ivy goes to pre-k

august 21, 2013
kirk house preschool
menlo park, ca
MWF 9AM - 12PM
TH 1- 4PM

this is ivy's second year in preschool, and her second year at kirk house.
i love her school and have been so happy and grateful for this sweet place for her during the morning.
she's now going 3 mornings a week, plus a special afternoon class that's a little more structured, helping to prepare them for kindergarden. she loves it loves it.
she has the same teachers as last year, and the same rooms, it's all very familiar and she didn't skip a beat. mostly the same children from last year, a handful of new ones. i think 22 total, with 5 teachers. the whole little school is open to them (it's small), and they are free to roam about from room to room. ivy usually starts in the art room, then moves to the dress-up area, does a project with a teacher, plays outside, has snack and "table time" with her small group teacher, they talk about the scripture verse for that week and different topics..  there are 4 rooms and a playground. each friday there's a bible based puppet show with teacher carol. it's a sweet little place and i just can't say it enough!

we made our favorite oat bran muffins with sprinkles for breakfast,
 ivy wore a little gap polka dot dress,
her gold jellies, and a pony tail.
the students wear jackets in the morning year round because mornings (and evenings) are cold here. ivy's not a huge fan of them though, so she usually takes it right off and puts it in her cubby. #11 this year. (she might just be wanting something to put in her cubby, i'm not really sure.)
she took the envelope from my hand as we were walking in and said with squinted eyes and a nodding head, "thanks mom. i need to carry my information." eli loves her school too.. but he misses her while she's there :( it's nice to have some eli time... for a few more months at least!

 we had dinner at k's office... pizza and ice cream trucks outside.
we celebrated the last day of summer/first school day with huge ice cream cones.

although he's tiny by this truck, he looks so old to me here

here's to a sweet, calm and joyful fall!

first day of preschool

august 23rd, 2012      nine o' clock.

i fixed her a big breakfast this morning.

cinnamon oatmeal, toast, strawberries and milk.

("wow! this looks delicious!" ha) 

she started getting fussy but i tried to insist she eat,

since it was going to be a whole three hours before i saw her again :)

i washed her hair in the kitchen sink, like my mom used to do with us,

threw on her clothes, 

asked her to please find a special place to put the 7 necklaces she had on, 

and out we went.

she was so excited and couldn't have been more easy to drop off.

we got there extra early.

she smiled the whole time.

she picked out her name tag and walked right in.

her face lit up when she found her own cubby (#17) and got to put her purse inside.

(her backpack is not here yet...bad mom).

she washed her hands, school rule, looked all around and sat by the train tracks.

i held eli, knelt down to give her a hug and told her i'd be right back.

"ok... bye mom." 

she said it quietly but happily.

i was relieved, although i fully expected it.

but as soon as i turned around, tears.

not hers - mine!

i held it together til i got to the car.

i buckled eli up and starting full on crying.

it was so unexpected, i was laughing at myself.

i hadn't had an ounce of this feeling all morning.

i heard it was really common for moms to cry after dropping their kid off for the first time,

but i honestly thought it was silly and knew that wouldn't be me.

wrong.

my sweet ives... not quite all mine anymore.

i'm so proud of her and love her so.

whew.
august is too much for this mama!!!

for your information:
i bought myself a journal today,
so maybe this will be more short & sweet :)