New School, New Year!

The month of June brought many changes!  Elsa graduated from preschool and was looking forward to Kindergarten.  She (and us) had made many friends at the school.  And, then….we got a letter stating our beloved school was abruptly closing its doors the following day.  This left us out A LOT of money and scrambling to find a new education for both of our kids.  The bar was set high!  But, fortunately, after much prayer, we decided to enroll Elsa at our parochial school.  Unfortunately, Chet isn't quite three, so we enrolled him for the year at a new Montessori, which some of the staff from his old school are at.  

I was an emotional mess for a few weeks after we found out about the closure.  I was mad that we paid in full not being told of any financial problems with the school.  I was sad at the education our children were going to miss out on.  And, I mourned the loss of community we had at the school.  But, we slowly started meeting new families through Church that send their kids to the new school and developed NEW friendships and a NEW sense of community.  

Elsa took the news of the school closure quite well.  But, she did not quite understand that the friends she made were not going to be at the new school.  Fortunately, she met some friends through Vacation Bible School and we talked about the new school A LOT, emphasizing how much fun it is to make new friends.  The only down side of her new class is that there are only four girls (in her class of 14), but that doesn't seem to bother her.  

Chet is so excited about being a big boy!  He is now sleeping in a big boy bed after proving he is quite the little escape artist from our crib.  And, oh man, did I forget about the challenges of sleep training in a "big bed"!  He is one stubborn kid when it comes to falling asleep!  Here is a pic of the kids testing out the new bed!

 We had an open house last week at his new school and he was so excited!  So much so that yesterday he walked around the house all afternoon wearing his new spider man back pack!  He kept saying "Let's go!"  I felt like I broke his heart when I had to tell him "Not today."  He even watched TV with his back pack on.

He woke up this am and immediately put on his back pack.  So cute!

These next photos crack me up!  It is difficulty to get Chet to cooperate for photos!  I loved the faces he was making!

Proving they do love each other…sometimes :)

Elsa wanted a picture showing their backpacks.

 First, we dropped Chet off.  He insisted on walking in by himself.  I do realize the back pack is almost the same size as him.  But, let me tell you, he threw an epic sized tantrum in Target when I suggested he get the same exact back pack in a smaller size.  Its all about picking battles (and not shopping during nap time!)

When we took him to his classroom, we immediately ran in and started playing.  I had to call him back to give us a hug/kiss.  I felt good leaving him since he was so happy!  Next, it was off to Elsa's school.  She has to wear a uniform that consists of navy skirt/shorts/pants/jumper or a white plaid option.  It can be worn with shirts of light blue, navy, red, or white colors.   I LOVE having uniforms!!  I have all the uniforms hanging on the lower rack of her closet and she loves picking out what she is going to wear the next day.  The other thing I am loving is a school lunch!!  The other school didn't have one and packing a lunch just added chaos to the mornings (even despite my efforts to pack the night before).

Her new teacher!!  I love her already!  I am so excited to see everything she learns.

No tears at drop off for kids or mom!  We were quite proud of ourselves.  The kids LOVED the first day of school!  Elsa said her favorite part was making new friends and going to music class.