Young 5s

Sawyer started Young 5s a couple weeks ago.  I never considered sending him to Kindergarten with his late birthday.  He really LOVES his class. He goes five mornings a week for 2 1/2 hours.  He's already told me that Young 5s is way better than 4 year old preschool.  The teacher places a lot more responsibility on the kids and makes them feel successful.  There isn't a whole lot of sugar coating in Young 5s, which I was thankful for.  His teacher seems very fair and consistent and doesn't cut them much slack.  I think the kids realize she has high expectations of them and know what these expectations are.  I really like that style of teaching.

I think he's clicked pretty good with his teacher, Mrs. Stephenson.  She is very no nonsense and not the warm and fuzzy, typical preschool teacher type.  Her personality is more like mine which is what Sawyer likes.  He doesn't care for the teacher that gets in his face, acts all cute and asks him a bunch of questions.  His teacher seems to understand that most kids take time to warm up to strangers and doesn't try to stuff anything down their throats. Sawyer's not really into any cutsie stuff so this class suits him well.  The class has 14 boys and 2 girls.  This Sawyer also likes.  Mrs. Stephenson seems very well suited for teaching boys and it reminds me a lot of my days in special ed when I'd have 18 boys and 4 girls on my caseload.

I know Sawyer will have a great school year this year and that the Young 5s class will prepare him for Kindergarten by making him feel confident and ready, even if it was almost $3,000 =)

In front of the ECC

Sawyer's first day of Young 5s and Derek's first day of 3s

Second Grader!

Super Excited

Mad that Sawyer kept trying to sneak in her photo shoot.

Can't remember what I said to make her happy but there was probably a bribe involved.

Audrey and one of our neighbors, Maddie.  I love their giant backpacks.

Her own locker.

Getting off the bus after the first day.

In her class.  Her teacher is Mr. Iverson.  Audrey wasn't sure how she felt about having a boy put after the first day she said she loved him and he was the best teacher ever.

Check out some of the kids at our stop.  There are several more that weren't in the shot.  Notice Derek and Sawyer trying to be part of the fun,  Sawyer really is mad that he doesn't get to go this year.

Finally!

Is what Audrey said when she lost her first tooth.  This happened during the last week of summer vacation.  She was so happy it came out before school started so she wouldn't be the only second grader that hadn't yet lost a tooth. I had the honor of pulling it out which I was excited about.  I love pulling teeth.

Audrey has shark teeth.  Her two bottom adult teeth are already coming in behind the baby ones.  Her jaw is very small and already overcrowded.  A large orthodontic bill is surely in our future.

The tooth fairy brought Audrey $10!  That's the trouble with losing a tooth after all your friends.  She heard from everyone what they got for their first tooth and the consensus was that $10 was the going rate these days.  Much better than the $1 we got in the 80s.  The funniest part was she made a survey for the tooth fairy to complete.  It included questions for the fairy to circle such as BOY or GIRL?  She left blanks for the tooth fairy to fill in for first, middle and last name.  Then asked about her flying techniques.  Sawyer also spent 10 minutes brushing and flossing his teeth that night because he was worried the tooth fairy would peek in on his teeth while she was in the house!

Panthers

Audrey started cheer/pom in August. Panthers is serious stuff here in South Lyon. In August she practiced 5 days a week. Now we are down to 3 with games on Saturday morning at 9 am. YUCK! She really has liked it so far which is good because she needs some physical activity since they only get gym for 50 minutes a week.

A couple weeks ago we had our Jamboree which is the opening day for the Panthers organization. There are over 600 kids in South Lyon who play football or cheer for the Panthers organization.

Audrey's had a great time cheering for her football playing friends. The girls have a competition at the end of October when they will do a pom and cheer routine and a sideline cheer. More on that to follow for sure.

Cousins!

A couple weeks ago we got to meet our new nephew, Breccan. I tried not to be a baby hog but couldn't help myself. Audrey is definitely following in her mama's footsteps and loves to hold babies as well. Breccan MADD his debut on June 25 and was a 9+ ponder but still seemed so small and cuddly!