Hand Writing

As Elizabeth has struggled with some separation anxiety this year we have looked for creative ways to remind her that we are thinking about her during the day and that we will see her soon.  We have taken to a series of "hand writing" where mom will draw the item of choice on her own hand and on E's hand.  Then they have matching hands during the day to enjoy.

For a while it was a heart in a variety of colors.  And then Elizabeth thought that a Christmas tree would be great.  Of course, a Christmas tree would make her happy.  And then it went to Christmas trees with stars on top or hearts inside or even both!  We don't do daily drawings at this point, but sometimes she will still want one.  It made for an entertaining stretch of conversations at Mom's work during that time!

As Elizabeth had a 6 on her hand to remember her snack number on the first day, there have been other occasions where she will get something on her hand at school.  During a stretch of Hokey Pokey playing, the kids all got L's on their left hand so they could do the movements correctly if they couldn't remember left from right.  Little Miss Sneaky combined her two hand writings and asked Mom if she could draw on her hand before dance so she wouldn't be sad.  You can bet that Mom was surprised when this is what she found!  Not quite how the teachers do it, but she got her point across!

Back to School!

Right before school started we squeezed in another Branson trip with some friends.  We had a great time and it was fun for the kids to be able to do rides together.  On our way there, we also stopped at Fantastic Caverns for a tour.  Both kids enjoyed exploring the caverns in a big red jeep.

It was the last hurrah of summer!  It was time to meet teachers and start a new year!

Elizabeth got Mrs. Davis

Ben got Mrs. Campbell

They took the obligatory photos for Mom on the first day in the front yard and again at school.  They even both took one in their classrooms.  

Elizabeth is number 6 for where her backpack, snack and papers go.  She got a big 6 on her hand when she arrived so she could start learning her special number for the year.

The school year is going well for Ben so far.  He is enjoying his class and has really taken to reading.  They get prizes for logging reading minutes and he has really taken to that.  There are some days when he will log hours at a time!  He has gone through chapter books so fast that we are trying to keep up with him and find new series to start.  He is also a huge fan of the timed math tests.  When he gets through another series of the tests, he will get to start multiplication.  He has been waiting for this day since kindergarten!

Elizabeth is having an adjustment period at school.  It rocked her world to go to before and after care with the big kids for the first time as well as the big kid cafeteria and library.  We are working through it and she is improving daily.  Big brother has been extra sweet to help her out and still walks her from before care to class each day.  By the time the day gets going, she does really well and is working so hard on her sound spelling, counting by tens and many other skills.  By the end of the day she has several stories to tell about her day and is not eager to leave after care.  She has had time to warm up and is far too busy playing to think about going home!