First Days of School

Scarlet is in first grade.  I drop her off in the morning at 8:00 a.m. and I don't see her again until 3:30 p.m.

It is surreal.  Awesome, but surreal.

She is back at Discovery Charter School with Mr. Ocasio, a new teacher to the school that they call Mr. B (his first name is Ben, I was confused at first too).  School is Monday through Thursday, which I absolutely love.

Her class is a first through third grade combo and she is one of only 16 in her class, which I also love.  I also noticed, as she walked out onto the playground with her new classmates, that Scarlet is still the tallest in the class.

She spends the advisory period in Mr. B's class and then the kids are divided by ability for math and reading.  She is doing some seriously real math this year, which is so crazy to me but she is handling it like a pro and absolutely loves school.

Her extracurriculars this year include her Mini Dance Team, which is after school for 1:45 min. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Piano is on Mondays after school and then Soccer is Mondays and Wednesdays.  She is sleeping exceptionally well these days :)

Packing lunch has been an interesting new obstacle.  She has never really been a fan of sandwiches and I am more than happy to let her expand her lunch horizons a little, but for the first few days she came home with a full lunch box, minus the treat, and starving.

It has taken a lot of trial and error and a few days of no treats but we have now established a lunch pattern that includes taking the time to actually eat it.

Instead of the typical backpack this year, we decided to go out on a limb a little with wide shoulder purse.  I kind of really love it and she does too.

First grade, here she comes!

And then, about a week later, it was Rhode's turn.

 His school started on a Friday, which was random but great timing for us.  Scarlet didn't have school that day so we got to spend the whole morning on Rhode, picking out his first day of school breakfast and taking his pictures.

Rhode makes the cut off for Kindergarten this year by about two weeks, but we kept him in Preschool.  Knowing Rhode, I really think he will excel more as the oldest in his grade.  Academically, he would do just fine but another year of growing and maturing will be perfect, I think.

So he will be spending the year in Miss Erika's Lil Academy.  He goes to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  It is a bit of a drive for me and the short hours mean a lot of taxi driving time but we are really happy with his teacher and his class.  There are not a lot of kids his age in our area and he has four other boys in his class, which has been so fun for him.

Showing off the new backpack.

Rhode thinks school is the best thing ever.  Asher is devastated every time we drop him off, but also a little confused.  "I want to go to Rhode's Birthday!" he says every day.  "That is not his birthday, it's his school!"  Asher still doesn't get it and really wishes he could go.  Little does he know how much I wish he could go too...

With Scarlet gone all day long, most of the time it is just my boys and me.  It has made me realize that if this next baby is a boy, then I will really be the mother of little boys!  Good thing they are so well behaved, disciplined, calm, and good looking.  

Or maybe just good looking.