First week of school down

The kids started back to school last week.

 Aidan began 5th grade on Monday and the girls began PreK on Tuesday afternoon.

Aidan absolutely loves his teacher and class and is excited to go to school every day.

The girls are thrilled with their new everyday schedule but, haven't quite figured out the afternoon thing yet. For the past two years they have gone three mornings a week.  Now they attend every day but in the afternoons.  About 10:00 every morning they break into "I am ready to go to school now" or "I am ready to see Juanita" routine.

They are also VERY tired.  Up until a few weeks ago Alayna was napping daily for a couple hours still.  The first night of school they both were in bed sound asleep by 6pm.

As the week progressed they still went to bed early but Alayna decided to wake up early too so she was beat by Friday.

Tiredness and grumpiness aside both are loving the school year, riding the bus every day and seeing their friends and Ms. Juanita everyday.

Doesn't get much better than that.

As our tradition, we always have warm cookies right out of the oven after school on the first day!

I am looking forward to a couple weeks when the girls aren't as tired and grumpy for me in the mornings.

 Maybe they will even sleep in a bit.

A girl can always dream can't she?

Back to school

Last week we had our back to school nights for the kids.  Aidan begins 5th grade tomorrow morning and the girls begin preK on Tuesday.  The girls will be going every day all afternoon this year in preparation for kindergarten next year.

Aidan was excited to meet his teacher for his last year of elementary school (sniff, sniff).  She sounds like she will be a perfect fit for him and keep him enjoying learning while motivating him to excel even further.

Friday night we had the girls welcome back night at Pre K.  They napped to be sure they were ready for the big adventure.
They could hardly contain themselves as we pulled into the school parking lot.  When Alayna spotted Ms. Juanita she took off towards her like Flo Jo sprinting for the finish line.  I truly have NEVER seen Alayna run so fast.  Both girls have missed school and their teachers and are so excited to start on Tuesday.

Alayna continued to run around like a crazy girl the whole time we were there while Dariya sat right down where circle time usually is held and was ready to begin the day's lesson. Haha.

Praying for super successful years for all three!

Thanks teachers for loving our kids and helping them grow and learn.

And they're off...

It has been a busy week meeting teachers, dropping off supplies and getting back into the school routine.  Aidan began school on Wednesday and likes his teacher and is looking forward to what 4th grade holds for him.

Seriously, what happened to my little boy???

The girls were so excited to start back to preschool.  When I put Dariya to bed last night I told her she was going to school in the morning she literally dove into her bed and went to sleep.  LOL

We were a little off when the bus showed up yesterday morning.  Dariya was naked and Alayna was still in her pajamas.  I was questioning my sanity for a moment.  I thought I had lost track of the days.  Whew, it was Thursday and the girls only go on MWF mornings!  Thankful it was their mistake and not mine.

However, Alayna woke up bright and early at 6am and was determined to try her best to get everyone up.  Thankfully Dariya went back to sleep until 7.  They were dressed and ready about 30 minutes early.   They sat at the window as long as they could getting more and more excited.  When they finally saw a bus coming down the street they were VERY disappointed that it was Aidan's instead of theirs.  Last year the girls were picked up a few minutes before him.

But, not too soon after another yellow magic bus arrived and whisked the big girls off to school.  No tears this year, just giggles and lots of waving and kisses being thrown my way.

When they arrived home they were thrilled to tell me about their day and that Alayna was the special helper.

Report has it that everyone had a good first week (if you subtract out the throwing toys...Alayna!)

Praying the rest of the year they all soar!

What, Summer is over?

We have had such a fun summer together.  The girls have done really well listening at the pool and at parks which made life so much better for Aidan and I.  I feared we would be stuck at home in the fenced in backyard due to one little Ukrainian who likes to wander.  I worried that Aidan would have no fun at all.

Boy was I wrong.  They played hard all summer, enjoyed the grass between their toes and the water splashing in their faces, playing together and with friends.

The weather is getting cooler (thank you God!), the pools are closed during the day and the school supplies are bought.   I guess it is that time again for everyone to head back to school.

This was taken minutes after getting them dressed and ready to walk out the door for the day!

They are all anxious to get back to school next week.  Aidan starts Wednesday and the girls start Friday.  I can tell they are ready as the last few weeks they have all been grumpy and the girls are into mischief often.  I think they are bored with being at home and ready to see their friends (and Ms. Juanita!)

She was giggling at first!

I had hoped Dariya's potty training would hit high gear this summer and she would be going back to school sporting panties instead of pull ups but, she isn't quite there yet.  She has been in panties at home and has gone many days without an accident but has also had many days with numerous accidents.  So we will forge on and pray for drier days ahead.

I am still under the belief that kids will potty train when they are ready and there isn't any reason to push them any faster.  We want her to work her way through every developmental stage that she has missed living in an institution for 3 1/2 years.

Trust me she knows how the toilet works...she and her little sister, flushed 3 monster trucks in one day.  Good thing I have a "Jason of all trades" who stayed up past 11pm taking the toilet apart to retrieve Dariya and the monster trucks. (Please note: no preschoolers were harmed in the fixing of said toilet!)

Good luck teachers, watch out the Cannon chaos are coming your way soon!

Back to school for everyone

Last night we had back to school night for our big 3rd grader.  Aidan was totally nervous super excited to meet his teacher.  Once he stepped into Ms. Hale's room though and she had popcorn on the desk for all the kids he knew she was going to be his favorite teacher ever!  Popcorn is his all time favorite snack!    He seriously was so nervous that when she said, "Bye Aidan, nice to meet you, see you on Monday"  he didn't know what to say.  Oh dear, does my boy worry or what.

Today after thinking about the evening he is really excited to start on Monday and looking forward to 3rd grade.  But, he still keeps reminding me that I won't know what to do without him around here.    (You know besides duck whispering he is a pretty good toddler whisperer!)

Today I had the pleasure of welcoming Alayna and Dariya's preschool teacher, Ms. Juanita and the Early childhood facilitator, Mandy to our home to begin the paperwork process to get the girls ready to transition from their current placement at the LeeAnn Britain center to the school district's preschool in October. 

Last year when we went to visit the school districts preschool we were blessed with meeting Mandy and Juanita and knew our daughter(s) would be in great hands.  Then we learned that Juanita has a 22 year old son who also sports that extra chromosome. 
How cool is God that he placed this sweet lady in just the right place that she will be our girls' early childhood special educator?  Amazing, we are truly thankful for the blessing of awesome teachers.
 
The girls will begin the school district's preschool on Monday and Fridays so that the staff can begin the process of testing and evaluating the girls so we can have their IEP's (Individualized Education Plans) ready to go by the time Alayna turns 3 in October when they will transition completely over to the school district and go Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

Can't believe all my babies are growing up....time goes SO fast.  Tomorrow Dariya will be home with us one month already! 

Back to school...baby style

Yesterday Alayna was all revved up to start baby class...she had a great 2 hour nap in the morning, ate a good lunch then....fell asleep as we were pulling in the parking lot at school (ugh).

Needless to say she wasn't super excited about not getting her nap in but she didn't complain too much, she still had a great time socializing with her buddies and their parents (especially Ian's mom, Agnes - Alayna loved looking at her and smiling at her).

Our best buddy, LC and her wonderful mom, Courtney documented the day with pictures and a great post check it out on LC's blog (thanks CH)! It is so fun to see how far these girlies have come in 10 months, they just get cuter and cuter!

Aidan had a really good day to start his second week! He & Jason even ran into Aidan' teacher at Walmart on Saturday and she said Aidan was doing really well in class and she was enjoying him. YEAH! So nice to have that positive feedback!