Back to School

Well, everyone has their Back-To-School routines down now. My day starts at about 5 am, I'm out the door by no later than 6:30, and school is officially done at 2:31. Mondays & Thursdays I stay after school to do work and/or help students. Tuesdays & Fridays I pick Bridget up from preschool. And Wednesdays we have school meetings after hours. Busy, busy, busy. Add to that, I'm trying to get to the gym 3-4 times a week, grading papers, taking care of the kids and my day is never done.

Bridget is doing great now that she's in preschool! She's still throwing tantrums with babysitter Beth almost daily, but hasn't thrown but a few with Shawn or I since school started up. Bridget seems to really enjoy school, and keeps asking me when it's going to end. Not that she wants it to end, but just the opposite. She doesn't want it to end. I'm not sure she's learning anything at all, and I'm a bit disappointed about that. So far, all I've seen is one paper where she wrote her own name 3 times. (Chesterbrook Academy taught Bridget so much more.) When I ask her what she did, she says "play" and "storytime with Miss Patty". She seems to like playing with the dress up stuff, kitchen and blocks. She also likes painting. Her best friend at school is Kayla and her second best friend (that is what B called her) is Hope. The only other student she has mentioned is Connor who according to B, doesn't have any hair.

Pick-up and Drop-off time is really well coordinated. They have a pretty efficient way of getting all the students where they need to be in a very short period of time. After watching the pick-up routine for 2 weeks now, I've noticed that the last parent picks up her kid at 12 minutes past dismissal time. I've also noticed that no matter what time I leave school to pick her up, I'm always buckling B up at 3:11. Half the school dismisses from one side of the building, and the other half dismisses from the opposite side, and walkers leave from the front.

Holly, Liam and Megan are doing wonderfully. Megan has changed a TON since her 6 month dr. visit. She's now sitting up and crawling. She can clap her hands, and she loves anything musical. She'll sit on the floor and beat the toy drum. She'll lay on her back and shake the shaker things. She crawls over to the little piano and bangs on the keys. I'm thinking we have a little musician on our hands! Liam is still Mama's boy. From the minute I walk in the door until the minute he goes to bed, he's hanging on me. He'll pull himself up to standing by using my shirt, then completely smother me while trying to crawl to the top of my head. He's our laugher and Bridget is the one who keeps him laughing. Whether she's running around the living room or playing Peek-a-Boo, Liam will squeal with joy and laugh the cutest laugh. Holly has been on hiatus lately. Nothing new to report. I guess since she was crawling and standing so early, she's now letting the others catch up with her. She did finally cut her first tooth-yeay! That seemed to cut down on her fussiness.

I've been trying some table foods with them, and that's been going well. Of course it is a mess (times three) but it's fun to watch them grow and learn to feed themselves. So far they've tried mashed potatoes, pasta, crackers, and bread. Megan eats the most, Holly eats the least. Liam steals food from the other's trays. Nothing new there either!

I'm also happy to report that Shawn has been Mr. Clean lately. He's taken it upon himself to be responsible for the cleaning of the kitchen, and is faithfully doing dishes and sweeping & mopping the floors! It's been very nice!

I must get to grading my first set of quizzes for the year. Oh yah, I forgot to mention, I'm teaching both the girl three doors down and the boy who lives across the street from me. Both are very smart, pleasant students. Whew!