Back to School

Hannah's two week Spring Break is officially over. :( It was a little bit tough getting her up early this morning but not as bad as I thought it would be. Luckily, (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it) Hannah and Sam never really slept late so it's not too hard for them to get back into a routine.

I don't know know if I mentioned it before but, at Hannah's new school they have to wear a uniform. It just occurred to me that I hadn't posted a picture of Hannah in her new uniform. (So here it is!) They have to wear either a school T-shirt or a polo shirt with their school name and mascot embroidered on it. She can wear anything on the bottom, as long as it's a solid color. When we went to buy Hannah's uniforms Samuel was adamant about needing a uniform, too. So, on Hannah's first day at her new school (back in February) Sam also wore a school T-shirt. These pictures were taken on her first and second days of school. We were still staying at the hotel, at the time. We already knew what house we were going to move to but we had to wait a couple of weeks for the previous tenants to move out.

Hannah seems to really like her new school. That's such a relief. I felt so bad about her having to change schools in the middle of the year. Her spring break hadn't started when my parents came, so my mom got to see Hannah's classroom. Mom says it reminds her of how things used to be "back in the old days." You can hear children singing in their classrooms. (There isn't AC so all of the windows and doors are open.) It's just a very relaxed atmosphere. The children seem happy. The biggest complaint I've heard from other military moms is that the schools can sometimes be too laid back. They say there's not a big emphasis on turning in homework and they let kids retake their tests if they don't do well. The curriculum is on par, the kids just have to be self-disciplined if they're gonna do well. I think I'll be able to stay on Hannah about that.

Now I have to try and find a preschool program for Sam for the next school year. I may have to start him out slowly, like a once a week Mother's Morning Out program. He's so attached to me. Oh, speaking of attached, usually when we go to church Sam sits in the sanctuary with me & Scott while Hannah goes to Kids' Church. After going to our new church a couple of weeks like this, Samuel decided he wanted to go to Kids' Church, too. We told him it wouldn't be with Hannah because they split up the children according to their ages. He said he wanted to go to his own church. I was already so proud!

The first Sunday we took him, I dropped him off at the Kids' Church. Everything went smoothly. He had seen how we do it with Hannah so he seemed really comfortable with the whole process. We signed him in, he got a paper bracelet with his "number" on it. (Each child gets assigned a number. If there's a problem during the service, they flash that number on the screens in the main sanctuary so the parents can go get their child.) He went happily with the volunteers and said bye to me calmly. I went to the service feeling like my little baby was so grown up. Well, the Praise & Worship portion of the service (which is at the very beginning) wasn't even over yet when we saw his number flashing. It turns out he started crying as soon as I left his sight. I went to go get him and he spent the rest of the service with us.

Well, yesterday we went to church and, once again, Sam wanted to go to Kids' Church. I was at least proud of him that he was willing to try it out again. Scott & I went to the service and I fully expected his number to begin flashing soon. Praise and Worship came and went, no number. They collected the offering, no number. The pastor preached his sermon, no number. It never flashed! Every time another number would flash I would tell Scott, "Maybe they just mistyped the number and they meant to type in 477." Scott's reply was usually something like, "I don't think they would accidentally type 216 instead of 477. He's fine."

Sure enough, we went to pick him up after service and he was fine! They said he cried for a little while but started playing shortly after that and did great! I can't believe it! He should, for sure, be ready for preschool by the start of the new school year.

Speaking of Sam, I better go. He's feeling a little under the weather and just woke up from a nap. (He never takes naps anymore so that's how I know he isn't feeling well.)

Take care!