Big Man on Campus

Maxwell had his first day of preschool about three weeks ago, so I thought it might be time to actually post some pictures from the first day! Seriously, having three little ones is not for the faint of heart. My time is truly not my own, but that's okay. God has blessed us amazingly with these little lives and we will never forget it! So on to little life number two!

Max doesn't really need a backpack for preschool, but we decided that since big sister had one he might as well have one too. Also, it's nice for him to be able to carry his work home instead of me trying to juggle Cornelia in her carseat, holding Max's hand to cross the street and also juggle half a dozen pieces of "art" each time I pick him up! Unfortunately I did not grow another pair of hands when Cornelia came along... though it would have been nice!

Here's Mr. Handsome himself posing by the W.E.E. school sign! Max wasn't the slightest bit worried about going to class he was only annoyed that we were taking so much time to take pictures! He wanted to get in there and get playing with those toys!

Thankfully, it wasn't as hard on Mommy and Daddy either to let him go. He is such a sweet guy and I do miss him at home, but it feels good to leave him somewhere we know he is loved and is being taught about Jesus.

After Maxwell's third day of school he was quite smitten with his teacher, Miss Mandi. He's asked to have Miss Mandi over for a playdate, but I'm not sure she'd be up for that! Miss Mandi does report that he is an excellent helper, talented artist, and kind of accident prone... poor guy! He's a lovable clumsy little thing though. Way to go big man! We love you!

Watch out Kindergarten, here comes...

Ruby!!

Ruby had her first day of Kindergarten last Wednesday at Pisgah Forest Elementary School and in her words, it was pretty "awesome"! The first day was filled with lots of tours and playtime, mostly just getting used to what a school day is like. It's definitely a big change going from a life of leisure to a 6:30am wake-up call and out the door by 7:15! We are thankful, however, that the school provides breakfast so she can sleep in a bit on the days they are having something that she wants to eat. :)

Here are a few photos from her first day...

All ready for school and looking FANTASTIC! Pretty perky for a girl that prefers an 8am wake-up!

Jared brings Ruby to school in the morning... a few minutes of Daddy/Daughter time to start the day. We are also so happy that many of our church friends have children at this school and she already knew 4 or 5 kids in her class before she even got there!

These are Ruby's teachers for the year-- Mrs. Worley and her assistant Mrs. Merrill. They are wonderful ladies and I know they will take good care of Ruby this year!

After a long break, Ruby went back again today with mostly positive reviews. She's learning about the rigors of P.E., forgiving others even when they don't ask for it, and responsibility. I assume reading, writing, and arithmatic will follow!

We love you, Ruby girl. Do your best and never be afraid to ask questions. We can't wait to see how you grow this year.

First Day of School!

Time sure does fly. I can hardly believe that four years have flown by so quickly! But, believe it or not, our family took a big step this last week, we moved into the school years...

Ruby Rae started preschool last Wednesday and was VERY excited. Ruby will be attending the First Baptist W.E.E. School in Brevard three mornings a week (MWF). Before setting off for her first day, Jared and I coerced Ruby into a short photo shoot to commemorate the big day! (I mean, we'd probably be in pretty deep doo doo if we didn't get first day of school snapshots!)

The week before school started, we went to an open house in her classroom to meet her teacher and see the classroom. Ruby was at home right away (as was Max!), while Jared and I worked on reams of paperwork. After a while, Ruby came over to us and said, "Why are you guys still here!?" Apparently, we're no longer needed!

Jared and I also got a good chuckle when one boy shouted out across the room with his super southern accent, "Miz Baaaaab, eye thank wer gonner haf ter fix thas!". Oh my!

For the first two days (Monday and Wednesday) the class was divided into two so that her teacher, Mrs. Babb, could get to know the children a little better. Ruby, whose first day was Wednesday, was the only girl that showed up that day, but it didn't seem to bother her at all. I guess there are quite of few payoffs for having a little brother!

According to Ruby, the highlights of her first day included: playing on the playground, having chocolate chip cookies for snack time, and NOT getting a time out. Also, there was a lot of talk about "Wedder Bear". Let me tell you, it took me an age and a half to figure out she was trying to say "Weather Bear"! It was too funny! So, apparently Weather Bear tells the children the weather for the day by pointing to sunny, cloudy, rainy, or snowing. I have a feeling Weather Bear points to rainy an awful lot around here.

Friday, I squeezed a bit more information out of her...

1. They had to play inside because it was too wet outside.

2. "Wedder" Bear had been moved and was now pointing to rainy and cloudy.

3. They did not have chocolate chip cookies, but some other kind of cookie.

4. They, once again, had apple juice. And Ruby DOES NOT WANT APPLE JUICE! (I advised her that a simple "no thank you" would work nicely to remedy that problem.)

5. She didn't get a time out, though two boys did.

6. They watched part of a penguin movie.

7. She drew a lovely family portrait including all of us, even "our little pup Hazel".

Today, Ruby's third day of school, she was still all smiles. Here is today's report:

1. She didn't get a time out today!

2. She had music class today, and no, they did not sing, play instruments, or dance. Hmmm...

3. They had cupcakes today! It was someone's birthday--hurray!!

And that about covers her report. After that she was pretty urgent about getting some lunch, which is understandable after all that hard preschoolin'!

I'm sure that the coming year will bring lots of funny stories and we're very exicited about this new stage of life. Max and I are having a great time enjoying some time together on our own and Ruby couldn't be happier.

Life is good.