Wyatt and Sadie's 1st day of school

Wyatt and Sadie had their first day of school the following day and they were both quite excited. Thankfully we have been warmly welcomed in Libertyville and the kids had already met several kids their ages. Wyatt met several 4th grade boys through football and one in particular, a boy named Drake, has gone out of his way to include Wyatt and make him feel comfortable. And praise the Lord, Drake and Wyatt are in the same class!!

Our neighbors across the street have 3 daughters and their middle daughter is the same age as Sadie. So they offered to have several 2nd grade girls over to their house last week for a pool party so that Sadie would know several girls at school. Seriously, I am awed by how welcoming everyone has been to us here. And thankful--so thankful! 

As a result, both Sadie and Wyatt were still a bit anxious (to be expected when you're at a new school and in a new town) but were also excited!

(Think it was a bit humid that day?!)

Sadie was really excited but Wyatt became a bit bothered by Sadie's height gain over the summer, that was evident when they stood side-by-side. We reassured Wyatt that Sadie wouldn't be taller than him ;)

Ready to head off!!

The kids had a great first day of school. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better day--it reassured me that we had made the right decision and the Lord had guided us through every step of the way. If we hadn't bought this house, we would have sent the kids to CHA, a christian school that was 30 minutes away. But after we bought the house and started to realize how far away CHA would be (2 hours in the car for me, every day!), Matt felt pretty strongly that we should send the kids to Oak Grove, the public school that we were zoned for. It's a K-8 school and the only K-8 school in the area, making it very unique and also attractive. It's the highest ranked elementary school in Libertyville and we were starting to see why. We talked with many of our neighbors and realized that if we wanted to have an impact on our community, we needed to be invested in the community and not pulling out of it. I wrestled with the decision and had many fears about it, but both Matt and Wyatt felt quite strongly that we should go to Oak Grove. And so after much praying and seeking the Lord, spending time in His Word and talking with friends, I agreed to follow Matt's leading and we sent the kids to Oak Grove.
So for me, that first day came with a decent amount of fear and anxiety, but also faith that this was where the Lord was calling us to be and praying that He would use our family in this community to reach others and be able to share the Hope that we have.

Blake's off to preschool

Blake actually started preschool the day before Wyatt and Sadie started school. He was so excited to be going school (finally) but he was a bit bummed that he still has to wait another year to be at the same school with W and S. Still so proud!

Sadie was so excited for Blake's 1st day

The big man 

He was so excited about his Ninja Turtle backpack--his favorite part was the shell, of course!

It was raining like crazy that morning. Thankfully Blake has older siblings that were more than willing to walk him in and check out his classroom with him. (I think Wyatt and Sadie were equally as excited for Blake's first day since the older siblings rarely get to go see where the younger ones spend their days)

The whole family was there! I love his picture of these two in Blake's new classroom.

Blake is at a Montessori preschool this year and I absolutely love it! I wish I had done a montessori school for my other kids, but it definitely fits Blake's personality very well. He walked right in, didn't even think to give me a kiss and hug (until I asked for one) and went over to pick out a puzzle with Ms. Peggy.

And an 'after' picture when we picked him up with his proud big sister. Blake loved his first day and was ready to go back the next day--unfortunately he had to wait until the following week! 

Blake goes to preschool on Monday-Wednesday-Thursday mornings and then comes to BSF with me on Tuesdays.  He loves school and wishes that he could stay longer like some of the kids do and eat lunch at school. But he's stuck with me! His teachers are amazing and of course, I love hearing their comments about how 'bright' Blake is and how amazed they are that he can read already. (I was amazed to hear that as well since I didn't realize he could! I credit all his education background to his sister!) But yes, he's reading and writing and doing all kinds of fun things that I certainly wasn't doing when I was 4 years old! It's going to be a great year at Village Green Montessori.