First Day of School 2011

We are a little over a week into the school year. This year was especially exciting because the kids started at a new school! Towards the end of last year we heard of a new charter school that was opening in Highlands Ranch. We did a lot of research into it and praying, and really felt like this was where our kids needed to be. The new school goes through junior high, which was a huge selling point for me. The values taught and curriculum really struck a chord, and we couldn't be more happy with our decision to send our kids there. They were all really excited and nervous for this new beginning. Knowing that everyone was going to be new there, helped to calm their fears a little. An added bonus is that they are required to wear uniforms. I LOVE that. Here they are all ready to go on their first day. The uniform they are wearing is the formal uniform that they are required to wear on the first day of school, field trips, and the first Wednesday of each month. It's actually Levi's favorite shirt to wear.

There is no spiked hair allowed at the school, and considering the fact that we have always spiked his hair, ever since he had hair to spike, it took a little getting used to =)They were all so excited!

For the first day, they had the kindergartners go a half an hour later then the older grades. This meant Levi and I had a while to wait in the car before he could go in. I'm still loving his toothless grin =)

The way the school is built doesn't allow for very much parking, so they have a system where we just pull around and drop off our kids, and they go into their classrooms. This was a little difficult for me to accept at first, especially for the first day, but Alexis and Tori were champs and did great. The reason they had the kindergartners go late was so the parents could walk them in on their first day. (thank goodness!) Here is Levi walking towards the school, excited as can be!

Here are a few pictures once we were in the classroom. His teacher's name is Miss Oakley and Levi loves her! She is a great kindergarten teacher. She is the one in the green. For the first week of school they all got to bring in a teddy bear, and have it go throughout the first week with them. On Friday, they concluded the week with a teddy bear picnic.

Once everyone was there, we all gathered around the rug and Miss Oakley read us this story.

It is the story of a raccoon who is starting school for the first time and is so nervous to go and be away from his mom. His mom kisses his hand and says that it will always be there in his hand, and that if he is ever missing her to touch his hand to his cheek and know that she loves and misses him too. This was such a touching story and there were quite a few of us mom's with tears. This was especially touching to me, because I always draw hearts on my kids hands if they are having a hard time going somewhere, and tell them if they miss me to look at the heart on their hand, and know that I love them and am thinking about them.

After the teacher read the story, she gave each of the kids a heart sticker and had them bring it to their mom's and put it on their hand and give it a kiss. It was the sweetest thing ever! I loved that they did this. They also gave us a little pack of tissues and some hershey kisses.

I gave Levi one last hug before leaving. Suddenly my excited boy got a little nervous. As he wrapped his hands around my neck his lip quivered and he said, "I want to go home" This melted my heart! After a big long hug he took his bear and walked over and sat with all the kids on the rug. I lingered outside the door a few minutes to make sure he was OK. He put on a brave face but I could tell he was still nervous. When I picked him up a few hours later, he was all smiles and said he loved it =)

Later in the afternoon we went to pick up the girls. After over an hour long wait in the carpool lane (such a nightmare, but thankfully they have tweaked the system so it goes much faster now) I was finally to the front of the line and could not wait to hear how Alexis and Tori's first day had gone. When they jumped into they car, Tori immediately burst into tears and said she hated it and wanted to go to her old school. My heart sunk! She told me that the playground was so small (it really is, but they will be adding to it soon) and that she just had to stand around at recess and that they hardly got any time to eat lunch, and that she hated having to wait for me for so long at the end of the day. After talking about it we came to the conclusion that lunch and recess were hard, but that they would get better as the routine got better, and that waiting for me was hard, but that would also get better. She admitted that the rest of her day was fun and that she loved her teacher (Miss Whelan). So the hard parts were parts that would get better, and the fun parts were the most important parts. I was so nervous to pick her up the next day. When she hopped into the car she said that she loves school, and that she made a new friend name Violet. She has continued to love school more and more. What a relief!

On the first day when Alexis hopped in the car she immediately said that she loved it so much. She loved her teacher (Mr. Harvey) and met a really nice girls named Katie. Each day she has continues to love it and has made several new friends. One thing I love is that her teacher gives them time at the end of the day to do their homework, so they will rarely have any to do at home. Homework has always been a hard thing for Alexis, so this has been such a blessing!

So we survived the first week, and so far this week is going great! Last week was hard for me to get used to waking up so early, and I was exhausted all week long. This week I am feeling much better, and feel like we have a really good daily routine. Brandon has been able to take the kids to school on his way to work, since it is right on the way, and that has been a HUGE blessing and help to me.

Here's to a great school year!