ELP Open House Day

We went to Mackenzie's Open House for ELP on Wednesday, and it went very well! I even made it through it without crying...at least until I got to the car! I have to say that I felt the tears coming on a couple times, but I maintained control! She was so excited before we left home that she decided to color a picture for her teachers! We went down to her classroom (4A), and got to become familiar with her teachers, Ms. Nancy and Ms. Amy and some of her classmates. We are excited that three of her friends from church (Abby, Bella, and Josie) are in her class! Her class only has 3 boys...the rest are girls! There was no hesitation about going to her class from Mackenzie at all. In fact, I watched her go up to a couple of the kids and say, "Hi, I'm Mackenzie. What's your name?" When one little girl was shy and didn't respond, Mackenzie looked at me like, "What's wrong with her?" I just smiled and said, "It's okay." Later, we talked about how not everyone is as outgoing and friendly as Mackenzie is. It was really very cute! I am so glad that she isn't upset about going...that would make it even harder for me to leave her! As I was watching some of the other kids that were struggling, I was thinking that one of these days that will probably be Madison. I don't think she is going to be as outgoing and social as Mackenzie is. She could prove me wrong though!

Mackenzie's classroom is very cute and cozy, and I think she will have a wonderful time! They will start each day by reading a Bible verse, and she is very excited about Show and Tell! One thing she will have to get used to is not being THE center of attention all the time! She kept trying to get her teachers' attention when they were talking to other parents and children, so we had to talk about not interrupting when we got home. She can't hardly help it...she's used to being in the spotlight with us! Mackenzie is very smart...she can write her name and the entire alphabet now with a little help. (I put pictures on here of that too!) Ms. Nancy was showing some of us parents the wooden shapes they use to teach the kids how to write the alphabet, and Mackenzie started building letters with them right there. I was even impressed by that!

I think more than anything, ELP will be good for her to develop some structure and to have a social environment. I know she will learn a lot too! I am really excited about it, I will just be SO glad when that first day has come and gone. There's just something about leaving your baby like that for the first time, and knowing she will not be completely dependent on you anymore that squeezes your heart. I hope I don't have to stop and talk to anybody as I exit the building...I'm not sure I can handle it! Later that day, she was "scrapbooking" and made me a few pictures and said, "Here, mommy these are for you to have when I go to school, so you will remember me." Somebody get me a tissue right now! So I told her I would put a special little thing in her lunch box so she could think of me too when she is at school! Oh, how I will miss her! I know I will get used to it though, and enjoy that time with Madison! I did tell her that I would probably have a present for her when I picked her up on Tuesday! More pictures and blogging to come soon...

Mackenzie colored this picture for her teachers...they loved it!

This is her cubby, where she will put her backpack each morning! We also learned that she has to wear close-toed shoes...so we have to go shopping! Well, actually G-Ma went shopping for her some new shoes!

Here are the apples on the door, that made me cry the other day!

Every day when Mackenzie gets to her class, she will take her name and put it in the schoolhouse!

These are Mackenzie's teachers, Ms. Nancy Hardebeck and Ms. Amy Moore! They seemed very sweet, and I can tell that we will love them already!
So glad daddy is just a few hallways away!

Isn't this a cute classroom?! It reminds me of the Sesame Street book "Every Morning at Play Group" that I used to read when I was a little girl, and that now I read to Mackenzie! We will have to read that before her first day of school!She sat down and went right to work coloring a picture! She is going to love school!
Mackenzie & AbbyThe finished product...I seriously think this is the prettiest picture she has ever colored. She did it all by herself...I will keep it forever! Check out that perfect sunflower!
Madison was very tired and grumpy! I thought about cropping her out, but its just too cute!
I spelled M-A-C-K-E-N-Z-I-E and she wrote it! This was her first time ever to do her whole name! She has a long name, so that is quite impressive! I did help her a little with the K...that one is hard!
Then we decided to try the whole alphabet! She knew almost every letter! After she finished this, she asked to do lower case letters! We call them momma's and babies