First Day of Pre-school

Can it really be?!?! We have now launched the second of our three daughters into "formal" school. Grace will be going into her fourth day of pre-school tomorrow. Our introvert is doing great. Her teachers tell us she is very social and already knows all the rules. At home, well, we are going through some transitions... probably as a result of her holding it together infront of her teachers and classmates, but it is great to see her launch out on her own.

Here are her first day of school pictures.

She couldn't understand why her visit day was BEFORE Hannah started school, but her first day of school wasn't until AFTER. We weren't sure if we could make it through the week or if we would have to call the director to let her come every day:-), including Saturday and Sunday.

 She was very proud of her bag and her red shoes.

 I love her eyes and the darling expressions she has (when she wants to).

 The sisters got in to the picture as they sent her off to school.

 Gracie was very excited about going with daddy to work. Sigh... she is growing up so fast!

 Her grin from the window was just precious!

May all your first days of school be filled with wonder and good anticipation of what God has in store for you, Grace!

1st Day of Kindergarten ~ Part 2

So we didn't quite expect to have 2 first days of kindergarten, but sometimes you just have to go with whatever life throws at you. For those of you who don't know the story... here it is in brief. Daryl and I chose to send Hannah to a charter school in Gloucester... it was only starting its 3rd year, but we like the community and arts emphasis, the warmth of the staff we met, the size of the school and an educational vision that focused on the strengths of the individual learner. What we did NOT realize was the weaknesses the board had in actually following through with that vision... unfortunately they were not able to smooth out the rough edges and the state board of education threatened to withdraw the charter of the school (forcing the board to give up that charter), which meant the school no longer was eligible for state funding after June.

Unfortunately, (another area we didn't ask the right questions about) the school was unable to fund its program through the end of the year and during the Christmas break, we received an email alerting us to the fact that we would need to make a decision about where to send Hannah in 2 months... no, 1 week... no, 3 days time.

We decided to send her to our "catchment" school in the City of Gloucester and they administration and teachers have been very kind and accommodating. We realize that it isn't an easy thing to absorb almost 100 students into a school system mid-year, but we have appreciated the welcome we have received.

So on January 10, 2013, Hannah has her 2nd first day of kindergarten.

These pictures were all taken in September, but I realized I never put them on the blog. Since this will eventually need to be the girls scrapbooks, I thought I should probably include them. Hannah has changed from these pictures, so I should really get some updated pictures of her going to school.

Hannah is doing well at her new school. Her best friend from the charter school is in her class (thanks to the wonderful principals at the charter and her new school!). We are very thankful for that!

Preschool Graduation

We were really blessed by the wonderful experience Hannah had in preschool this year. We will definitely miss everyone at the Gordon-Conwell Nursery School next year, but hope to be back the following year with the next Olson! Thank you, Ms. Celine and Ms. Tracy for an amazing year!

Last week was the end of the year program and "graduation". They do a really nice job.

The newest Gordon-Conwell "grad" of the family

Getting her diploma

The sisters

Ms. Celine

Ms. Tracy

Uncle Jim came to celebrate with us!

The family on graduation day

First Day of School

And so it begins... Hannah had her first day of preschool today. Daryl said she didn't even look backwards when he dropped her off at her class. Hannah informed me that they didn't have "circle time" because it was really a square, so they had "square time." Our little scholar... I think she is just "wired" for school.

The last picture is for Grandma Olson. Hannah is putting her tissue into her bag. Daddy remembers Grandma giving him a whole bunch of tissues on his first day of school. They all fell out at school and he was embarrassed. He said he remembers her giving him tissues on the first day of high school, college and seminary! The tradition continues!