Leah Jayne

Leah started preschool about a month ago. I can hardly believe that this is her last year and next year she will be in Kindergarten! Wow. I am trying to decide if she's ready for that... or better yet, if I'm ready for that. Three kids in elementary school?! Yikes. Last year I signed up to help on the first day of school for her. I knew she would be nervous and it would help the transition if I was there. I decided to do the same thing this year. Leah's class hadn't changed much- a couple kids gone with a few new additions. I think that helped make her feel better about it. The biggest thing I was worried about was that her friend, Shane, wasn't going to be there. She took it better than I thought she would and we've moved on to playing with other kids at school. Every day when I pick her up I ask her who she played with at recess. Typically, it's a girl named Callista. I'm just glad she's playing with the girls this year! :)

Leah had her first day of school outfit picked out a month before school started. She was so excited to get dressed the morning of the first day. She was awake before 7:00, which is SO unlike her. I don't know if it was nerves or excitement. We got her ready, dropped the big girls off at school and headed to her school. I know helping on the first day was the right thing. She sat next to me the whole time, only wanted to play with me and was terribly quiet. But, she had fun and I knew she'd be OK the next day.

Now I just drop her off at the curb, she runs in and doesn't look back. She is extremely excited when she brings homework home. She sits at the counter and works hard to make all her letters look just right. I know she is taking notes from her sisters and it makes me grateful they don't fight me too badly on their homework.

Quinten is now a loner on the mornings Leah is at school. The first day of school he spent with Andrew while I was helping with Leah. He was still asleep when I left, but Andrew said he woke up shortly after we had gone. He ate breakfast and ran some errands with Andrew. When I got home, he was watching TV, eating donuts on the floor and hardly talked to us. He looked up just long enough to say, "Mom, we got donuts!" Apparently he enjoyed his alone time with Dad. And he seems to be enjoying his alone time with me, as well. I thought he would protest a bit to having Leah gone, but he really only protests the fact that he can't go to his school. I always tell him his school is with me... he's not convinced it's a legitimate school. :) We run errands, clean the house, hang out with Dad, (who is always trying to work while we "hang out with him"... he humors us, I think, even though he's busy...). And, occasionally we buy tasty treats for ourselves and we don't share with anyone. Now, that alone should be enough to make Mom's school legitimate!

I'm not sure what I will do with Quinten next year. He will be old enough for preschool, but I really don't anticipate sending him to Kindergarten till he's six. His birthday is so late in May, I just think he will be better off if I wait. So, really he doesn't need to start Preschool for two more years. However, maybe next year I will change my mind. He will really be sick of Mom's school by then. You never know what could happen between now and then!