Back to school

Abbie started first grade in mid-August.  She was so excited to be a first grader!  She even knew what teacher she hoped to get... she wanted the one her good friend had the year before.  Sure enough, Abbie was thrilled when she found out that she got the teacher she wanted. (Pretty lucky.. I think there are 8 first grade classes so her chances weren't too great.  Parents aren't allowed to request teachers, either.)

The Friday before school started, we stopped by the classroom to meet her teacher and find her desk.  Abbie insisted on wearing her school uniform. (The students have to wear solid colors, and collared shirts)

Here she is on the first day!!  I drove her that day and walked her into the classroom.  Normally, though, she gets picked up by a neighbor who takes her three kids to the same school.  Sooo nice!  The bus comes at 6:55, but thankfully she doesn't have to leave until 7:20-ish.

Abbie is doing well so far, although it's been a bit of an adjustment for her to have homework every day.  It only takes about 10-15 minutes or so, but she still drags her feet and insists that she "hates" homework.  Let's hope this doesn't last too long, because she has a lot of years of homework ahead of her!

That same day was also Ellie's first day of school.  Ellie has been talking about going to school for about a year now, so this was a big day!  Ellie is doing a free preschool that Florida has.  It's every day from 9-noon and she loves it.  She insists on bringing her backpack (with the attached lunchbox, because "it's prettier that way") and it's almost always empty. :)
Ellie with some of her friends from school.  There are 20 kids in her class, and 8 of them are kids from our ward at church. We all carpool and it's fun to see my friends for a minute in the morning too, at drop-off.

Ellie wasn't shy at all... she walked right in and sat down at a table and started coloring.

Abbie gets home from school at 2 so we still see a lot of her, which is really nice.

And you know what else is really nice?  Spending so much one-on-one time with this cutie.  Can't believe I'm back down to one child for a couple hours a day!  I have to admit, it's pretty nice.