School and Our Days

I realized I never posted about the boys' school this year.... so I'll fix that by sharing some two-months-overdue first day of school photos.  Before the boys could start school we had to cut through all of the crazy red tape to get them seen by a doctor for a physical.  Seems like it took weeks to get that scheduled, but we finally did.  I was nervous for how they would do (especially J), but they did great!

Jackson went first and then when it was Emmett's turn he stood close by and was very concerned for E.  He kept telling the nurse that E was his brother and was very brave.  :)

We decided not to have J start kindergarten this year, and instead put him in 5-day (half day) preschool.  Here he is on his actual first day of school.  :)

And then when it was Emmett's first day (he goes three half-days a week at the same school as J... thanks to the kindness of a stranger who put her child at another school at the last second to open a spot for E so that both boys could be at the same place... that was such a blessing) I completely forgot to take a picture.  And then I forgot for about two weeks after that.  Our condo is about 30 minutes from their preschool, so we are pretty busy every morning trying to get out the door on time.  Everyone asks why I didn't put them in a school that was closer, but by the time we found out we were moving to FL almost all of the spots at good preschools in town were taken and I had a hard time finding a place that could fit both of them. It was truly a blessing that they were able to attend the same school at the last minute.  AND I knew that the school they attend is a good one since many friends have taken their kids there before.  So it's worth the drive (for the most part... sometimes I just want to scream while I'm driving!).  We really love their teachers and everyone that works at the school.  And the curbside drop-off and pickup is just priceless.  :)

So anyway, I finally remembered to take a picture one day about three weeks after the start of school, but here is our little "fake first day" photo shoot.  :)

Can you believe the water in the Gulf that day?  Totally calm and gorgeous... like a crystal clear lake!

So every day I drop either Jackson or J and E off at 9:00 and then I have three hours to kill before I have to pick them up.  I hated to drive all the way back to the beach just to have to turn around again and come back, so for the first week or so I tried to find things to do around town to kill time.  But that got old really quickly.  Then I remembered about a Mommy workout class that I was a part of for a little while right after J was born.  I looked it up on facebook and found out that it was from 9-10 in the morning at a park about halfway between the school and the beach.  Yay!  So I joined that group and am now actually being active during this pregnancy, whereas with Emmett and Reid I basically did nothing exercise-related.  It's such a great class for a lot of reasons... we are outside at a beautiful park by the water and most mornings are super gorgeous, I am meeting a bunch of other moms, I'm staying active and feel better, and I get to keep Reid with me in the jogging stroller and he gets to enjoy the outside and new friends, too!  Although on Tuesday and Thursday I have both Emmett and Reid with me and I have to admit that some of those mornings are spent wishing I had put E in school everyday.  :)

The kiddos stay in strollers for most of the class but can get out at the end to run around and play.  There is this amazing four-headed palm tree in the park that is really old... I think it's so cool!

Reid was walking around with his hat sideways the other morning... so funny!

After class we still have about an hour and a half before picking up the older boys, so we've done a variety of things to pass the time.  Once Reid and I went to the mall to walk around, but that turned out to actually just be Reid climbing on those coin-operated toys the whole time and getting super mad if we left the area, so we never did that again.  (Plus... lots of germs.  Blech!)

Sometimes we drive the next fifteen minutes back to the beach and hang out at home for an hour...

On Wednesdays we get to stay in one place the whole time because I go to a Bible study at the church where the boys go to school.  Reid goes into the nursery child care for a little bit that day and he does not like it!  But we are making progress and every week he gets a little bit better about it.  Here we are one day after class snuggling for a few minutes before picking up the older boys... he was a little upset, but that always makes for good snuggling.

And then one rainy day we went for an extra-special treat at Krispy Kreme.  :)

Reid loves to clean.  :)

So our days during the week are pretty busy and I am usually totally beat by the time naptime rolls around.  We are always thankful for the weekends when we get to slow down and enjoy just being together at the beach... and not drive anywhere!