a locker for the first time. You would think she had just won the lottery! For some reason, having a locker is off-the-charts exciting! Switching rooms and working with a locker brings with it a few more challenges, though, too since she'll need to have her diabetes kits that include glucose tabs, test kit, food, etc..... in multiple rooms. And she's really going to have to be on top of making sure that she takes care of herself.
Elizabeth is in 1st grade and that means that she moves out of the preschool/kindy building and into the "big school." We had a few anxieties that we had to work out (thank you sooooooo much for all the advice), but she absolutely loved her first day (only a half day) and her best friend is in her class. (Thank you, God!!!!!) She also has to learn to be on top of medical issues and let teachers know when she gets a headache and when she needs to take Advil for them or if she feels "shaky" as she puts it. No seizures or big problems since June, so I'm pretty confident that this is going to be a good year for her! And, really, just to see her excitement to see her best friend in there on the first day of school just brought tears to my eyes. Sooooo hard to believe that she's in 1st grade. :(
And Andrew. Wild, crazy Hurricane Andrew, as we call him. He is in pre-K this year. And goes 5 days/week - full days. Yep. My baby is going to school full-time. :( The good news is that they have a 60-90 minute nap in the afternoons so the "academic" part of the day is really just the mornings. After having lunch and then nap, it's almost time to go home really. Kindy is full day at their school, so they offer the full day option for pre-K as well with the long nap to help get them ready for a very big year of kindergarten. We live so far away from their school that it doesn't make any sense for him to come home at noon. By the time we got home and had lunch, he and I would have to be back in the car 40 minutes later to get the girls. And he's sooooooooo ready for this.
And me - well, this leaves me home alone. And since we somehow have to find a way to pay for this wonderful school, that means back to work for me. Back to the legal field. There's some stuff in the developmental stages for me along the job front and I'll let you know as soon as I make some decisions.
In the meantime, I'll leave you with some back-to-school pics of the girls. Andrew's only had orientation so far, so I'll get pics of him on Monday.
This was Elizabeth's first time getting a desk and she got right to work. Loves having her own desk. :)
And Em - well, these photos just crack me up, even if I did catch her mid-blink. She immediately lectures the boys and then gets straight to work. Soooooo typical Emily. :)