Kindergarten!

Yes, it's true. My sweet, amazing 5-year-old boy is officially a Kindergartener. I can hardly believe it. He's so big now!

On Thursday morning of last week we had Kindergarten orientation in the morning. We got to meet his teacher, Mrs. Juchnowski, and the parents listened to some important school information while the kids did a bus safety program (even the children who won't ride the bus, just to get used to the rules for future field trips). Aiden is attending Hale Rd. Elementary school in the Riverside (Painesville Township) school district. There are 6 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school in the district. His high school class is going to be BIG--there are 65 kids in Kindergarten at Hale Rd. elementary and I am told that the other elementaries are equally as big. His teacher, who goes by Mrs. J, teaches morning Kindergarten at another school in the district, and then comes to teach one of the two afternoon Kindergarten classes at Hale Rd. I was very impressed by the school's principal, Mr. Miley, who is kind and caring but also strict with his kids and with the parents as well--I can tell he is the driving force behind the school's excellent rating!

Since we live so close to the school, Aiden (and eventually Ava) won't ride the bus, he needs to be dropped off and picked up, which is fine by me:) I know he is a little disappointed about missing out on the exciting bus ride, but selfishly I am happy to take him myself! On Friday afternoon we sat outside the school until the buses pulled up and Mrs. J came out to get the students. The principal shook all of the kids hands and welcomed them to Kindergarten and in Aiden went, with not even a look back to his Mommy. I was wearing sunglasses and hopefully hid my tears from the other 10 or so parents who were also dropping off, lol. When I picked Aiden up he had a huge smile on his face, said he loved Kindergarten and had a great day. A big success!

I can't believe he's actually in real school now. At first I was a bit disappointed that he got put in PM Kindergarten (12:30pm-3:15pm) since Ava will be going to preschool M-W-F mornings, but I can already see the benefits of having some one-on-one time with each child. They rarely get me to themselves and it will be so nice to be able to tailor our crafts and projects to each of their individual needs and interests. I am really looking forward to everything about this year! I also signed them up to both take Gym 'n Swim 'n Splash at the Y every Tuesday morning. It's 30 minutes of games and sports in the gym, a 30 minute swim lesson and then 30 minutes of free swim. I know they will both love it and it will give me a nice little break too:-)

Here are the pictures of Aiden on his first day. He's so excited about school and I am excited for him! Ava doesn't start pre-school until Sept. 12th, so you'll have to wait a few more weeks for her "first day" pics, but she is pretty excited too!