Back to School

 And here we go!

We're back at it, with the morning routine, the walk to school, and both girls now on the same 7:55-2:40 schedule.

Cora was very excited to begin fourth grade Thursday in Mrs. Shafarman's 4th/5th grade class. Mrs. Shafarman is a veteran teacher who expects a lot from her students, and Cora already loves her for it. She is in with a great group of kids, and we anticipate a great school year for her.

(Note that Cora is wearing shorts - she made a conscious decision that she will no longer wear dresses to school.)

Violet was excited for school too, though finding out she was going to be in the same classroom as last year made the return a little anticlimactic.

She will be one of eight first-graders with Mrs. Hawthorne, who will be teaching 15 kindergartners as well. We are confident that with Mrs. Hawthorne, Violet will be more than ready for second grade in a year's time. Cora was in the bottom half of a K/1 split four years ago with Mrs. Hawthorne.

Violet got more excited about being in a split class when she thought through the fun kinder things she'd get to experience again, like making a Christmas gingerbread house, and doing Muffins with Mom and Donuts with Dad again.

(Violet is still firmly in the "wear a dress on the first day of school" phase. And yes, the backpack is not much smaller than Violet!)

Both my girls are now gone a full day! What will I do? Well, I have a lot of volunteering in sight, plus lots of projects around the house that I've neglected in recent years.

We are praying both girls learn what they need to know this year,  make new friends, and are kind and helpful.

Here is Elaine's photo of Vivi and the girls after the first day. Such happy faces!

Here's Cora and her friend Violet on the second day of school. The fourth-graders all look so big!

 I was impressed by how quickly Mrs. Hawthorne had this adorable bulletin board up in the school hallway, with her "Insta-First Graders."

How cute is that???