First Days of School for Jacob and Sydney

The bus arriving after the 1st day of school. The bus stop has LOTS of kids at it each day!

Regan was so excited that Jacob was home from school!

Sydney feeding the baby calf, Tie-Dye. She was very glad to be back on the Farm at Preschool.
Sydney's first full morning of preschool. Regan wanted to stay with her. Next year she'll be old enough :)

Jacob's First Day!

Jacob is off to his first day of full day, five day a week kindergarten! He is excited and I think a little nervous. He'll make lots of new friends! We missed the bus though. It came early, about 5 minutes. I've never heard of a bus being early, especially on the first day. Normally they run a little behind on the first day. Oh well, the school is close to our house. So we all jumped in the car. It was cute, when he opened the car door and jumped out about 3 kids said "Hey Jacob"! They were all excited to see him, and off he went! My little buddy. Kind of a bittersweet day...

Farm School Picnic

Sydney loved going to preschool at the Children's Farm Preschool this year. It is so up her alley; being outside so much and being able to help take care of the animals. Whenever I've asked her what her favorite thing to do at farm is, she always says the same thing; riding the horses. Personally, I think holding the baby kittens is a very close second. She made some great friends in the class! She is sad she can't go there all summer. I decided not to do the summer camps they offer this year, and try some different activities.

Christmas Service

Jake had his first Christmas program at school on Wednesday night. He was so excited!
He did fairly well, except for two things. First...He was pulling at his sweater vest, pulling it up, down and twisting it around. Nice...and he told me he really didn't want to wear it. Maybe I should have listened. Second, during the last song he placed both hands covering his ears, with his elbows straight out. And then the kid standing behind him started pulling on Jacob's arms, to get them down. Imagine a little tug a war with Jake's arms, luckily it was only for the last song :)
The program was so cute! I couldn't believe all the songs all the kindergarteners knew :)

Night Terrors....

Last night Sydney had a night terror. It was pretty creepy. It lasted about 30 minutes, she also had one on Friday night. I've learned that they are mostly caused by lack of sleep or a major change in sleeping habits. Since she started going to preschool in the afternoons, she isn't getting as much sleep because she isn't napping on those 3 days. We're going to try to bring back an earlier bedtime and see if that helps.

Hopefully, her sleep schedule adjusts soon...night terrors are very freaky!

The Bus has arrived

Monday was officially Jake's first day taking the bus. He was SOO thrilled, I was a little nervous. My little guy getting on a BIG bus!
He couldn't wait until the bus arrived! He was so excited. We all escorted him to the bus stop.
Off he went! He arrived safely, of course. I think some of my heart went with him on the bus yesterday morning. A sad moment for me, but so thrilling for him.

Jacob's 1st Day of School

Jacob was so excited for his first day at Salem. I was excited and nervous for him!
I wasn't sure how getting all three kids feed, dressed and out of the house by 8:15am would go. Once we get added to the bus route, he'll ride the bus.

All the kids were ready, so it was time to take the "picture". In the busyiness of getting everything ready the night/day before, I failed to recognize that the battery was dead in not just one, but in both cameras we own. I figured this out after I had all the kids in place on the front step. My phone! Duh, so I got one of Jake, and then tried to take one of all 3 kids together. It would have turned out so cute, too bad it is only in "video"...I wish I had spent more time learning how to use the camera/video feature on my phone!

We arrived in this classroom, and he quickly remembered where is coat hook was for his backpack. Then he went right over to his desk and sat down. I think he was a little nervous, because he was the only kid actually sitting at their desk during the arrival of all the kids :) Sydney and I have him a hug, and then he said, "Mom, you can go now." I couldn't believe it! But good for him. To me that meant he felt so comfortable, and ready, he didn't need my support.

After we dropped Jacob off, Sydney asked where Jake was going to eat lunch. I reminded her he'd be eating lunch with his class at school. She got really sad, and said, "But Mom, I'll miss him today." I thought that was so sweet and real!

When we picked up Jacob from school, he didn't even say hi to me. I think he was SOOO tired from the day he was just out of it. His teacher said he had a good day. Apparently the only thing worth mentioning to me was that he just got a little impatient when he wasn't called on right away. The teacher said that is pretty tyipcal when kids learn how a classroom runs. I think it is good that he was raising his hand, and wanting to contribute answers! He really likes his teacher and said he made a new friend. He loves school!

What happened to August?

Seriously, I've barely even posted this month...it has just flown by. There has been a lot going on.

• Visited my Dad at the Cabin in Lutsen.
• Spent a few days in Alexandria with some great friends and our kids. We had 11 kids under age 6, and 4 moms....fun times! (I'll post a few pictures)
• My friend Cari, after battling breast cancer for a year was diagnosed with a brain tumor and has since had surgery to have it removed.
• Struggled to make a decision on what schooling option is best for Jake for this fall. He is a young 5, and we really wanted to have him wait to start Kindergarten until next fall. What we've decided on is a 3-day/week Kindergarten program at a Christian school. And he will most likely attend full time Kindergarten next fall.
• Regan started cruising along anything she can, and has mastered a very quick butt scoot. Or "Gorilla" scoot as Dave calls it. Because she really looks like a gorilla. Funny! This may end up being her version of crawling. We shall see.
• Spent a long day at the State Fair. The Giant slide was a big hit, so was the Little Hands Farm.
• And lots of other things....

Hard to believe next week is September. I am going to make an effort to post more regularly, at least it is one of my goals for next month :)

Farm Camp, fun summer times...

Jake and Sydney went to Farm camp together in the mornings for two weeks in July. They both really loved it. Jake was able to show Sydney the ropes. On the last day the parents were invited to see what the kids had been up to during camp. Sydney was so excited to show me that she could ride a horse. She was SO brave, and confident. Jake was excited to show me the animals and the veggies they were growing in the garden.

Fun on the Farm

Jacob has been so excited for the end of the year picnic at his preschool, he goes to Children's Farm. He was able to invite family and show us around the farm. He was disappointed some of the guests he invited couldn't make it. (Dave, Papa, and Nana) They had been practicing a few songs to sing for/with all of the parents and siblings. The kids were able to show us around the farm, go on hikes, ride the horses, feed the animals, etc. Here are some snapshots:

The first thing he wanted to show Sydney and me was the baby kittens. He handled the kittens very gently and with great confidence. (fun to see) And I wasn't surprised that Sydney wanted to bring one home. I held very firm in my NO.
The swinging/climbing rope he enjoyed.

Jake was very excited to show Sydney the new calf that recently arrived. Each spring there are several different "baby" animals that arrive. Sydney enjoyed feeding the calf named Daisy.

Here are Jake's teachers, Jenny and Vicki, leading all the kids and their families in a group sing-along. From what Jake tells me they have group signing time each day. Last fall after he started school at Farm, he suddenly really, REALLY wanted a guitar. For Christmas, Santa brought one, but Jake hasn't kept his interest in learning to play!

Jake took us on a hike (the class frequently goes on hikes to various places on the farm). He proudly showed me the garden that they've been planning and working on over the past few weeks. He told me about the Rhubarb they made a cake with, and explained to me that the leaves are poison, but the stems are good for eating.

And the last thing Jake wanted to show us before he left was how well he could ride the horse. The kids all ride bare-back, and are expected to swing their leg over and get up mostly on there own. You can see the stump in the picture that the kids stand on to help them mount the horse. He sat up so tall and proud that he was on top of such a large animal. He was beaming....very sweet.

Jake will definitely miss going to Farm School. I could tell that he really felt a part of the farm and all the happenings there. Jake and Sydney are going to a 2-week camp there this summer. And Sydney will start preschool there in the fall. What a neat experience!