First Day Of School

Grace Olivia - First Day Of Kindergarten

Here she is again, I can't believe how tall she has grown.  

That dress was not above the knees at the beginning of the summer.
It is her favorite dress and she is not ready to give it up.

My Dassah - First Day of Preschool(and boy is she excited)

Every pic I took of them together Dassah's eyes were closed.  

Just a tad bit excited to begin their day!

We have officially begun the homeschool adventure.  Life is filled with learning and I pray my littles will love this added dimension of learning at home with their siblings and their parents.  The girls have been begging to begin "school" since their books arrived in August.  And so today was the big day.  In some ways it was not different than other days because they are always asking questions, and wanting to read, and do a project, and count and play.  But with Grace turning 5 I have more structure and goals for the year.  And it took us less than 2 hours to complete our lessons for the day.  I feel already that they are growing up so quickly and cherish that I get spend so much time with them each day.

The following is an excerpt from I book I hope to read this year by Ann Kroeker "Not So Fast"

These words ring true to me today.

"Imagine you child wrote a college application essay that began something like this:

'I lived a deliciously slow childhood.  My siblings and I took long walks in woods and caught fireflies in jars in the summer.  We would wade in the creek and stare at pond skaters skimming the water's surface.  In winter, after tromping over piles of snow, we curled up in front of the fireplace with books and read all afternoon with no noises other than the subtle swoosh of a page being turned.  We prayed often- at dinner and bedtime and anytime we felt the urge to worship or be thankful or ask for help.  By draping sheets over a clothes line, we imagined we were in an army barrack, fighting the Revolutionary War.  Life was slow and sweet, full of spontaneity and creativity; embracing a natural approach to learning as part of everyday life, and mingling reading and play with meaningful work.'