Back to school!

September 7 (please ignore the fact that this blog post is a month+ overdue) marked the return of the girls back to school after a great summer vacation. They were both very eager and excited about getting back to school! They had a daily count down and continually spoke about what they thought their new classes were going to be like and how they couldn't wait to see their friends. Olivia is in Year 1 with Mrs. Hughes. Ashton has moved up to Pre-reception with Miss Blackstone. Perhaps the most exciting part of pre-reception for her is that she now gets to wear a proper dress uniform and blazer every day like her big sister.

The girls' school is split between two separate buildings on two different streets around the corner from each other. With her move into Year 1, Olivia has moved to the other building. It makes her feel like such a big girl going to the new building, as she's only known that location as "where the bigger kids go" for the last three years. Now she's one of them! She is with all of her same classmates as least year with the exception of one new boy. She continues to excel in her reading and math and her teacher loves Olivia's enthusiasm when it comes to participating in class discussions and volunteering answers. Even though she had two girls in her class that she considers her best friends, she is good friends with all the children.

Ashton's class is full-time: full days, five days a week. However, this is the same schedule she was doing last year in nursery/preschool, so her transition has been seamless. Her teachers give me glowing reports about her everyday. They tell me she is eager to do her work and participate, often asking for more work after she's completed her task. She doesn't rush her work and works very hard to do it correctly. She is the first to volunteer to help out and tidy up and is a leader for her classmates. Or as much as you can be a leader amongst 3-4 year olds! During the first week of school, her teacher told me how one day at lunch, as the children received their trays of food, they all started immediately eating. However, Ashton waited patiently until all the children had their food before she started eating hers The teachers were in shock over her manners. I'm was in shock too!

The first day of school was extra special for Olivia as it was also her birthday. She made and wore a special birthday crown and all her classmates sang her Happy Birthday.

Since they are in separate buildings now, the girls don't see each other during the day. They are so excited when they are reunited every afternoon when I pick them up. It doesn't usually last very long, but it's cute to see them all lovey and huggy with each other.

After the second day of school, we got a special after school treat There is a crepe stall in Hampstead but it's only open certain days the week and for limited hours. It's also extremely popular and there are always long lines. We've lived here for four year and had yet to experience their crepes so we changed that.