7 Years Ago

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Maia's First day of School

Caden and the Cicada

What's your favorite color?

Maia to Caden: “What’s your favorite color?”
Caden: “lollipops”
Mais: “No Caden, your favorite color.”
Caden: “Girls”
Maia: “Caden, like blue or gray…”
Caden: “Um… Cookies.”

First Day

Just wanted to share some pictures from Maia's first Day of Kindergarten! She really was excited but we could tell she also was a bit nervous. The parents were invited to come to the kids' classrooms after the morning meeting in the gym to observe for a few minutes. Maia's review of the first day was not as positive as I had expected. She said, "it was just too much. . .I didn't know what to do. . .I didn't know where to go." Things really were organized, but it is simply a whole new experience for Maia and I guess I forgot just how overwhelming it could be for the first couple days. She is going just 1/2 days, so when I picked her up I had my camera ready to take a little video with her telling us about her day, but um, I didn't even get the camera out because she clearly was not in the frame of mind for an "interview." We talked about her day off and on throughout the remainder of the afternoon and evening and it became evident that she was simply feeling overwhelmed by everything. By the time I tucked her in for bed, she seemed more encouraged and said, "tomorrow will be a better day Mommy." My heart could have melted when she said that. Anyway, we are really excited for Maia to be part of this school and their philosophy of learning. She will get to help take care of the school chickens, work in the school garden, and do art in their awesome art room. Oh and did I mention that the school provides a free breakfast for each child who wants it every morning in the classroom. Free. . .for every child. This amazed me. I'm sure there will be more school posts to come in the future, but for now, here are Day 1's pictures!

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Peach and Blackberry Picking

Last week we braved the heat and made the trek to Eckert Farms in Belleville, IL to pick peaches and blackberries. On the day we went, Eckert Farms allowed each child to pick a bag of peaches for FREE! We didn't hang out in the orchards or blackerry fields too long because it was really, really hot, but the kids enjoyed the picking and we all have been enjoying eating fresh peaches that taste almost like candy.

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