School Time Countdown

This was Alissa's big year to start kindergarten, and she was so excited she could hardly contain it. We had to do something to keep her busy those last few weeks of waiting, so we made a countdown to school chain. Each chain link had an activity written on it for either something fun to do, educational, or both. I didnt take pictures of everything we did, but some activities included bowling, gym day, art day, math, educational computer time, handwriting, and spelling practice to name a few.

Here is alphabet cookies day. The kids got to cut out sugar cookies in the shape of letters and numbers, and then decorate them. Of course eating them was the best part!

Brylee enjoyed getting in on the mess too!
Decorating time. We dipped the cookies; which made up of their names and ages into chocolate, and then added sprinkles. Yummy!

Zack made sure the whole cookie...and his hands were completely covered! Sounds good to me, its just more to lick clean!

Chocolate hands!

Finally the big day arrived! All 3 girls, ready for school.

Madi was most excited for this:

She gets to be on the school safety patrol this year, on bus duty. She gets to patrol the bus and help the kids, and make sure they are following the rules. Now she really feels grown up. Too bad on her first day, she got the pleasure of helping one of the kids with an upset/nervous stomach. I always knew all those years of cleaning up throw up would come back to get her! I just had to laugh.

Arriving safely at school, Alissa exits her first school bus ride. She loved it...for now anyway.

Waiting in line for school to start. When did she get so big!?

A possible beginning of a beautiful friendship. We met this girl in line who is in Alissa's class. It was sprinkling a little bit, so I pulled out my umbrella for her. This girl was sad she didnt have one, so Alissa was nice enough to share. We soon found out that she rides the same bus, which means she also lives in our neighborhood! They even had the same backpack! Too funny!

Katelin waiting in her now 3rd grade line.

Madison, the big 5th grader.

The first day of school was a big success (besides the puke on the bus!). All 3 of the girls got the teachers they wanted. Alissa said her teacher was even nicer than she thought, and Katelin is sure she is her teachers favorite. How lucky is that!? We are so relieved they all got wonderful teachers this year!

That night we caught up on a chain link activity we skipped because I was inspired on how it should be done better, and needed the necessary materials. I have been wanting to make a growth chart for...well forever, and never got around to it. So one of our countdown activities was to finally start one. Then I got thinking...5 kids on one chart could get pretty crowded and confusing, so I decided it would be best to give them their own chart...or stick, rather. We picked up these sticks while the kids were at school and then surprised them after dinner with getting to paint them. They always love when they get to get messy! They all put on one of Dads old shirts to paint in, instead of marking up their new school clothes.

When the painting was finished, it was time for the traditional after the first day of school treat. We changed into pajamas and made ice-cream sundae's. Ice cream was the perfect end to a perfect day...actually a perfect end to any day if you ask me!

Heres the finished sticks the next day, after they had a chance to dry.

Madison's stick

Katelin's stick

Alissa's stick

Zack's stick

Part of Brylee's stick. She didnt want to hold still for a picture, so I took a close up of her measurement at birth. I caught all the kids sticks up with their recorded measurements from their check-ups. It was so fun to see how they all compared to one another.

Im pretty sure that ends one of the best good days for everyone! Now, on to homework, sick kids and field trips!