Ben's last 1st day of preschool

My sweet Ben started his last day of pre-k today. 

He was pretty excited to get to school and work with his new teacher Mrs. Tonya and to see all his school friends. 

We all overslept...waking up 45 mins before having to be at school. 

I still managed to get a few quick pictures before heading out...

Audrey and her bed head joined us after changing her outfit several times before finally deciding on this one. 

as we were leaving, he asked if I put a  note in his lunchbox... thank goodness I thought to put one in their last night, whew!

He told me he was wearing his "running shoes" today. 

I love how excited he is to go to school!

he hung up his lunch box...

took off his shoes...

and got busy playing!

Ben and Ms. Holly

We have missed her!

Ben and the new lead teacher, Mrs. Tonya. 

He was excited to see her this morning. 

She wanted to peek in and see Ben before we left. 

 Next year we'll be dropping this cutie off. She is so ready! 

See Ben's first day of preschool 2012 HERE

*After much consideration, we felt it was a good choice for us to wait and start Ben in Kindergarten next year. He turned 5 in July and although he makes the cutoff, we didn't want him to be one of the youngest in his class. Hopefully this was the right decision and he will only be that much more prepared for kindergarten when he does start. I'm not in any hurry to send him off to the real world just yet.

Sweet little girl giggles

Owen goes to 1st grade

We woke up early. 

Got dressed.

Had breakfast. 

Snapped a few quick pictures. 

Woke Audrey and Ben up from their deep, snoring, slumbers,

and headed off to escort Owen in for his first day of 1st grade!

  I worried on the way over how I was going to manage first days for all of them when they are at different schools, and then I thought to myself, Owen's probably not going to let me chase him around with a camera for too much longer... By the look on his face here and the way he bolted in the class without looking back, I'm thinking he may not let me walk him in next year. 

Ben rushed behind Owen asking for a hug. They settled on a high five. 

Owen quickly found some friends to start his morning off with.

and we left 

Next week this one begins his last year of preschool and then he'll be off to kindergarten. 

Owen's first day of kindergarten HERE.

Preschool * Kindergarten * 1st grade

Meet the Teacher

We went to meet Owen's 1st grade teacher today. He has been assigned Ms. Nelson this year. She was a kindergarten teacher last year, so he recognizes her, which made him feel pretty comfortable walking in and talking to her. She is also one of Mrs. Jones'  (his kindergarten teacher) best friends. We were also surprised to find out her assistant was Mrs. Brown, who was his assistant from last year and there are 5 friends in his class. It's already looking to be a great year!

 We are very excited! 

Feeling pretty confident as he ran ahead of us. 

Introducing himself to 

Ms. Nelson

Getting his clip ready to go for tomorrow...

Ready to Learn

One of his best buddies is not only in his class, but sits across from him.

Danny leaving a message on the giant chalkboard. 

With his teachers 

Mrs. Nelson

and 

Mrs. Brown 

He found the hook for his bag.

He said the hand was just his size. 

Meet the teacher kindergarten HERE

testing

We went as a family to Owen's tae kwon do testing. It was a 3 hour event that was so inspiring! We not only watched and supported Owen as he tested for his yellow-green belt, but we watched numerous others test for their belts as well. The most incredible part was seeing a 50 year old woman and a 16 year old boy test for their 1st degree black belt. Listening to them read their heart felt essays and then seeing them break boards as if it was easy was unbelievable! If you have the opportunity to attend one of these events, you should! 

I would also like to note this would be so beneficial for our classroom teachers. So much more than putting guns in their hands! 

So proud of Owen. He is extremely confident and not afraid to try and give his best, and although you might not be afraid of him in a dark alley, he is giving it his all and well on his way!