Jocelyn {Kindergarten}

Jocelyn's now a BIG GIRL in Kindergarten!!! :)

(and she LOVES it!)

We She was counting down for her first day of school to arrive at least a month ago. This day was a huge and long-awaited milestone!! Over a year in the waiting. A week before kindergarten started though, they had orientation day. A chance to get acquainted with the teacher, find out which class she was in, who else was in her classroom and what to expect for the duration of the school year as well as sign up for PTO and meet the school principal. 

Last year, when she wasn't able to go to school yet like we had hoped, we did many great things at home: she learned to read by using the Dick and Jane book series, she knows how to say, recognize and trace her numbers and letters and she knows how to cut paper with scissors - just to name a few!

So here are a few pictures from her orientation day...

And now for the day we've all been waiting for...Jocelyn starts Kindergarten!! 

She will be normally taking the bus to and from school each day. But because today was her first day, I decided to drive her in. After getting up and ready and eating breakfast and brushing teeth and making lunch and snack and filling her water bottle and doing her hair and making sure she had her bus pass and name tag...WHEW!...it was time to get on the road! First of course, we had to have a little photo op of the BIG day! :)

I sneaked a little note into her lunch bag ;)

Andrew wanted to get in the picture. He was really going to miss his buddy that he's been used to sharing the day with all these years!

Picture with Dad + Mom

Waiting at school for the doors to open up.

She was the first one into her classroom and she quickly found her seat!

Mommy + Kindergartener

She has such a sweet teacher and teacher's assistant. I'm very happy where she'll be spending her days learning and growing. I look forward to the occasional opportunity to go up to the school and volunteer as much as possible. Oh, and having lunch with her once a month at the very least. Her request. Hey! I'll take it as long as she'll let me! :)

 This picture is of her right after she got home from the first day of school. She was so happy and excited to tell me all about her first day! I love how much she loves school already. It's so cute! To touch a little on her first bus ride home experience...well, it was a bit nerve racking! First, her teacher called to say she had missed her bus. That the driver had already left by the time they got her to where she needed to be to get on. They were wandering around the school yard when Aubrey saw Jocelyn with her teacher and said hello to her. The teacher said, "do you know Jocelyn?" And she said, "well, yeah, she's my sister!!" The teacher was apparently thrilled to have run into big sis! She helped make arrangements for Jocelyn to ride home on the bus with Aubrey and all the middle/high school students that lived in our area. However, Aubrey's (German) bus driver was NOT in favor at all of this idea! I can understand they want their rules to be their rules and to follow them to a "T" but come on! They don't live close to the school nor was this (hopefully) going to happen again. With a grudging attitude, he let her on. But scolded Aubrey for the issue. Ugh! On a good note, everyone on the bus loved having Jocelyn ride home with them. They fought over who got to sit next to her and who was her friend! :)

 Such a sweet gift for us parents - her hand print and a poem from the book "The Kissing Hand."

 Here she is with her Daddy during the first week of school on a bright and early morning to the bus.

 And walking home with friends after school after getting off the bus.

 So far, she's loving homework! And I will not discourage this moment whatsoever! ;)

Here's to a great year...her first year in elementary school! 

"Back to School" Dinner

In honor of the Shields' children starting another year of school, we adapted the lovely tradition from NieNie to have a "Back to School" dinner to celebrate the event. I had so much fun with this! The girls really enjoyed having this special dinner made just for them! :)

After coming up with the dinner menu, I printed it off and inserted it into a frame for the sideboard where the food was going to sit. I also thought some crayons placed around a candle with a ribbon would be a nice touch to go along with the school theme. 

 Dinner: Corn Chowder Soup, Sliced Ham and Herbed Cheese Rolls.

 I also printed off some cute prints and framed them for each daughter to be displayed in their rooms. This year's school theme we are going to focus on is: (Shine Bright and) Choose Right.

 Dinner seemed to be a success! Most wanted seconds but still saved room for some delicious Caramel Apple Bundt Cake. Mmm! So good! It was definitely worth the effort!

Here's to a great year of school, girls! Have fun and choose right! We love you and are SO proud of you! xo

{Jocelyn (5) Kindergarten; Aubrey (12) Seventh Grade}

Aubrey {7th Grade}

I'm still having a hard time getting over the fact that my "baby" is now in the 7th grade this year! Wow!! And on to another year of middle school. It's just crazy to see how big she's becoming. And I do mean big because she's almost as tall as her mama now! (I know, I know...not such a hard thing to do!) :) Really doesn't seem that long ago that she was only in Kindergarten. She's growing up waaaaaayyyy too fast! I just want her and her siblings to sloooooowww it down a bit! That's not too hard to ask, is it?!?!

While summer was fun....the start of school is always such an exciting time around here. They love to learn and meet new friends. While it's an adjustment of no more late nights watching movies or late mornings sleeping in (lucky bums!), getting back on schedule is more of our kind of thing. Aubrey had her outfit all figured out the night before, her backpack was packed up with school supplies and ready to go and I made her lunch so her first morning on the big day was pretty low key. Besides having breakfast and dealing with the nerves, of course!

Aubrey is such a smart young lady! We are very excited, right along with her, for what this new school year is going to bring. She's moved up to Intermediate band playing the flute again as well as taking up the challenge to try the bassoon, taking home-ec, art, 9th grade Algebra, geography, English, science health and PE. Another season of soccer didn't happen this year which we are a bit bummed about but we just can't justify driving so far to and from base several times a week at this moment in time. You can count on her and her siblings getting right back into it though when we return home if not sooner. She stays super busy though keeping up with her homework, playing with friends and also going to young women's (church group) once a week. 

Here are a few pictures of her first week at school:

We Have a Middle Schooler!

I can not BELIEVE my baby is almost 12 years old and starting middle school today. 6th grade already!! So not only is Aubrey starting a new school in another country but she's going from elementary to middle school. HUGE step! She's so smart and talented...I know she'll do GREAT! I'm so excited for her as she branches out and tries new things....one of them being band this year instead of choir. It doesn't seem that long ago that she was in preschool playing on the playground, learning to read and write, having snack and nap time, going on field trips and taking dance class from Miss Debbie! The years have flown by so fast!

 

{Left: 1st day of 6th grade (2011); Right: Preschool Graduation day (2005)}

We went out to the bus stop to greet her home. She was beaming from ear to ear! Was a hard day transitioning to 6 different classes versus the one class she had last year and in the years past as well trying to meet new people and having to sit by herself for lunch (heartbreaking)! But I know with time, she's going to have a blast and succeed! We just love her so much and are so proud of the girl she is and the one she's becoming!

Her dad joked with her before she left for school...saying that it's now HER time to have the long commute. :) She has to ride the bus for 30-45 minutes one way and it only takes him 5 or so minutes to get to work. They've pretty much changed places. In Virginia, John's commute every day to and from work was at least 4 hours and Aubrey's school bus ride was 5 or so minutes. She doesn't see it as a problem though...a little more reading (or snoozing) time could never hurt. :)

Aubrey's 5th Grade Graduation

Is it REALLY that time already? Today Aubrey had her Elementary School Graduation and is SO excited to be going to middle school next year - to be starting the 6th grade! We sat through almost two hours in the gym for the graduation. Oddly, it was held in the morning and John could not attend due to work. Why wouldn't they schedule it in the evening when most people could attend is beyond me. It was more drawn out and formal than a typical HIGH SCHOOL graduation. But nonetheless, we are very proud of Aubrey and her accomplishments. She received at least 10 more awards and achieved being an honor student all year! She's amazing and turning into quite the bright and beautiful young lady!

 Her she is with two of her best friends.

 And this is her with her 5th grade teacher, who she is going to greatly miss!

School was dismissed after the graduation so I took them all out to Chick-fil-a for lunch to celebrate! :)

And here begins a new chapter!

Middle School

*sigh*

Look What We've Got...

A Preschooler...soon to be Kindergartener! :)

I took Jocelyn to the elementary school and signed her up today to start Kindergarten in the Fall. I can't believe she's getting so grown up. (And I can't wait to have 2 at school next year and 2 at home - shhh! LOL)

She's very thrilled that she'll be soon sporting around a backpack, eating lunch in the cafeteria, meeting and playing with new friends and oh, I can't forget, RIDING THE BIG YELLOW BUS!!

We Have A Preschooler!

Jocelyn's first day of Preschool has finally arrived! 

We found the PERFECT backpack too (princess, of course!)...

only to find out that backpacks weren't going to be allowed at school. 

So an easy solution, because she was heartbroken over this news, was to keep an after-school-treat inside her bag and left inside the car to have when I picked her back up. It also conveniently stored her school papers.

After breakfast, we made our way to Lutheran Redeemer Preschool. 

You would have thought she thought I was never coming back to get her. She clung to my legs, didn't smile or talk to anyone and was in tears when I had to leave. Heartbreaking, I tell ya! And to make matters even worse, her pal and little brother of two years, wasn't going to be staying with her. He was going home with his mama and she was super sad about the extra separation she was already dealing with. It was a hard morning, let me tell ya! 

But I was so excited for her and the new experiences she was going to have. :)

After signing her up for Preschool back in February was it? She had been literally counting down the days until the school year started.

 Here she is watching her two best friends play with play-dough. I tried getting her involved, but it was like pushing a stubborn donkey that wouldn't budge! :) 

 Ugh! My heart sort of broke knowing how hard this was for her! For me! For her brother! Also, my heart broke knowing how hard it must have been for her to not have her Daddy there to share her special day with her. Two weeks since he left on deployment has been quite life-changing for this little girl! (For our whole family!) But she made it. She had a good day and we were both happy to be reunited 3 hours later when I picked her back up. 

Here's to a long school year. And may every day get a little bit easier while their Daddy is temporarily away! xoxo