Back To School

Trevor goes back to school tomorrow. I was kind of worried about how this would go. After being off for so many days, due to weather, conferences and winter break. BUT thankfully it is going to be easy peasy! Trevor cannot wait to get back to school.

We told him on Saturday morning that he was going to go back to school on Monday, so in two days. I was expecting moaning and groaning... but had the pleasant surprise of him being happy. He was smiling from ear to ear and jumping around the bed.

Today while I was talking to my mom on the phone, I had said how Trevor was looking forward to going to back to school, and then asked him what he was looking forward to the most. His answer was priceless! He said he was looking forward to going back to school to get to learn more things and new stuff. :) What a dang smarty he is.

I'm so happy that he is loving school this year. He hated it in years past and it was a real struggle to send him. I hated that he wasn't happy there and missed him terribly. I still miss him, but a lot less knowing that he is happy there and really having a good time.

His teacher is wonderful. And, to be honest I had huge doubts about her before he entered her class. I even tried to change his teacher, but the principal convinced me to just start the year off with her, give it a try and see how it worked out. I haven't ever been so happy to be wrong about something. I really thought this wasn't going to be the right class for him. And, now *blush* I realize just how wrong I was. They say that things happen for a reason and also that they have a way of working themselves out... man am I glad that is true for this situation.

Tomorrow after taking Trevor to school, the girls and I will probably head over to my parents house, because we haven't been there in ages, although no one will be home. :( *sniff, sniff* we miss seeing my parents as much as we used to when we lived only down the road. Anyway, I'm not sure if I will work on some things there or come home and work on it, but the girls and I are going to have our first test run of home school pre-school. I want to work on some things with them to get them prepared for pre-school in the Fall. Also, I know they are so very smart and could really know a lot more than they do if I just worked with them some. Plus it will give us something to do during the day and be the first step to my "New Year To Do List" of organizing time and life and every day stuff. I want to spend more time with the girls even though I'm home with them all the time, it isn't the same as actually doing things with them.

Things we are going to work on:

~ Letters
~ Sounds of Letters
~ Writing their names
~ Numbers
~ Counting
~ Learning their phone number
~ Colors - although they pretty much know all the colors we will still con't to work on this.
~ Shapes
~ Cutting
~ Pasting

just regular pre-school stuff. And actually if anyone has any ideas for things to do with the girls for learning or games, and you don't mind sharing, I would greatly appreciate any advice and tips you have.

Well this is all for now. I have a headache and think I'll go take a nice warm bath and relax some. Our busy day tomorrow will be here before I know it. I will definitely be around some time to update on our pre-school day and Trevor's first day back to kindergarten.

Riding the BIG Yellow Bus!

Today was Trevor's second morning of riding the BIG Yellow School Bus to school. :) He didn't ride it home yesterday afternoon, he was upset, but I still like to have some communication with his teacher and see how he is doing in the class and also see what is going on in school and all that. BUT, today if he has a good day in class one of the teacher's helpers is going to call me and tell me and I can let her know if he can ride the bus or not. I'm really apprehensive of him riding the bus at all.

Nothing against our bus driver, she is a really good driver, and has been doing it for years, I had her as a bus driver when I was in school. She is strict, which is awesome. When you have that many kids in one vehicle you need to be strict and run a tight ship... or shall I say bus. LOL BUT, we were worrried about him not being in a booster-seat or even a seat belt for that matter. Although I know his bus driver is a very cautious driver and when my mom and I were discussing it, we both can never remember her having an accident ever. So that is a good thing. But, then that raises the question of why does he have to sit in a booster-seat when he is in any ohter vehicle and also why does he have to wear a seat belt too. He actually already asked me this yesterday afternoon, after his first bus ride. He is a smart cookie... so he caught on to the differences. I explained it to him the best I could and he said he understood why he had to wear his seat belt in his booster seat in the truck. : )

The other reason is because he is on the bus with pre-k through 5th graders. Now, 4th and 5th graders are a lot bigger then he is and also a lot rougher, with actions and with words. BUT the bus driver keeps the little ones in the front and the bigger/older ones in the back. So that is a good strategy. : )
I guess the main reason that Bryan and I were nervous to let him ride the bus is because he is still our baby, although 4 years old now, and a big brother to sisters that are turning 2... he is still our little boy. But, since he is really enjoying it we are going to let him try it out and, while he loves it, take advantage of it and let him go on the bus.

I feel bad because it adds a lot of time to his day... he gets picked up in the morning at about 8:10 AM or a little later... and then he doesn't get to the school until about 9:00 AM or later. School starts at 9:15 AM. We usually leave the house at about 8:30- 8:40 AM, so he looses about a 1/2 hour at home. Then in the afternoon, he gets out of school at 3:20 PM and won't get home until almost 4 PM. So, that adds another 40 mins to his already long day of school. Maybe he will sleep on the way home though who knows.
So, for now, we have a bus riding pre-schooler, who LOVES riding the bus!! : ) I have some pictures of him waiting for the bus, but none of him getting on, because we hold hands to the bus and then I walk him up the steps until he is in his seat.

I guess our little guy is getting bigger every day. :(