Learn at Home with My Pre-K Box

We are in the middle of Summer Break, and enjoying a more relaxed routine! We're still making time for learning activities, though. We're just learning at home, whenever we want...no pressure whatsoever!

I'm always trying to find ways for Liam and Coen to learn together. Liam is 8, and has Down syndrome, and Coen is 2, so it can be tough to bridge that gap. I love it when I can adapt the same activity to meet both of their levels of learning!

We love subscription boxes, and My Pre-K Box is one of the best! These monthly themed preschool learning boxes are filled with fun learning activities, games and crafts. It is geared toward preschoolers aged 3-5, but it works so well for our two youngest boys!

Lily Goes To School!

It's official!  We now have THREE kids in school! 

On Wednesday, September 9th (which also happened to be our 15th wedding anniversary!), Lily went to school for the very first time!



I tried to push the fact that my baby was growing up out of my mind, but it was inevitable.  Before I knew it, the day before preschool was here, and it was time to pack up her backpack and pick out the first day of school outfit!



We curled up on the couch to read The Night Before Preschool, and I only shed a few tears! 



On the big day, Lily woke up full of excitement and ready to go. She couldn't wait to eat her breakfast and put on her pretty dress! We got ready a few minutes early so we could do a quick First Day of Pre-K photoshoot. She had no trouble letting her personality shine through!












Grant took the day off work so he could be there for Lily's first day and so we could celebrate our anniversary!  Lily was so happy!



On the first day of school, a parent gets to go with their child.  Lily and I headed off to Pre-K together, just as I had done with Dylan and Lexie!

 

Lily is attending Pre-K at the same school Dylan and Lexie attended.  She even has the same amazing teachers! She was so excited to discover everything in her new school. We met her teachers (she was only a newborn when Lexie was in Pre-K), did a scavenger hunt, played with all the fun toys, met some classmates, and took a picture together for a big mural near her classroom. She LOVED it!






She loved it SO much that she kept asking when it was time to go back!  On Friday, she headed back to Pre-K.  This time, she went alone. When I dropped her off at her classroom, she walked in, and didn't even look back.  She had a great day!



I'm so glad Lily loves Pre-K as much as her brother and sister loved it!  I know she's going to have a fun year!

How was your child's first day?
 

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School Picnic

Lexie's year in preschool concluded today with a school picnic!



We almost didn't make it. I have a cold, and woke up with a fever and body aches, but luckily some Tylenol helped me out!  Lexie has been looking forward to this picnic at the park, and I didn't want to disappoint her.

The school picnic was held at a local park with a huge, fenced, wooden play structure.  The weather was perfect!  The kids played together, and we picnicked in the grass.








The classmates got to play together one last time, and say goodbye to the teachers.  Lexie flung herself into her teachers' arms as we left.  She loves them, and is already missing school!  Lexie's teacher hugged me and told me again that she would wait 3 years for Lily to be in her class. I'm hoping!  She is wonderful, and I think she is the main reason Dylan and Lexie love school so much!



Just like that...Lexie's days in preschool came to an end.  She had an amazing first year of school!

 

The End of Pre-K

Today was Lexie's last day of school!  Her year in Pre-K flew by! 




She has grown so much in the past 9 months.  On her first day of school, she walked into the school, nervous, scared,  and uncertain.  I remember how her tiny hand clutched mine tightly, and how she kept catching my eye and shooting little smiles my way.



It wasn't long before she was racing into her teacher's arms every morning, and not even looking back at me. 



After I dropped Lexie off at her classroom this morning, I turned and tried to blink the tears away.  I was shocked by how quickly the year went, and by how much older she acts and looks.

At the end of class, we presented her teachers with their end of the year class gifts. Her teacher hugged me as she sent Lexie on her way, and told me that she'd be waiting for Lily.  I sure hope so!  Dylan and Lexie both had the same teachers, and they are wonderful.  My kids adore them, and I hope that Lily is lucky enough to have them as her teachers in 3 years!

Lexie left her classroom for the last time, and I swallowed back tears, knowing that we would no longer be doing this.  She walked down the hall, smiling and holding her memory book (an awesome gift from the teachers) and graduation cap snack.

She walked down the hallway for the last time as a student, and left the building as a Pre-K graduate. 





Lexie adored her teachers, and was already missing school as we pulled out of the parking lot.  I think she would have been content to have the same teacher teach her through all her school years! I can't even wrap my mind around the fact that she'll be heading to Kindergarten!


 

I am so proud of my baby girl.  She has come so far and grown so much!  I love my little Princess with all my heart!  She may be a big girl now, but she'll always be my baby.

Art Show

It was such a big, special day for our baby girl!  Tonight was Lexie's Preschool's End of the Year Art Show!

Lexie has been counting down the days until the art show.  She was so excited about it, and couldn't stop talking about it!  Her class has been practicing for months, and she was thrilled when she brought the art show invitation home!

Tonight was really the first event where she was the center of attention.  The smile on her face was contagious.  She was so proud to show us her artwork and so excited to perform for us.  She was glowing!

Lexie greeted us in the school basement, where the art show was held, with a huge smile on her face!




She was so excited to see Grant, Dylan, Lily, and I!  She grabbed our hands and led us through the maze of artwork.  It was chaotic, but we chased her around, and she proudly posed in front of each of her beloved pieces of art work. 


 


Lexie was beaming through the entire tour.  We love her so much!





After the tour, Lexie's class presented the two room moms and I (the class historian) with a thank you note and a potted plant.  It was unexpected, and so sweet!



Finally, her entire class performed a few songs and an artistic movement piece for us. They were so cute, and Lexie did a great job!  She obviously inherited the performing gene from her parents! We were so proud of her! I honestly found myself trying to hold back tears at times!






After the show was over, her school hosted a reception, complete with punch and cake!



 

It is so hard to believe that Lexie only has 3 days of preschool left.  This year went by so quickly.  She keeps saying how much she's going to miss Mrs. Marino and Mrs. Nolan.  I don't blame her.  They are so wonderful, and Dylan and Lexie adore them!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Lily is blessed with the same teachers in 3 years!




It was a memorable night for Lexie, and just as memorable for us!  I was truly struck by how much she's grown over the past 9 months, both physically and emotionally.  Her beauty, inside and out, took my breath away.