First days of school

Rather than writing so many short posts, I decided to combine our several "first days of school activities" into one larger one. So it started with parent orientation on Tuesday night. Hadley and Hudson stayed with Mama and Papa while Matt and I went to orientation and then met the kids teachers. Hadley has Ms. Mehlhaff. She is young, cute, and bubbly. I immediately knew Hadley would love her. We, of course, are so lucky to know Hudson's teacher, Mrs. Fares.  Hudson is not wonderful at handling change (he didn't even like changing halls at his mothers day out) so going to a new school would be an adjustment. However, he has always loved Charlotte's mom and finding out she was going to be his teacher made it all much easier! In fact, this is the first time he has ever been really excited about going to school. We left Orientation excited to go home and tell the kids what a great year it was going to be!

The next day was "Meet the Teacher" for Hadley. She was so excited to get to wear regular clothes and picked out her clothes the night before. I had to work but left in time to pick Hadley up at home and take her up to the school. I am so very thankful for a flexible job because I'm just not ready to miss out on anything yet! Daddy even got to leave work and meet us up there too! We got to the school at 10 and ran into Reese as soon as we came in. It was perfect for Hadley to see one of her best friends and walk into class with her. From there it was just fun to watch Hadley check out her new room, her locker, her desk, where homework goes, etc. She was so very shy which is totally unlike her and it was cute to watch her get nervous when her teacher asked her questions. She got really excited when Ms. Mehlhaff explained the marble jar to her. Apparently, whenever someone in class does something good they get to put a marble in a jar. As soon as the jar is filled up the class gets to have a treat such as no homework, an extra recess, or a yummy treat. After we had spent enough time exploring the room we said goodbye to Daddy, took one picture with her teacher, and got excited for the next day...her first day of school! I had a little more time before needing to go back to work so I took Hadley and Reese to lunch at chick-fil-a and then dropped Hadley off at home to go finish my day at work. It was great to see her all smiles and no more nervous feelings. Kristin had a fun "last day of summer" planned for the kids when she got home and they went Chuck E Cheese to play as many games as their hearts desired! What a great day!

The first day of school for Hadley is here! She woke up so early and was dressed within minutes. She could hardly eat breakfast and was ready to get out the door. I saw a girl on facebook that makes these adorable cookies so we bought a couple plates for each of the kids teachers and Hadley was more than excited to give them to Ms. Mehlhaff.

Hadley is such a great sport about me wanting to take a million pictures before school. I got just as teary-eyed this year as last and can't imagine it getting better anytime soon. She has grown so much in a year and each year seems to go faster than the previous one! Hadley is such a beautiful girl, inside and out, and I love sending her to a school where I know her character will be further strengthened and she will learn about the love our God has for us.

Hudson had to jump in for some pictures as well, with his bed-head and all!

After finishing up some pictures with Hadley we went inside to get little man ready for his "Meet the Teacher" day. We got the hair combed and he even wanted to wear daddy's cologne! Such a ladies man already. Hadley wanted to take one more picture with Hudson on their first day and it turned out to be one of my favorites!

Silly boy had his hands in his pockets and giggled the whole time I was taking pictures. He then decided he was too cool for school and was done smiling. Good thing because if I had taken many more we would have been late for school!

Right before we left I had Hadley take a picture of Hudson and I and then he wanted to take a picture of us. Hadley did a great job and Hudson is still learning...

At school and Hadley quickly found her desk. The teacher had a coloring assignment set out for them to work on while all their classmates arrived. Hadley has two new kids in her class and both of them sit at her table so it was fun to meet them and learn about how they came to Crossings. We took a picture with Reese and Hadley even let Hudson help her with her papers. It was a fairly quick drop off as the bell rung and class needed to start. I took one more picture of Hadley and Ms. Mehlhaff and Hudson and I made our way out to the car, both of us a little sad (Mommy, a lot sad).

Hudson's "meet the teacher" was from 12:30-3:00 so we stopped by the donut shop on our way home and went back to play until it was time to head back up to school (good thing we live so close!). In the meantime, he got something on his shirt so we had to do a quick shirt change before heading back up to school. As we started to walk inside he got a little bit nervous and started questioning whether he wanted to go or not. I had the idea of him taking his dragon with him to help him be brave and it worked like a charm. We took a picture (with "toothless") in front of the school and then again in front of the fishtank which is his favorite thing about Crossings so far!

As soon as we made it into his room he was a little bit hesitant to run off and play without me. We walked around for a little bit and looked at all the different centers until he found his favorite. He made a quick friend, Davis, who shared a love of Batman and cars and they were giggling in no time. I decided this was the best time for me to make my exit but was able to grab a quick picture with Ms. Fares before I left. Hudson ended up having a great day of "orientation" and loved doing a tour of the school where they went on a "bear hunt" and discovered all the cool things about the school. He talked about it all evening with Hadley and she loved telling him what she did as well. Hadley said the first day was "awesome!" She had already made some new friends but was excited to play with her old friends on the playground as well. She already loves her teacher and can't wait for day 2! So far this is looking like its going to be a great year for us.

Waking up on Hudson actual first day of school and sneaking in some cuddle time before getting dressed and heading out the door. These two sure do bicker alot right now but they still can be pretty sweet to each other too!

I had to work so Kristin sent me these cute pictures of Hudson walking into school. I love this cheesy smile phase he is in right now! Kristin said he did great at drop off and ran right in the doors. I even got a text from his teacher in the middle of the day with a picture of him sleeping on his nap mat. She said he had had a wonderful first day and was obviously worn out!

This is probably one of my favorite pictures....

At Crossings, the preschool gets out a little bit earlier than the elementary. However, if you have an older sibling the older one gets to leave class a few minutes early, go pick up their sibling, and take them back to the older one's carpool class to wait for their parents. This allows the parents to only go through one carpool line. Well, this is what Hadley was the very most excited about with Hudson starting school. Apparently, she RAN down the hall, gave him a big hug in his class, and they held hands all the way back to her carpool room. Kristin walked in the door to pick them up and without realizing she was behind them she was able to get this cute picture of them walking hand in hand. Love that Hadley gets to play the role of the little mommy like she always wants to do! She is so proud of her little brother.