Bizi farms field trip

Today I got the pleasure of going on Hannah's first field trip with her school. They were headed to Bi Zi Farms in Vancouver. Her class will be learning about the life of a pumpkin and apple tree this month and this was the kick off for this learning theme.

There were approximately 80 children there. Hannah's class of 22 had 6 adults. I had 4 children in my group.

Hannah in the pumpkin patch- seriously how cute is she! The rules in the pumpkin patch- have fun, and kiddos have to carry their own pumpkin!



Climbing around on the hay bale pyramid. The boy in the blue jacket, Jake was in our group. This kiddos had so much energy and were so excited to be climbing around the hay bales.


Hay Bale Maze. Seriously 40 children going in and out of this was crazy! They were all having a great time.


Mrs. Doden's 2013 Kindergarten class room- Mrs. Doden is on the far right.


Hannah and the little girl in the Black jacket, Serima with the donkey! Bi Zi farms has goats, donkey, ducks, pigs and hogs that were all out in the farm area. Most were petable- the ducks didn't come close enough :)


HANNAH! All smiles to be at the pumpkin patch.



I have never wanted to be a stay at home mom. I love that I work and I love my family. But I have to say I really enjoy being involved in Hannah's school. I've joined the PTA, I'm volunteering for random things with the classroom. I love that I can give back to her school and help out.

<3  Jessica

So proud

I love this girl! 

The first day I put her on the school bus it was like having the bandaid ripped off- I had to let her be independent- and go to school. To a place where I had only been once before, and without haven't met the teachers. 

It's been quite a learning experience this last week. Sending Hannah to all day kindergarten has been a life changing event. 

She has been getting up and getting ready with little to no prompting. She practically runs out of the door in the morning to go to the bus, and for the most part I have been able to rearrange my schedule at work so that I can put her on the bus every morning (which I like!). 

She comes home and talks about her day. Music, art, PE, recess, lunch. the silly things that her teacher tells her, the library experiences, where the bathrooms are, how she has a bus buddy and loves riding the bus. It's nonstop stories about her day. She seems to really enjoy school and I'm so glad to see that. 

We have had to revamp our evening schedule to allow for getting ready for school. I'm hoping that we are able to stay organized to help with the ease of school. You know the type of stuff, showing the night before, laying out clothing the night before, making lunches the night before. That way in the mornings we aren't trying to rush to get things done or wonder where that shirt is that she really wants to wear. So far (1 week in) my plan is working and mornings are going well! 

I've signed up for the PTA. I've agreed to do some volunteering (as I'm able to). I hope that I will be able to find ways to be a part of what's happening at her school and in her life. I want to support her and her school. I believe that education is so important and enjoyed learning in my life that I hope to instill that in my girls. 

Its just been an adjustment to having a daughter in elementary school. It just seems so surreal. I can't believe my little girl is in school. That she is nearly 5 1/2 years old. That she is so independent. I want to foster her independence, but at the same time it feels weird to know that she doesn't need me as much as she once did. 

Here's hoping the next 35 weeks or so of Kindergarten are wonderful for Hannah!

J.

Kindergarten Ho!

My morning looked like this- 

First I had not slept well, because I was anxious about my daughters first day of Kindergarten. I was up around 5:45a. I had no intention of getting up that early, but oh well. 

I quickly got showered and dressed. Hannah was up at 6:30am with "Mommy I thought you were going to wake me up to go to school." 

"Well Hannah I was, but you woke up early!"

There was no hesitations, she quickly got dressed, ate a snack (she gets breakfast in her classroom), and brushed her teeth. She was ready by 7am. Her bus doesn't come until 8:10a.

This gave us plenty of time to get some photo ops!

Addison wanted to be a part of it. How cute is she! 21 months in just a few days! She was kinda confused about what was going on today, and after Hannah got on the bus, she threw a big fit. Her big sister and playmate was gone for the majority of the day.

Hannah my 5 year old- ready for school!

Sisters together. 

Hannah is wearing her green tag that has her name, address, our phone numbers on it, teachers name and room number and lastly her bus number. She has to wear this for the first 2 weeks. 

Big kiddo with backpack. 

Girls brushing their teeth getting ready for the day. 

Hannah comes home from school! 

Convienently, the bus stop is literally at the corner of our property. So we walk down the driveway and along the curb to the corner. (as you can kinda tell there are no sidewalks in our neighborhood). It makes it awesome for catching the bus. She loved her bus ride. I had offered to walk her to school on the first day and her response "No mommy, I want to ride the bus!". 

Dad and I both were there to greet her. She was so excited about her teacher Mrs. Doden. She shared about her day. She told me about going to music class, and science, and reading! She told me about lunch and breakfast. She told me about 3 recesses. She was definitely a chatty Cathy this afternoon. She had a lot to share about her day. Definitely sounded like she had a great first day of kindergarten.

She was so excited she was telling the strangers in Safeway about her day. We called Grammy and Papa. We called Nana and Papa Jeff.  And I listened to a whole lot of information about her day. She was very excited about the badge pin that her teacher gave her for listening all day! She told both grandparents about a total of 6 times about her badge. 

I am so glad that I have a daughter that is so excited about kindergarten. I am so glad she had a wonderful first day. I know that this upcoming year is going to be full of new challenges, growth, excitement. I'm nervous, Hannah will be gone from 8am until 3pm, that's a lot of time to be away from me. This will mean that she will become even more independent- which is exciting and scary. 

Here's to a wonderful 2013-2014 year in Kindergarten. 

P.S.- I heard that Cleo had a great first day. She rode the bus to and from very well. And apparently was telling people about her Aunt and uncle getting her backpack. From the sounds of it she was very social with the other kids at her school and she enjoyed her day very much. I look forward to hearing more about my neice's kindergarten days!

Love- 

J.