Back to School

Hello all!! School started for us last week, and the girls are loving it so far!! Christa is officially in pre-K, which is much much different from the 2 and 3-year-old classes we've been in up until now. She seems to be loving it, but it is much too "schoolish" for my taste :) In the past, there has been a lot of learning, but in a fun way - as in - with toys. This year, there are no toys at all in her classroom. Her teacher wants to be referred to as "Mrs. Lively" as opposed to "Mrs. Andie" (which is totally fine, but in the past the teachers have been called Mrs. [insert first name], so it's an adjustment even for me)! They have a learning center that they go to, where there are toys for them to play with, but each child is assigned a playmate each week so that everyone gets to know each other. I have mixed feelings about that one, but I do want my child to be the kid who is nice to everyone, so I'm warming up to this new idea quickly.
I haven't gotten to know Christa's teacher very well yet, and she will only be her teacher for half the year because she is having a baby in December. I have heard fabulous things about her, though, and am excited to see what Christa will learn this year. She has already had a project to do; we made a family collage together, and she will share her work with her class this week. She likes her classmates a lot, and gets to see some of her friends who are in the other pre-K class regularly. Her "preschool BFF," Ava, went to a different school this year, but Ava's mom and I are trying to keep the girls in touch. I am planning to send Christa to AWANA at Ava's church, since our church doesn't offer it, so they should be able to stay connected that way. Here are some pictures from her first day:

My big girl is growing up so fast! She picked out her clothes for the first day.

She also opted for pigtail braids, completely out of the blue. It's not a style we do often, but she looked adorable. Fortunately, I had factored in plenty of time to get her ready, so I had time to fix them.

Where does the time go?? She's ready to learn... and eat!

Christa with her teacher, Mrs. Lively!

Ready for the day to start.

These are the girls on Abby Kate's first day of school - a little 2-year-old program at the same school Christa has been at for the past two years and is at again this year. She was excited and didn't cry at all when I left her. Her teacher, Mrs. Ashley, is actually a friend of mine from MOPS. Ashley's daughter, Taylor, and Christa are in the same class, and Christa has mentioned playing with her several days.

Abby Kate's ready to learn.... and eat!

My big school girls!

Cline was working nights this past week, but he didn't want to miss out seeing his girls off to school on their first days, so he stayed up a couple of extra hours to tell them good-bye. He also makes their lunches for them most of the time, which is a huge help to me. What a great dad he is!

Have a great day!