First Day of 1st Grade!

Is it just me or did the summer just fly by?  Well, today marked the start of a new school year and Emily headed off to first grade!  I'm much more excited than nervous for her this year after having a year under our belts.  Her teacher, Mrs. Wilcox, seems really nice and I can't wait to see what this year has in store for her.

Second year in a row that she says she wants to be a teacher when she grows up.

Taking pictures is not Evan's favorite thing to do.

We all walked Em to school bright and early this morning.  She doesn't have many friends in her class this year, but I'm hoping that just gives her the chance to make some new ones.

She looks so big to me in this picture!

She is excited because the first graders get actual desks vs. the tables they sat at in Kindergarten.

And just for comparison, here is her first day of Kindergarten picture from last year.  You can tell just how much she has grown up!

When I picked Em up from school today, she said she loves first grade.  She told me her teacher is really nice,  she knew most of the kids in her class, gets to go to specials (music, PE, art, health) with different 1st graders than are in her class and one of her good friends is in her specials group and all the kids in her class got to choose a ticket and a prize (she chose to sit at the teachers desk).  She has been dreading the weekly spelling tests that come with first grade, but we already got her first list and she knows how to spell all the words on it already, so I think that eased some of her fear.  I asked her if she wanted me to walk her to class just 1 more day and she said "nope, I know where I'm going."  I think this is going to be a great year for her! 

First Day of Pre-K!

Today Evan started his very last year at Primrose!  It's a little sad to think about that, but also exciting to know that he and Em will be back together at school next year.  He wasn't too excited about uniforms starting back up, but he got over that pretty quickly.  He moved up with most of his friends, so I don't think it will be too much of an adjustment for him.  He is most excited about getting to play on the big playground and going on field trips this year.

Poor Kid. . his nose kept bleeding this morning.  I thought it had stopped, but seeing the pics now, apparently it hadn't.

When I picked him up, he told me had a great day at school!  He loved playing on the bridge on the big playground and being the class line leader.  I know this year is just going to be a great one for him.

Last Day of Swim Lessons - Advanced Aquatots

Saturday was Evan's last day of swim lessons in the advanced aquatots class. This kid has seriously done a complete 180 since the start of the year when it comes to swimming.  He absolutely loves it and is quite good at it.  His teacher actually advanced him up to the extreme aquatots class mid session.  He stayed with the same kids, but he had to swim farther than the rest of the class.  If you asked me 6 months ago, if he would be swimming this well, I would have said no way!  He was the kid that cried at the beginning of each class and never wanted to go down the water slide at the end. Now he swims without a float when we swim on the weekends and his favorite part of class is going down the slide at the end.  He loves it so much that we have decided to keep him in lessons this Fall. I keep telling Shawn that swimming might just be his thing.  He starts in the advanced beginners class this coming week.

Showing off his class ribbon.

July Little Things

This is what we found on our front porch the day we arrived back home from FL.

It was hot outside!  Poor squirrel was just trying to cool himself off.

Lots of pictures from school this month!  Emily had a jam packed month full of field trips and activities.

Pirate Day

Christmas in July

Favorite team jersey day.

Show and tell. . the things this boy picks to bring. . .

Cowgirl Day

Treasure Hunt day

And then I have a bunch of random pictures from at home this month.

Finally cleaning out the fireplace.

She wanted to wear this, but realized she didn't like the ruffles on the shorts. .I said too bad, you're not changing and took her pic to show her how cute she looked.  :)

I was super proud of Em when she got promoted to the Intermediate class at gymnastics.  She's been working so hard in gymnastics and tumbling class and she was so excited she got to be promoted.

We got lots of veggies in our garden this month.  In addition to all the tomatoes, we got our first squash and our first jalapeno.

  

We got this exciting book in the mail!  We booked a family vacation to Disney World next spring break.  But shh, the kids don't know yet!