First weeks of school

I'm finding myself with a little extra time on my hands this morning. Ben started kindergarten last week, so he's out the door by 7:30 and Eliza Jane is still getting her beauty sleep--she needs to be at school by 9, but I'll have to wake her up. 

It's taking a while to get into a rhythm of this new schedule. We are trying to fit a lot into our mornings and that means waking up early, trying to fit in our workouts, helping Ben get ready, making lunches and getting ready for work. If it weren't for the workouts, we'd be doing ok. But we really want to exercise! I am happy to run in our neighborhood, but if I go any earlier than 6:30 it's too dark but also need to leave before 6:45 so I can be home with miss E when JB leaves with Ben. Honestly, it has not happened for me yet, but I still have hope. Tomorrow?? 

dance class--Eliza on the far right 

Eliza has a little dance class that we've been fitting in one morning a week before school too. She is one happy girl out there moving to the music. I love that she is having fun, learning about dance from around the world, getting instruction, and I don't have to worry about costumes. Win! 

digging for fossils after school 

We are all thankful for Grandmommy's visit last week to ease the transition to school: after school treats from the tiger bag, special time with Eliza Jane before her school started, and extra time for me to get my classes at Baylor started on the right foot. 

Cicada hunt before leaving for school 

Benjamin looks forward to his outside time with daddy if he gets ready early enough before school. So far the transition to school seems to be going well enough for Benjamin. There have been a few tears, but I think overall it's going about as well as we can expect. His one complaint after the first day of school was that he didn't get to read enough books : )   

Eliza and I joined Benjamin for lunch yesterday at his school and I was surprised and pleased to see how animated he was and excited to tell me about what he was doing in school that day. It's a little harder to get him to talk about school in the afternoon; we're finding creative ways to get him to talk about it though. And we are modifying our expectations about how much a 5 year old is really going to be able to convey about his day. The fact is, it's a hard transition for us as parents knowing that he is in a world for 8 hours a day that we are just not as privy to as we'd like to be.