Noe News is Good News

Back to Preschool!

When I talk about going back to preschool, I now have to talk about BOTH of my kids! Seems so strange to me!! Both of the kids will be attending 2 preschools this year. The first is BB which Joselyn attended last year. Landen will be getting a late start on this one because he is not yet potty trained (who has the energy for THAT?!?) but thankfully they are holding a spot open for him. We still went to the open house and met his sweet teachers and they will be sending me home with "homework" every week for him. I think this will be great! The second preschool is a little mom's group preschool some friends and I put together. This one doesn't officially start until next week but I am really excited for this one as well. Both are once a week and will be good experiences for the kids.

The open house for BB was yesterday morning. The kids both seemed really excited about their teachers, although Landen found the playroom with all the trucks and it was getting hard to keep him from running in there. I finally coaxed him into pictures with his teachers by letting him hold a cement truck while sitting next to them. I love that he is SO into trucks!!




I figured out during open house that the key to get Joselyn into class was partly to tell her she was the teacher's helper. Her teacher had a cute little pointer that Joselyn was kind of obsessed with.

Last year we had a little difficulty with Joselyn going to her class... and you've already read about her struggles with primary... so we were going to have to put a lot of effort into preparing her for school. So on Monday night we had a special FHE lesson about overcoming fears and being brave. We also really played on the fact how FUN school was going to be. For bedtime stories, I made up 4 diffierent stories of 4 different animals that went back to school, felt a little afraid, were brave when mommy dropped them off and then ended up having so much fun in class.

In the morning, we woke up early and I made a special breakfast- some cinnamon strussel muffins (from a box, of course. Hey this was special for us!), and yogurt. Then we spent a little time outside taking a few pictures. I've been so excited about her back to school outfit- her dress had apples on them!! Perfect for first day of school don't you think??













I was a little nervous about dropping her off at school, but I stayed excited hoping for the best. When we got to her class, Joselyn wanted her usual hug and potty break. She seems to use that as an excuse to get out of things she doesn't like. I didn't argue though. We took our time and then when she got to class, sat down at her table and started tracing her A. No tears. I was SO proud of her! I know this is only the beginning of this journey but it's major progress!



I can already tell how much she's grown in this past year just by how she traced her A. BB gives the children little binders of all their work. It's going to be so fun to compare this year's stuff to last years! When Joselyn got home we immediately started on our first homework assignment- an "all about me" poster. We had fun working on it together!



I have a feeling this year is going to be a good year at school!

Joselyn completes her first year of Preschool!

It's hard for me to believe that my little baby girl just finished her first year of preschool. She has 2 more years until Kindergarten. I have sometimes felt like I wasn't doing enough as a mother to help her learn- but she has really come a long way and I am so proud of her! She may not be able to recognize all the letters of the alphabet or numbers, but I know she has made a lot of progress even in those areas. Joselyn attended 2 preschools this year- as she will again this year. We really love her schools! I will be her art teacher next year in one of the schools and I am really excited about that!

Anyway, there were two school programs. The first one at My School was so cute. Stacie, my friend and the music teacher there did a great job with the kids this year. Joselyn always came home singing the cutest new songs- some of which have become her favorite. Adam knows some sort of version of "Baby Fish" and the turtle who ate up all the soap. They sang both of those songs at the program.





I love how in that last picture Joselyn's friend Sadie is singing her little heart out. So much personality that girl!!

Then we had the Building Blocks graduation. I was a little nervous about this one... last time she had to go up on stage (right before bed time like this time too) she didn't want to be up there and cried and screamed. But thankfully she was her cute self this time around having fun on stage with her friends.





Joselyn with one of her teachers, Miss Christene:



Joselyn with a few of her best buddies- Sophie, Sadie and baby Maddox.



So excited with her certificate of completion!



At both schools, Joselyn has made so much progress and I am so proud of her. I know how she can be "busy" and so I always worried that she may have caused grief to her teachers. I also have a hard time with her sitting down with me to go over letters and numbers so I was worried she wasn't learning. But I guess I am wrong. During the reception for Building Blocks one of her teachers came up to me to say how much fun it was to have Joselyn in her class. I took the opportunity to ask her HONEST opinion on what I should work on with her over the summer. She went on to tell me that Joselyn was very smart and well behaved AND she loved to talk. No surprise there! The talking was never something off topic- but she always had something to say about what they were learning and interrupts occasionally. Also, because she is so talkative, all the other kids rely on her to answer all the questions. The teacher then added that when Joselyn isn't in class, it's very dull... no one knows what to do!

That made me think a lot about Joselyn's little personality. Yes, sometimes she can be such a handful, but I know that if I drive her in the right direction she will have a lot of influence for good among her peers. I hope and pray that I can channel that energy into something wonderful and influential. I sure so love my little girl and am so proud of her accomplishments. I know it won't be long until she heads to kindergarten and I will miss all that energy she brings into our home. Here's to a fun summer!

Preschool Thanksgiving Party

I love this holiday season so much because it has been filled with so many fun things! And my kids are old enough to enjoy everything- I love it so very much! Last week Joselyn had her preschool thanksgiving "feast". They made little indian hats and she had her face painted- so adorable!! Later, the art teacher offered to make Landen a little hat too and he was thrilled!







Joselyn with her two homeroom teachers



Landen- his little smile just melts my heart!

Joselyn's first day of preschool

All Joselyn could talk about the past few weeks was Preschool.

"Mom, on Thursday I'm going to preschool!" she'd say. And we'd talk about what to expect and how she'd be there all day by herself. WE picked out school supplies, got her a new backpack and lunchbox(es) and went to buy lunch food together. On Monday and Tuesday we went to the school and met teachers and saw the classrooms.

Then this morning came. It was all a rush this morning... even though I woke up at 7:15, trying to get out the door by 8:20 was a hassle. Lunches needed to be made, kids had to be dressed cute, I had to actually get ready and look decent... and I was actually feeling a little anxious. I know the kids have definitely had it rough this week. We've had some new adjustments to our daily routines and we have definitely not been home as much. But the new adjustment has been a little rough on me too emotionally. And instead of sadness this morning I felt panic. And I usually don't panic. I just didn't know what to expect today.

As we headed out the door, Joselyn looked absolutely adorable. She had a huge smile on her face and was ready for the day, even though it was raining.

Seeing the backpack on her back made my giggle- it was a small backpack but still huge for her tiny back. The patches that my mom helped me sew on were adorable and really just completed the backpack.



On the way to preschool we sang songs about the rain:

Rain rain go away
come again another day
Little Joselyn wants to play
Rain rain go away

It's raining it's pouring
The old man is snoring
He bumped his head
And went to bed
And couldn't get up in the morning

Rain is falling all around
On the rooftops on the ground
Rain is falling on my nose
On my head and hands and toes

Then Joselyn set down some rules.

"Mommy, you can't come with me. I need to go by myself. And Landen can't come with me. He needs to go to nursery"

Everything happened a little fast when we got there- I took her in and hung her backpack up under her name as she sat down at one of the tables and started slapping a bunch of apple stickers all over herself!
She is in the Apple Dumplings class (what a cute name, huh?) with Miss Sharon.

I took a quick picture of her and Miss Sharon and Landen and I were off to Nursery.



The good thing about volunteering there was that I was able to peek in on a few of her classes to see how she was doing. From what I could tell she was participating and happy. It was a good feeling. Landen, on the other hand, for bored of the Nursery room really fast. I had to take him on a few walks, or sit on a window ledge to watch the cars go by on Limestone.

I really like how they have the school and classes set up. IT's kind of like high school! She has a homeroom, then she goes to different "classes". She has art, discovery (science type stuff), cooking, music and Bible class. The teachers are all pretty awesome! Her cooking class teacher even told me that Joselyn ate a celery stick with peanut butter and raisins on it! WOW is all I have to say.

When the day was finally over, they lined all the kids up inside the classroom. Joselyn spied me and started crying for me when they wouldn't let her out right away- so she was a little tore up. We listened to her favorite songs on the way home to cheer her up. Even with all the fun, I knew this was probably a little overwhelming for my little lady. But I couldn't have been more proud of her.