First Day of 3rd Grade & "That Homeschool"

Yesterday - bright and early (6:45am) we left the house for Makenzi's first day of school. 

I can't believe she's in the 3rd grade. It does not seem possible. I reminisced some on first day of school years past... Oh my sweet girl has grown so much. She looked so grown up as we left yesterday morning. 

She had on her brand new outfit (I'm the Mom who buys ONE new outfit to start school since we start in summer time... and I'll buy her a new wardrobe come fall when it's actually cool). 

We have a tradition where I need a silly face picture with her sidewalk chalk writing. I love to see how she changes each year even down to her silly poses. 

I walked her into her classroom for the first day. I watched her put her things away and then one sit in her desk. I watched her chit chat with one of her friends at their cubbies as they put away their things. It's just so surreal to me to watch her in her little environment. 

I'll be honest... part of me was ready for school to start back for routine. Makenzi does so much better with routine. Plus I was ready for some quiet time... some me time. They stay up so late and sleep until I wake up, that I never had down time for just me. I wouldn't mind it so much if she didn't need me to fall asleep. 

However, I do miss her so much now that she is in school. I wonder all day long how her day is going, if she's having fun, if she's making new friends, if she needs a hug, etc. 

Makenzi Grace, Watching you grow up has been so much fun, but I am wishing time would slow down. I love that right now you still need me to walk you into school and I will do it until it's not cool to hold Mama's hand as you walk in. I love your dramatic personality, even if it kills me sometimes. I love that you love school (except the waking up early part). I just want you to know I am so proud of you and know that you can do anything you put your mind to. I can't wait to watch you just excel through the 3rd grade. Remember, God's got this! We prayed hard for this school year to be one of your best, and we know He will provide for you! I love you, baby girl!!! ~Mama

And this one - Addison Faith started "homeschool" Pre-K. We decided not to send her to Pre-K like we did Makenzi. It didn't benefit Makenzi and made adjustment to Kindergarten harder. And to be honest... with the year we had, we weren't ready to send our baby off to school quite yet. 

So, Addison and I started "That Homeschool" as she is referring to it yesterday. We worked on her letters and numbers, she told me her colors and separated her blocks into colors. She's super smart. I just want her to know the essentials before Kindergarten, so we will work every day on it. 

She wrote her letters some. I had her write her name and she always leaves out the "i" and the "s." I told her we couldn't do that and we were going to learn how to write them. She told me "Mama, we need to just leave those out because I don't know how to make them." So, she wanted to spell her name "Addon" and that's exactly how she was writing it. But we worked on it... and she finally spelled it correctly. 

When we told her we were going to do homeschool with her, her mind started going. She asked me one day "Mama, when I in that homeschool, I can still take naps when I want, right?" and then "Mama, when I in that homeschool, I can still watch TV when I want, right?" HA! She has a lot to learn about school. But we are working on it. SLOWLY but we are! 

She is so funny. I am going to love being able to teach her things at home. 

After we finished our little lesson yesterday, she told me "that homeschool is BORING!" Oh sweet girl! You don't know anything yet.... we only did school for about an hour yesterday. :-) 

Addison Faith - You are so smart! I am so excited to be able to keep you home one more year and teach you. I am loving watching you mature and grow. I love watching you learn new things and how excited you get when you figure something out. I love watching how you want to learn from your sister. I love when you show her something you've learned. You will excel in all you do. We are so excited to see you succeed. You can do anything you put your mind to and we are so proud of you! I am praying God will allow me to teach you all you need to know to help you be the smartest. I love you, sweet girl! ~Mama

I saw this on Facebook yesterday and I loved it. I think this is perfect way to Pray for our children while they're in school. I constantly am praying for Makenzi as she is away from me. I know it's a necessary thing for her to be in school, but I just pray she keeps God close and she stays safe. I say the same prayers over my sweet Addison  

Even though summer went by really fast (and it was a hard summer), I am excited for this school year for my girls. I am hopeful it will be one of their best years yet. I am praying everything just goes up for us now. We are putting our full trust in God to take care of everything, just as He has this whole year. As I tell Makenzi (and my Mama tells me), God's got this! We just have to let Him!